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Tom Lathrop

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Posts posted by Tom Lathrop

  1. OK, you got me to click on The Dove this afternoon.  Good sailing sequences of a 23 foot Ranger on the open ocean.  Will finish watching it tomorrow or later.   Another one I found while checking the ROKU is Deep Water about the 1968 race alone around the world that included the tragic Donald Crowhurst. 

     

    As I said, Amazon and ROKU are your friends.  The rest of what is available in movies on Dish, cable,etc are mostly nauseatingly repeated again and again and then again.  That is unless you are willing to keep forking over more and more money.

     

    Right now, we are breathlessly waiting on returns from New Hampshire.  Yuck!

  2. That system looks like a 2:1 coarse adjust with an 8:1 final.  Definitely not a 16:1.  Cascade blocks are simple but do take more room to operate than multiple parallel blocks.  That is why that system has the 2:1 first pull (the block on the ring) to take up while the load is low and the 8:1 to finish it off under high load so it does not take up a lot of room.

     

    Unless you have put in way too much lead, you don't need much power to lift the CB.  The lifting rig in the plans is adequate and works well on Lapwing.  You are apparently  forgetting about the natural buoyancy of the CB.

  3. Chick,

    Just shows how hard it is to find a good boat movie.  All is Lost may be the worse boating movie of all time, considering the budget and talent available.  Wind is good enough for the non boating crowd but is pretty lame.  White Squall is more about people than boats.  Master and Commander is on Dish about every week.  Amazon is your friend.

     

    Hey, just watch some of Allan's videos and learn some more about boatbuilding.  Chuckle!!

  4. Chick,

     

    Good boating movies are not very plentiful.  One that comes to mind that might be what you need is DOVE.  My sons and I really enjoyed that one when it came out long ago.  I am currently holding out much promise for the new movie about Donald Crowhurst.  The choice of Coin Farrell for the lead looks perfect.  Of course, Robet Redford is a good actor too and look at the mess they made.  "Voyage For Madmen" should get you in the mood for the  movie.  Great book.

  5. I have a nesting pair of bald eagles on my property. They've been there a while and the nest must weigh several hundred pounds. Buzzards and vultures are anywhere you can run over a possum or raccoon. I'm not sure how to tell the difference between a raven and a crow, but we have lots of crows around. I've heard both of their "calls" and the raven sounds like a raspy crow, maybe after spending a night in the local bar, with the bald eagle couple and a buzzard or two.

     

    Paul,

     

    Liz would not let this pass as she is an avid birdwatcher.  There are no ravens in the southeast and the raspy sounding rascal you hear is a fish crow which is a bit smaller than the more numerous American crow.  Ravens are quite a bit larger and are only in the north and west.  We are beginning to see more bald eagles (no golden eagles here in the east) along with osprey and pelicans following the ban of DDT.  Also have quite a few white pelicans around this year.  I'm not a birdwatcher but do live with one and cannot avoid learning a factoid here and there. 

     

    Can't help Charlie as I have no idea what is going on. 

  6. A Blue Sea panel would be fine for a Bluejacket.  13 positions may be a little overkill for the main panel.  I prefer to have some of the commonly used switches on the instrument panel where they are handy to the helm.  I used a small fuse block to distribute power to them.  You could use switches on the instrument panel fed from breaker/switches on the main panel but I find a problem with that.  The issue is that there are now two switches in the same power line and that can lead to confusion.  If you do use the breakers on the main panel for instrument panel switches, I think I would short out the main switch and just use the one on the instrument panel to operate whatever is wanted.

  7. Tom, so true. I fish a lot with some of my buddies who think I'm some kind of bass master because I catch more fish than they do normally. What I have observed is I stick to a couple lures I have faith in and just fish. My line is in the water a significantly longer amount of time than those who are switching lures all the time. I think sailing is like that. Find something that works and concentrate. I crewed on a J40 for a whole season with a skipper who micromanaged every crew member and when you looked at our wake we were all over the place. Most frustrating season of competition ever. He was worried about something set a bit wrong when not driving the boat straight was what was killing us.

     

    Steve,

     

    We do think alike on that subject.  I have sailed with some owners like that but never more than once.  I made it a rule to sail only with a skipper good enough to win and let the crew do their jobs or one who would listen to me teach him how to sail the boat well.  I'm now a bit past the hard work of crewing and only do either tactician or helmsman on other people's boats.  I do miss the rigor of one design small boat sailing though.  Graham and I used to knock heads racing frostbite in Spindrift 10s.  That was fun.

