Where to move the socket

19/02/200720/02/2007 / Bill

So here’s a problem to solve?

This is where the Tiller Pilot plugs in – (Raytheon ST1000 plus)

It’s in the corner – (currently, dirty corner following heavy rain), of the cockpit, out of the way, or, at least whoever placed it there thought so.

It’s not the socket, of course, that’s the problem, it’s the cable that plugs into it.

I knock it far too often – usually during manouvering, sometimes just feeling expansive and leaning back, occasionally I have put something on it without thinking. Mostly I don’t notice myself doing it – too busy concentrating.

The result is a disconnected self-steering which becomes evident sooner rather than later, depending on which direction we are pointing.

So I need to do something apart from scrubbing the deck. The socket either needs to be protected, or moved – but where? especially as there is no nearby vertical surface to attach it to.

I’m sure there’s a good solution out there somewhere.

Boom Outhauls – a query

06/02/2007 / Bill / 2 Comments

I went down to the boat last week to run the engine for a while and check out the jobs we are going to do when she comes out of the water in March. A quiet couple of hours messing about in a boat – is there anything better?

The engine started first go and settled into a friendly rhythm. The no.1 battery was low again but charged up ok.

We are going to tackle a whole range of jobs from reseating deck fittings to replacing the hatches on the stern lockers.

There’s a design problem with the stern lockers – water gets in far too easily. Having played with ideas of rubber seals on the hatches themselves and also around the opening, I’ve gone for the more expensive, but more robust and long-lasting grp option, on the lines of the ones in the image below.

I’m not over keen on the wooden embellishment, but the hatch lids are tight fitting, and, at the same time, can be accessed easily. They can be removed completely so I’m not banging my head or having to hold them open. They are permanently attached to the boat by a length of rope long enough to allow temporary stowage in the cockpit, or on the adjacent lid, or made fast to the pushpit. They can also be tied down in a sea.

The rigging needs some attention too. Contemplating the setup, and how she sailed during the summer, it struck me that there were one or two points I’d failed on. I am sure I can get her sailing better.

One of these is/are the boom outhaul/s, below, not currently rigged.

I would be interested to hear how other people set them up and manage them under sail. There seems to be plenty of room for adjustment – but in which direction?

12 reasons to spend money on the boat

21/01/2007 / Bill / 1 Comment

I woke up this morning with a wild debate raging between my ears.

I am in a position that I guess most boat owners find themselves at some stage.
Can I justify spending a substantial amount of money on my boat, when the one certainty is that there will be little, (probably no), financial return on the investment?

The argument is running like this:

As this is a leisure activity, should I be looking beyond a gain in financial capital.
Surely, there are gains in human capital and social capital that are more relevant and definitely worth seeking.

So my current reasons for spending the money are sketched out below in personal and social terms :

Twelve reasons to spend money on Blue Mistress:

To be able to continue to enjoy sailing for the sake of it.
To restore and give longer life to an attractive, sea-kindly vessel that can be passed on to a younger owner when I can no longer sail.
This boat has a design, shape and size that make it ideal for single-handed sailing, and, given that we won’t be living aboard, for the two of us to spend time together comfortably.
To have a specific activity that we can enjoy together as a complete family – the not-so-young children can be involved too. On the occasions we are together, we can learn together.
To be able to take friends out for a day/morning/afternoon – to enjoy sailing in good company.
To be able to explore the coastline and harbours of Devon and Cornwall.
To open up the possibility of going further afield – around the UK coastline, across to France, or to Ireland.
For personal health – fresh air, exercise, mental stimulation outside a daily career.
To have an activity that will take me out of that career and onto the next stage, whatever that may hold. Since I bought Blue Mistress, I am meeting interesting, active, concerned people in situations that would never have happened if I had maintained the status quo.
The boat and the maritime environment give me a focus for my writing and photography. For me this is the more outward-looking contribution.
In environmental terms, from a maritime perspective, I can witness first hand the effects of global warming.
Sailing, harnessing energy from the wind and the sea, is essentially a green activity, and worth pursuing because of this. As with most similar activities, it is not quite as simple as it first appears – some aspects are more ‘green’ than others and, no doubt, these will be the source of debate over the next decade. How can we learn about them without being involved in them?

The trick seems to be in avoiding sending good money after bad money.
If I get it right, although I will have invested more initially, I will have lifted the value of my boat just a little in financial terms, but a lot in human and social terms, ensuring longer-term enjoyment and making possible the outcomes I am looking for.
If I get it wrong, I will have spent albeit less money, but on short-term improvements that are likely to beget more short-term improvements that, in the long-term will cost me a lot more both financially and in personal angst, and will lead to me and my boat parting company sooner rather than later.

