New clutches and organizers

On medium and heavy air days, Santeria's halyards were slipping through the rope clutches. We had to constantly adjust this tension and couldn't just set it and forget it. 

To improve deck halyard organization, I also wanted more control points leading back to the cockpit for other control lines like genoa downhaul or asymetric tack pendant control line.

3 new components were installed:

1 XAS Spinlock triple rope clutches (Shown here port side. Will try to pick up a second at the boat show)

 2 T4 Spinlock Deck Organizers

Sail maintenance -Slugs

A few of the lugs on the main sail were failing whereby the webbing twine knot was coming apart. 

A little hand sewing with needle and replacement thread and this was easily fixed.

Tiller Extension - Make your own receptacle

I had an old tiller extension that was given to me, but it didn't have a receptacle for the pintle.  Instead of buying one,  I found these pieces of wood and metal in my scrap bin:

The idea:

Make these pieces work as the tiller extension receptacle.

meranti mahogany wood base  1 1/2 X 1 3/4 X 6
Stainless steel thimble 5/8" (center of thimble was drilled to size of tiller extension pintle)
Aluminum flat bar 1/2" X 1/2" X 3/16"

1. Drilled hole through wood
2. Fitted thimble through back entry into wood base, sizing the pre-drilled hole to the outer diameter of the SS thimble, then using a router sized the top of the thimble into the wood base.
3. applied router to the top part of wood so that aluminum flat bar fit flat/flush with the top of the wood base.
4. 2 applications of epoxy to set both the thimble and flat bar in place

The result:

The wood base should be fastened to the tiller using screws or bolts into the tiller.

Sep 15 - Newcastle Cup 2012

The winner of this race was Dave Thompson on Patricia. Single handed too! Way to go Dave.

With me was PH Smith. We decided to fly the spinny. Go big or go home!

Our track:

https://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&q=http://www.newcastleyachtclub.com/bart/OshawaRace2012.kml&ie=UTF-8 

Winds were constantly changing from NW to WNW, altering out course at times (10-15 Degrees) by the minute.

The Oshawa race was much like the W50, beating there, and close reaching back. this pooched our ability to fly the symmetric spinnaker as an advantage, for any length of duration, on either leg. We did however find that when heeled over 15 Degrees with puffs over 10 kts True, we could carry the Symmetrical spinny between beam reach and close reaching angles--pretty cool. Sailing the Symmetrical to beam reach and close reaching angles is a real balancing act that involves the trimmer and driver. We carried the spinny from Oshawa mark, to St Marys in these conditions then dropped it and close reached to 2 NM, then redeployed the spinnaker when conditions lightened in the Bay of Death 

Again having an Asym in the arsenal would have put Santeria into top gear! We also found that twisting the main (all the way to windward on the traveller) puts the top main battens in the proper position. Some tidbits of info for next year.

July 14 - Vanguard 2012

The Vanguard cup was light this year, with 8 boats starting the race and only 2 finishing. I had my wife's cousin Dominic with me for this hair raising event!

On this day, most of the fleet headed out/south into the middle of the Lake for better wind. The day was hot and humid and land breezes were within 1/2 to 1 mile from shore. If you were outside that limit you were screwed. We were 1 of the lucky 2 boats that finished. Here is our track:

https://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&q=http://www.newcastleyachtclub.com/bart/Vanguard2012_new.kml&ie=UTF-8

Race duration was about 2 hours. This race was almost won by Dave Thompson and his son on Patricia if the wind hadn't died when they were within 200 meters from the finish line. Weird and fluky day for wind.

March 3 - Steady 50 Knots against Port of Newcastle Pier

Wicked weather on the morning of March 3rd

May 15 - Race Barrel Taping Complete

Newcastle Yacht Club race program uses plain blue barrels, with rode, chain, counter weight and anchor to hold their position during the summer race season. Our addition this year was 3M reflective tape to the barrels. IMHO, these barrels have been amazingly visible on sunny or cloudy days. This tape is super reflective. On a sunny evening, each barrel appears to be "burning" at certain angles to the sun.