  8. This reminds me many years ago when I raced one design in competition.  At a big race, a favorite thing of many skippers was to go around the fleet and look at how the other guys rigged their boats.  Loose rigs, tight rigs, sheeting angles, various adjustments and so on and so on.  There was usually quite a variety in how individual guys would set up their boats and the results on the race course rarely favored only one set over the other different ones.  Much is personal preference and what you prefer often means that you will perform better than with a set up you don't trust.  Fortunately everyone can do as they please as long as it is within the rules or doesn't sink you.

  9. Mine will be a little different, Chick.  Roughly the same idea, but with a few changes.  First of all, I will not have a block running on a bridle attached to the transom.  I will have a bridle with a fixed loop on the centerline of the boat.  The block will be attached to the fixed loop.  It will not, therefore, be allowed to move off the centerline of the boat.  Secondly, the PVC guide you have mid-sprit is prone to break and chafe your sheet.  I will use a nylon ring, attached to the sprit by an eyestrap.  (See photo-- sorry, it wouldn't crop for me.)  At the mast, I'll also attach the block to the sprit, not the mast.  I want the masts to be as clean as possible, for some reason.  The sprit is held in place by the snotter, so I don't forsee (famous last words) a problem with doing this.  I "hope" to be able to supply you with photos of this set-up soon, but you know how that is.  I'll be happy to come up and show you all of this, when I deliver your chunk of leather.

     

    The attachment to the short traveler (more like a bridle really) does not move much off center in use, so it might as well be fixed in place.  Your comment on the PVC guide is very wrong.  The guide was made from a pipe section that was heat formed to eliminate any possible chafe, minimizes friction and does not bind like a thin ring would be more apt to do.  I think attaching the inside block to the sprit could also be a mistake.  If it is on the sprit, sheet tension will pull down and aft on the sprit and can distort the sail.  It will also fight with the snotter tension and flatten the sail more that you might like in light wind or downwind.  May not be big deal but attaching the sheet block to the mast works quite well and places no load on the sprit. These are the famous last words I see and, as always, the devil is in the details. 

     

    Experimentation is always the best answer to these kinds of ruminations so try your method and let us know how it works out.  That is the way I learned most of what I think I know.  What I think I know is open to modification.

  10. I expect Graham to answer but there is no need to make a job more difficult than it needs to be.  In that regard there is no need to glass the corners if you find that too hard.  The epoxy filets will make a waterproof seal in the corners very well without the glass and you can just glass the rest of the interior of the box easily.  Make sure the surfaces are all resin rich for a long term life of the tank.  I don't know if Graham specifies both taped seams as well as a full sheath but doubt both are necessary.  A glass sheath will make it more certain that enough resin is applied to give long term waterproof results. 

     

    I see Paul was typing faster than me.  The bag approach sounds good but make sure that there are no glass snags that could puncture the thin bags.  May not be a disaster if it does but I'd double the bags.  Of course, the filets should be cured and rough snags sanded before doing this. 

  11. Tom,

     

    Thanks for the info. Occasionally, our West Coast Trailer Sailing Squadron WCTSS goes over to St. Johns so I will watch for them.  If they come over to the Clearwater area, please ask them to contact me. They can park at my dock on Clearwater Beach for a few days.

     

    Please report back on what you see on both boats.

     

    dale

     

    Dale,

     

    Both boats are coming along although the tri is ahead and will certainly make the race start.  The Mark 3 has a lot of work left although Graham swears that it will have a trial launch the end of this month.  I really like the raised deck cabin CS Mark3 boats.  The raised deck does not appeal to some people but, to my engineering eye, they are quite handsome as well as highly functional.   Graham has installed a sprit much like the one we had on Southern Skimmer for an asymmetrical spinnaker.  There is also a small CB under the forefoot that can be operated from the cockpit.  This is to relieve the fierce lee helm that wanted to push my arm into my ear on a reach in Skimmer in a bit of wind.  The regular CB is also redesigned to give a greater range of balance.  Since he will be sailing single, a method of actually getting the boat off the beach and into the water without outside help is also in the works.

  12. Dale,

     

    That is the Bluejacket 28 De De built near Richmond, VA by Henry and Dianne Hassel.  They took off on the Great Loop a couple weeks after the first launch of De De.  They completed the Great Loop in one year while taking many side excursions and are now getting ready for a trip to FL to do the St Johns River and as well as other stuff for a couple months.  They traveled a total of about 7500 miles on the Loop.  There is a Facebook log of the cruise.  https://www.facebook.com/vesseldede

     

    There is nothing in a Bluejacket that you are not easily capable of.  I lust for a Mark3 also but am getting a bit long on the tooth for such a project.  Maybe Graham will let me sail Carlita.  I'm leaving now to go over and have a good look at progress of both EC boats.

  13. Tom, yes to the Bimini. With my sun-damaged Florida skin, and history of melanoma, I do want a Bimini. Trouble is, a stock Bimini is too long to fit between my boom gallow and mizzen mast, so it will have to be custom. Maybe the aft end supported on the gallow. Ant thoughts on this?