You can see which way the argument is going, can’t you.

New phase in the Blue Mistress story

12/01/2007 / Bill / 2 Comments

Today marked a new phase in the Blue Mistress story.

It was time to decide on exactly what the spring refit will involve – jobs, time, costs.

Richard from the boatyard came and helped move us forward – very diplomatically I thought, although he needn’t have been. We agree where we are going with the boat, we just needed to agree the process of getting there.

Basically, we have to ensure the deck is watertight before we can do anything below. So this will be the focus for 2007.

It will involve removing all the deck fittings, including some recent ones, reseating them, replacing and making watertight the lazarette hatch covers, replacing the window ports, repairing grp, stripping and recoating the deck. The mast will be removed and the rigging checked.

She is booked to come out of the water and placed under cover in March, and will need to be dried out (with dehumidifiers) first.

That’s all I’m going to say on the subject for while. It’s grit your teeth and cross your fingers time.

Boat Blog – Second Phase

12/01/2007 / Bill / 2 Comments

What did it take to keep me writing?
One week and some encouragement from the other side of the world.

What is it they say?
‘Praise’ is the greatest form of motivation?
Certainly worked for me.

This marks a new phase in the Boat Blog
My purpose has changed a little and we shall see how it develops.
More on this later.

Refit under way – end of blog

06/01/2007 / Bill / 2 Comments

This is the last entry in this blog.

I started it three months ago as a way of finding out more about Folksong 25s.
The idea was to create a contact point – (throw out a line).
Anyone could place a comment on any of the entries and that comment would arrive in my inbox almost instantly.

Three months on, a number of people have kindly contacted me and been extremely helpful and informative.
I would like to thank them.
I have the information I was looking for and I hope to continue these contacts over time.

I am old enough to be totally amazed at the power of this medium.
Imagine, even five years ago, having the ability to search across continents to find out information that is relevant to only a very few?

A letter to Practical Boat Owner might have got a result, but the message would have appeared only once and, even if it had been picked up, would have required much more energy from those wishing to reply.

With the blog, I have a small body of work that will remain on the internet for another nine months or so.
I am keen to see whether others follow it up.
.
Blogs – and I’ve read a lot of them, seem to me to be mostly more useful to the writer than the reader.
They are an opportunity for the writer to state his/her point of view.
Sometimes they’re informative, sometimes expressive, often plain dull.

For me, it has been a short journal.
To ‘spread the net’, I have done more than concentrate on the boat alone and I hope the writing has been of passing interest.

As for Blue Mistress, the first steps of the refit are underway.
Yesterday afternoon, there was a definite sense of direction on board.
Perhaps I shall come back later in the year with an update.

In the meantime, enjoy your sailing

Bill

On warps and batteries

31/12/200631/12/2006 / Bill

At the marina yesterday, I found the No.1 battery (my engine starter) lowish, while the No.2 battery was almost fully charged.
I have no idea why there should be a difference as they were both fully charged when I last looked a week ago.
The engine started easily on the No.2 battery and the other one is now fully charged, but I shall keep a close eye on it.

The current high winds have worked the warps hard and there were early signs of chafe on the aft spring. I changed this to a heavier rope as this takes the full weigh of the boat most often.

Where Blue Mistress is moored, in the corner of the marina, most of the gales seem to deflect from the other side of the river and push her away from the finger. This is good because, as I’ve mentioned before, her deck is level with the pontoon/finger making it difficult to position the fenders. If they are raised to sit between the rubbing strake and the finger, they work themselves out. Placing them so that they are just below the rubbing strake keeps them in place and the hull off the finger in a calm, but with a swell there is a tendency to roll and the possibility of sliding under the edge of the finger. In the very heavy winds before Christmas, there was some slight damage.

As we are in a corner with plenty of room, I have been able to overcome this by running a warp to the far pontoon from midships. Together with the starboard bow warp to the pontoon, this holds her about two feet off and still allows room for a large motor vessel to moor opposite.

Leaking deck

13/12/2006 / Bill / 1 Comment

There’s always a moment when the thinking stops and the action has to start.
You can dream til the cows come home but it doesn’t get the job done.

So, yesterday, having written my piece about Where to Start a few days ago and hitched it to the companionway and engine box, it suddenly dawned on me that this was not the place to start at all. (It’s that old joke of “if you want to go there, you don’t want to start from here.”)