May 7th - Red October in Action

Yes, Red October is my name for an above average bright red LED light as noted previously here:

http://ablepoitin24.blogspot.ca/2011/12/red-october.html

The light is installed as was especially useful during the Whitby 50 where the normal white cabin lighting was too bright and distracting for the driver 

April 28th - Electrical complete

Installed new electrical panels and wired all existing electronics to the 2 panels. Also installed a 12 volt cigarette receptacle and USB charger.

May 7th - LED Navigation Lights

Installed the navigation lights as mention in my previous post.

Bow Light

http://ablepoitin24.blogspot.ca/2012/01/new-led-2-nm-navigation-light.html

Stern Light

http://ablepoitin24.blogspot.ca/2011/11/stern-navigation-running-light.html


Picture of Bow Install

Picture of Stern Install

Mast Blocking

After launch, I fashioned up 4 separate pieces of Meranti Mahogany blocking for the mast where it goes through the deck as shown here. This is meant to eliminate the mast flexing at the deck. 1/2 hr was spent custom fitting the blocks with a wood file to the shape of the mast.

April 14th, 2012

Santeria hit the water early this year, second boat on the pier.

Installing the Companionway boards

As seen below, the companionway boards are almost ready to go. Due to the thickness of the boards, the companionway hatch doesn't overlap the board. Crap! As a result, rain water can conveniently enter between the hatch and upper board.

 My 0$ solution to this was to get an old tire tube from these women..... 

then, cut it long enough to cover the width of the hatch and use it like a flap to keep water out. Instead, I decided to continue using my winter Meranti Mahogany investment to build a cap for the board.


The cap...

and finally, how it will be installed.......the cap will be mounted to the face of the hatch.

Remove the bonnet

Some of you might remember the "bonnet" (sail tie) holding Santeria's engine cover, as seen here from a picture from fall 2011.

Upon further inspection, the plastic serrated wedge-like piece of plastic that held the cover in place was striped and completely unreliable. Evinrude/Johnson wanted 35$ so I went with a 2$ alternative. As seen below, I used an ZP lockable hinge. After a few new holes in the motor housing and cover, installation was complete.

Removing mast play at thru-deck collar

Santeria was fashioned with a 9 1/2" by 13" piece of black rounded rubber 7 ply steel radial mat (see image) to help reduce mast flexing (fore-aft and port-starboard) when sailing to wind under heavy seas. The problem here was several fold:

• The gap is anywhere between 1/8 to 1/4" on any given side
• Its rubber and not rigid enough for my liking
• Its impossible  to control water (bow waves or rain water) from enter the cabin when the mast is flexing

The theory: 

• create a better platform to help reduce water
• reduce the flex potential

The replacement (show left). This is some leftover Meranti Mahogany from my previous winter projects. I ran it through a thickness planer and patterned it based on the old rubber piece.

On the cabin-side of the deck, the new plate will be further supported by mahogany blocking...not quite yet fabricated...

Motor Mount

This thing was a pain in the ass all 2011 to release when the Lake was blowing and the crew was heading out for a rip around the cans! If the motor was down, it was almost impossible to release the center bar (center of picture) when flow forces were at their most!

To release the bar, some poor sap had to hang out over the pushpit, push the center bar aft toward the motor and simultaneously life the motor up.

My first thought to resolve this problem is to mount a small harken block against the motor mounting plate. Next, run a small line to the center hole of the mount bar, aft to the new block mounted on the plate, and forward to some location near the rear portion of the boat.

This solution assumes that a human bent over the pushpit cannot possible exude the 50 lbs of force required to release the bar. Instead, a quick and firm pull of a line with tackle should produce the same effect, with fewer trips to the back specialist.

PHRF LO Ratings

http://phrf-lo.org/index.php?option=com_lqm&format=json&task=showData&data=LQMQueryID221&usePreviousInput=1&query=221&db039bf81f1dc778ed4ef73bd52c2952=1&Itemid=183&usePreviousInput=1

FS 186
NFS 207

21 Point spread
Interesting......

I need to re-Vent.....

