Joe Anderson

The tiller should not have failed under those circumstances. Perhaps it had been previously damaged or the wood is punk.

Congratulations on your emergency repair. It looks to me like you could remove the bolts attaching the tiller to the top of the rudder and replace. A variety of woods could be used something with a straight tight grain. southern yellow pine, douglas fir. If you are uncertain of the suitability of your wood give it a stress test to see how easily it will break before building it into your tiller. Put one tiller arm on to get the holes lined up with the rudder, then drill through into the second arm after both arms of the tiller are in place. One aspect of making a repair is determining the cause of the failure. In normal use a tiller has very little force on it, but because it is such a vital piece of gear it should be able to withstand a certain amount of abuse. Did something happen that exerted unusual force on the tiller?

Graham will the Centerboard mold for the 246 work on the MF 234?

I first thought why solid glass centerboard. Most of the rest of us have wood core. But Matthew in his blue water mode might be going a long ways between haul outs. If the board is damaged while being used as a depth gauge a repair may have to wait for awhile. Probably lots of details making this a serious blue water boat.

Very excited for you. I hope it is Matt more often than Matthew. Does the #1800 mean 1800 pounds lead ballast? Seems like a lot.

I spoke with Graham a year or so ago about the Matthew Flinders design. Graham told me that while working on the CS17 MK3 design he became interestied in the design challenge of building as small as possible while preserving performance, safety and function in the class. The CS 17MK3 and CS 20 MK3 are winners in their class so I was intrigued when I heard that Graham and Alan had begun to focus on a live aboard. I have long dreamed of owning a live aboard but whenever I have sailed one they have not seemed right. They felt to big. That seems to fit perfectly. I am very pleased that you and Carol have taken the lead on this project. I know it may at times seem overwhelming, but from what I have seen you two are more than up to the task. I hope you will keep us posted. It has been long enough since my last build that I think I am ready for another. Joe

I like that Ken. I have found weather radar useful for tracking large fronts not so much for individual cells. Pete, Thank you for sharing the storm report. I am glad you and Chessie were able to weather the blow. You said the sail ties on the main slipped aft allowing the wind to unfurl the main. I wonder if there is a simple way to prevent the ties from moving and make the main more secure. Were the ties a little loose? The natural taper of the furled main would make this a possibility that had never occurred to me.

Thank you for sharing your story. I appreciate the details and the unfiltered tone. I can feel the fear, the disbelief that you could get caught in such a situation. But the truth is it could happen to anyone. I was struck by how well you and Anna handled your capsize. Hitting the water might be a bruise to your ego and cause you to loose some confidence in yourself but that was a false confidence. That you and Anna could self rescue is grounds for real confidence. What to do when she is not along. That presents a bit of a problem. Now you will have to excuse me. I need to go figure out how to fasten down my rudder.

When working short handed I have had some success using small sticks clamped in place perpendicular to the stringer to lock it in place during a dry fit in addition to the pencil marks. That way when you get the part all smeared up with goop and you can't see any marks, and you are in a hurry, you have some confidence that the stringer is close to the marks. Then when you have time you can smear away the goop, find the marks, and remove the temporary sticks.

Alan, The torsion rope I have looked at is expensive and heavy 9mm. The Ronstan 80 series has an optional lashing pin at the top swivel. To increase torque I presume you run the paired line to the outside? The series 80 lashing pin won't fit series 60 top swivel. Perhaps a lashing pin could be improvised. After rereading your post I see you are using a paired 3/8 inch line. It is difficult to argue that a single 9mm line is heavier.

Thanks for the update Graham. I put the photo of the swivel on my phone. I could check around here to see if I could find someone who could machine them. Is it just the core that we need? Is that 2 1/2 or 3 inches long? What size are the bearings? How many would you want? Probably would be massively expensive but it won't hurt to ask around.

Graham I am thinking about adding a furler to make it easier to deploy and retrieve my spinnaker. I have looked around and the top down furlers available are for larger boats. The Ronstan 60 series furler goes for around $300. but it needs an adapter swivel to make it top down. Are you still pleased with your modified Ronstan 60 furler. Did your adapter go into production?

Sunday afternoon Jay and Carol in Southern Express, Graham in Carlita, and Sally and I in Skorpa left for a four day cruise to Portsmouth and Ocracoke. Skorpa and Carlita rafted up for dinner in Riggs Creek off Bonner Bay Getting an early start for the crossing to Portsmouth Island Southern Express and Carlita heading to Portsmouth Island We made it! The Coast Guard station at Portsmouth Island Climbing to the observation deck. Looking West toward the mainland. Looking East across the Ocracoke Inlet After exploring Portsmouth we headed across the inlet to Ocracoke. We anchored in Silver Lake. Wednesday Carlita and Skorpa sailed back to Chapel Creek. Southern Express followed on Thursday.

Thanks for the trip report. Tangier is an interesting destination. Peter is pretty sharp to ask about your board position. I don't think the board needs to be all the way down, half way or even less will make a big difference.

Sally and I plan to stay a few days after the Messabout. We are hoping to get a couple of nights at anchor. We do not have a destination in mind. We will see what the wind and weather bring. Paul Totally understand the difficulty of the trip. We will miss you.