The stark reality is that it has rained so much and so heavily in the last two or three weeks that water has managed to penetrate every vulnerable point in the deck and has flowed to various points via the cabin lining.

Not only that, but the two hatches that were fitted at the aft end of the cockpit, the hatches I thought would be so useful for extra storage, have proved totally unwatertight.

This is an extension of the problem with the cockpit drains in Folksongs that John mentioned. The entrance to the drains is almost at water level so that there is always water visible in them. In a torrential downpour, the cockpit quickly fills and the drains only slowly take the water away. This is less of a problem when sailing but on Blue Mistress on her berth the water has had time to ‘flow’ through the hatches. ‘Flow’ seems to be the right word by the state of the quarter berth cushions and the water level in the lockers there. (Thank goodness for duck tape).

The general feeling of damp was not just due to condensation and the cabin lining, which is similar to the lining they use in wardrobes on the expensive yachts, (imagine), showed damp areas and distinctly wet areas. The leaks are from various deck fittings – including a couple of stanchions which have bent on their bases.

I have to thank Andy for thinking it through with me. it needed an outside eye. I look forward to working with him later.

So I stripped all the lining from both cabins – and reduced the damp areas to a few specific points. Now all I have to do is sit there in the rain and circle the defects!

The results are two lighter, colder, less cosy cabins – but it’s a step in the right direction. I can still sail over the winter (well, not in this wind) and the repair work can be done under cover in the spring.

Designing a new Companionway

08/12/2006 / Bill / 2 Comments

The reason I started this blog was to try and get some input from other Folksong owners on the layout of the companionway/engine box area in their boats.

From the beginning, there have been a number of jobs I need to do, the question has always been “where do I start?”

Now, having spent three months enjoying Blue Mistress – it’s a great sail, I have a simple plan.

The trick will be to turn the plan into reality.

Outline Plan for new Companionway:

1. An inboard engine (Yanmar GM10) was fitted several years ago. It’s below what was the companionway. An engine box was designed later, with a battery box forward of it. Neither the engine box nor the battery box is robust enough to be used as companionway steps into the saloon – especially with a sea running. Entry is currently in the form of a backward shuffle with the left foot hopefully contacting the edge of the navigation area.

2. The navigation area itself needs to be brought up to standard to take a new fuse box, DSC/VHF, chart potter etc.

3. There is no way of laying out a chart unless the saloon table is in place, which is impossible in a sea.

Stage One:

To make new robust engine and battery boxes that will be secure and strong enough to bear the weight of a heavy man in a heavy sea.

The structure has to be secure but it must also allow access to the engine (fuel line, water line, dip-stick – and a view of the stern gland), and batteries, and be as sound-proof as practical.

Also, the top step should be able to act as a seat for someone to sit with his/her head outside the hatch, and the bottom step to be a seat at the aft end on the saloon, (preferably on the same level as the saloon benches) – I have checked it since I wrote this and it will actually have to be slightly lower than this because headroom is restricted by a sill.

Stage Two

At the same time the navigation/electronics area needs some straightforward joinery – book shelf, fascia for fuse box, VHF and so on.

This area is on the starboard side, next to the bottom step/seat of the companionway. On the port side is the stove.

Stage Three

The bottom step/seat should make it feasible to have a removable chart table that will fit transversely across the saloon here – so that I can keep a chart out while we are sailing and access it easily. I have a design in mind to make it secure but will need to look at materials available.

Just an Observation

08/12/200608/12/2006 / Bill

Just an observation:

Last Sunday, winds of over 100 mph caused havoc along the stretch of water that was the subject of my previous entry – (posted three hours before it happened).

A row of yachts, theoretically safely stored on shore for the winter, were blown over, breaking masts, deck equipment etc and causing millions of pounds worth of damage.

At least one boat still on the same moorings we had left at the beginning of the month sank, other yachts were torn from their moorings and blown ashore.

The marina where Blue Mistress is berthed is reasonably sheltered but two fingers were broken from the pontoons with yachts still moored to them.

Blue Mistress is ok where she is – stretched lines which needed readjusting.

There have been two further gales during the week.

Many thanks to Mike and David who have kindly had a look since and reworked the springs.

The long term forecast talks of more stormy weather and blizzards during February and March.

I don’t remember ‘blizzards’ occurring in long range forecasts in this country before.

Beyond Steeple Point

"Not all who wander are lost"

'Blue Mistress'