     

    Chick,

     

    You had a gallow on your Mark2 didn't you?  I'm sure you can devise a system that will work.  Making the sprit a bit longer might make it easier to fit things aft.

  14. Tom, with your "...short rope traveler over the tiller with a sheet attached to a block sliding on the traveler.", do you still run your sheet forward along the sprit?

     

    Do you think that a bimini top could still be used, or will the sheet interfere with it?

     

    Chick,

     

    The drawing shows how I rig the mizzen sheet and yes, I much prefer having main and mizzen sheets at the mizzen mast on the thwart.  I guess the sheet is as clear of obstructions as it can be made but whether there is room for a bimini, I don't know.  Never considered a bimini over the aft cockpit before.  Are you considering a bimini to be used while sailing your Mark3? 

     

    The traveler is only long enough to give adequate clearance for the tiller operation and installing it and taking it off.

    post-162-0-52481900-1452613053_thumb.jpeg

    • Like 1
  15. There may be a tendency to look at the mainsail/mizzen interaction like the jib/mainsail interaction on a sloop.  This would be a mistake for several reasons.  A jib overlaps the mainsail but is not located directly in front of it and much of the main is away from the influence of the jib.  The main chord must be trimmed at a closer angle than the jib chord or it will be seriously backwinded and stall the boat. The mizzen is much smaller and is located where it is completely in the disturbed air coming off the mainsail when sailing closehauled.  On a ketch, the main is the driving sail and a mizzen is trimmed so it will have minimal backwind and hopefully provide some windward lift.  On a CS the mizzen is large enough in comparison to the main that it will provide some drive.  I have not found that trimming either sail well inboard is an advantage in VMG and a center mounted mizzen sheet does as well as anything that will lead it more to windward.  I have settled on a short rope traveler over the tiller with a sheet attached to a block sliding on the traveler.  I'm not certain this is perfect but don't think it can be improved very much.  I very much doubt that "three or four degrees" more to windward is remotely possible as that is a huge change on a race course.

  16. I guess I have been getting away with the simple solution all these years by using thickening epoxy with just enough cab o sil to hold shape.  The thin epoxy solutions mentioned surely work fine but seem way too much trouble when none of the many - many holes done with thicker epoxy have ever leaked or given any trouble.  That includes many stanchion and stay through-deck repairs, outboard mounting transom holes, transducer holes, lacing holes for trimaran tramps, rigging line fairleads and various others.  Just fill the hole a bit proud and scrape off excess with squeegee and its done.  Slathering on some thin epoxy on the interior is good for a belt and suspenders job but not critical.

  17. Many people have made it from Cuba to the Keys in craft that most of us would not trust on a small inland lake.  Some of them were just lucky and some had craft that, while not ideal, were capable of ocean passages in decent weather.  Many foundered and were lost and many were rescued along the way.  An outboard skiff has crossed the Atlantic to Europe and it appeared to be no more seaworthy than your present boat and perhaps not as good.   One of the design goals of the Bluejacket 28 was for a trip up the Inside Passage of the Alaska Archipelago.  All such passages have some risk in any small boat and a prudent seaman operates within an envelope of safety that they consider acceptable to them.  A 90 mile offshore passage requires some planning with weather being the highest consideration. 

     

    A Bluejacket is a very solidly built boat as designed and can be expected to operate in some pretty rough conditions.  Water is water, wherever you find it, and ocean waves are often far less demanding than the short steep variety often found in inshore shallow sounds.  One BJ28 completed a 7500 mile passage of the Great Loop last year, including some rough conditions off Florida as well as offshore around New Jersey and the Great Lakes.  A Bluejacket is similar enough to the hull of your boat that these passages should be possible.  It will be slower but on one of the calm days the trip to Cuba might be done in five hours or even less.  To the Bahamas, it could be quite a bit less if the landfall is Bimini.  No reasonable person is going to tell a stranger that they should just take off an go across an ocean in any small boat and I will not do so.  The final responsibility is with the skipper of the boat as it always is.

  18. Graham, Alan, do you or have you tried using heat to expand the mandrel before and during cure and then cooling to shrink it for removal?  I am not up on the details, but this is done by carbon spar manufactures

     

    Dave,

     

    No doubt that can be made to work but the details of doing it on individual basis is making a simple process complicated.  Safety of heat and resin could be a issue also.

    • Like 1
  19. Don,

     

    Sadler Creek Park is a very nice location on Lake Hartwell.  We have camped there and sailed on the lake.  It is near Anderson, SC but I'm pretty sure that the park is actually in Georgia.  Water level can be an issue sometime and I don't know how it is now although there should have been plenty of rain in the area lately.  Lapwing might be able to come if the skipper and crew are up to it.

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