UPDATE 02-04-2012 : Got over to the boat and ripped this old f--king thing off. The existing hole is 5/8" oversized compared to the new unit (3 3/8"). This should be ok as the new mounting holes are far enough outward from the existing thru-hole to provide enough grab for the new unit.

Original Post...

..... Literally


The current vent is a constant leaking point (second only to the cockpit seat hole), non-functional and completely worn out. Since ownership, Santeria has always been a damp boat. I'm hoping that this addition will improve the airflow through the cabin and reduce the mustiness.

The improvement:

Solar charged, Li-ion battery powered, on sale at Rigging Shoppe for 89.99 + tax

SS outer shell, sealed solar panel and battery

View from the inside. 3 1/2" hole required

Bolt Cutters....Check!...I hope I never have to use these things!

Large set, was 30$ + tax

Thru-Cockpit Seat hole

The starboard cockpit seat has a 1 1/4" hole to allow the gas line through into the cabin. The gas tank is fastened down and secure under the starboard quarter birth. This hole is very large and contributes largely to the volume of bilge water after a rain. My solution here was to use a rubber stopper that I found while browsing the isles of Active Surplus in Toronto. The stopper already came with a centre hole and I was thinking that for a dollar, it might be a good solution to this problem.

The centre hole of the rubber stopper was undersized so I continued to drill out the center hole to the size of the gas line hose (9/16). I also have a GPS cable that shares this entry point into the cabin so I drilled a second buddy hole through the rubber stopper about 3/8".

The second part of this equation was to build a backing plate that would hold the stopper in place. I didn't want someone bumping into it while underway and knocking it out. The backing plate is made from a small piece of aluminium that is hidden on the inside portion of the hole.

Top view.
The aluminium backing plate was added to this solution. A 9/16 hole down the middle of the stopper and backing plate was drilled. 2 SS screws hold the plate into the rubber.

Side View. The stopper was 1 1/2" wide, and the hole is 1 5/16", so I add more taper to the stopper.

Cost of solution was 1$

Active Poitins in North America...Yip....Thats it!

View Larger Map

Electrical Part 4....Installation

Over the month of March, I completed the majority of the electrical install on Santeria.

I took a page out of PH Smith's book and used EMT tubing and waterproof electrical boxes to conduit the wiring around the boat.

With this in place, I was ready to run the wiring to support all electrical components on the boat. Using a fish-tape and yellow 77 made this a breeze.

I also re-routed the wind speed central control module into the area behind the electrical panels. Most of the electrical is finished, however I have a few more connections to make. Below you can see the electrical panels, as well as the roughed in wiring.

2 other additions were a USB and cigarette lighter for other electrical peripherals. Next question, does it all work. to be continued...Electrical Part 5

Installing the Hatch

As you can see here, the hatch has been installed. It need a little more engineering to support the hinges and latch. A few 3/4" pieces on the underside of this counter space should do the trick.

New LED 2 NM navigation light

I was apparently on the good list as Santa brought me a LED bow nav light for Santeria.

Draws 0.05 Amps....insanely low power draw with good visibility.

This completes Santeria's conversion from incandescent  light source to LED (both Internal and external lighting)

New Tiller finished

Tiller replacement is now finished, just need to find a tiller extension receptacle to fit a 5/16" qick release extension. 

Turn your head 90 degrees to the left if this picture is confusing....

Winch Handles - Problem with locking mechanism solved

As you can see the winch locking mechanism was not aligned properly, and was causing a major pain when attempting to switch winch handles during tacks.....the mechanism was slightly off and was a PITA to release. as shown here....

and here......

A slight twist of the mechanism with a pair of plyer resulted in correct positioning.so that is was positioned in between the winch handle gear teeth...shazaam

 and shazaam again!

This is something so simple but never took the time to figure it out. Canada winter months are good for this type of stuff.