7-16-2012, rev. 7-31-2024

I always liked Clint....

Nothing secures a dinghy, specifically a non-RIB inflatable, like lines cris-crossed underneath. No more sway. No more worries about loosing air pressure and strain on the attachment points.

How high does a tender need to be above the water? Surely this depends on the waters sailed, how far it extends behind the boat, and the motion of the boat. It depends on how well secured the tender is to the davits, in case it does take some minor hits.

Often, I see towering, high davits, with tenders swinging far below them. Sometimes it's coastal convenience; they hoist her up when off-shore. Too often, the tackle or attachment bridle were poorly conceived, pointlessly consuming critical space between the tender and the davits. Hoisting bridles waste space and are thus, well... dumb.

In my case, the tender is nestled between the hulls, only extending a bit beyond the sterns. This is typical on cats and makes carrying a tender safely easier. I've also taken steps to shorten the lifting tackle and added a bow spreader bar, such that the tackle is contained almost entirely within the tender, thus consuming no lift space.

An so I can hang her high without towering davits. Triced up, with cris-crossing lines underneath, she snugs up tight in the gap between transoms with no need to remove the engine or hoist her up into the wind. The aft edge is about 4 feet off the water, and top edge just above the deck, convenient for loading.

Very simple.


The spreader bar is made from 1-inch x 1/8-inch aluminum square tube that clips the tender floor and D-rings on both tubes, and is clipped to a lifting tackle only 8 inches above the tender floor; you can't just clip the floor of a sport boat, because if the tubes go flat the floor comes out. And tricing lines, of course.

3-30-2012, rev. 4-20-2018, rev. 7-31-2024

As the knees get older, steps get higher.  Last year, at the Annapolis Boat Show I was sitting on a 45-foot VERY expensive catamaran, along with a group of mature sailors who had the rocks to by said boat. It was VIP and Press Pass Day and there were a lot of well healed folks about. Across the dock was an even more expensive Gunboat 50. Very pretty.


I pointed out that these boats all had tall step disease. A standard step is 7 1/2" x  10", yet even on the largest cats where space  was no real concern, the step pitch measured 11" x 5", I suppose because it looked better. In conversation we also learned that fully 71% of our group had either personally or had a spouse go through knee surgery. Two artificial knees were displayed. My wife has an artificial knee, though she was resting it elsewhere, and I have had serious knee surgery. Are the boat builders so stupid--no, I don't think that is too strong a word--that they don't realize the buyers of these boats are either older or will soon become so?

Even younger sailors get worn down by big steps over the course of a long day--I can ride a bike 100 miles in 5 hours yet the steps get to me some days--and so I've been fighting my own battle, on a limited scale. The steps leading up from the cockpit are 14 inches and the steps down below are 11 inches.

I built these low stools (the cabin steps must fit under the swing of the bedroom doors) from scraps and a few squares left over from the cockpit floor project. Thus, they cost only a few hours and some left over materials. I don't think any real explanation is required for a carpenter to reproduce them. For the boat owner and tinkerer, hours spent making sawdust on small projects are not subtracted from out lifespan (yup, I bastardized that a bit).

3-7-2012, rev. 7-31-2024

For all the talk and trouble water in the gasoline causes--far worse with e10--to me it's rather conspicuous by its absence that neither owners nor builders ever took a serious look at vent filters. Cars have had sealed tanks fitted with both pressure controls and filters since 1971. I considered this a few times--I've installed very large descant traps on very large chemical tanks--but figured if it was so against the conventional wisdom in the boating community, it couldn't be right. Funny.... That's not like me.

In a prior post I began a discussion of some testing for Practical Sailor. We've got two test boats going at this time. I've started monitoring the humidity inside and outside. Yup, it's drier inside the tank, after filtration. We expect some positives that should add up to a good value proposition for the owner:

• Drier gas/fuel.
• Less evaporation, to the tune of $8-$12/year. The unit should last ~ 10 years without service, so that will nearly pay for it.
• Less loss of volatiles means better starting, particularly in cold weather.
• Less loss of volatiles means better resistance to phase separation/emulsion blobs. I have only been able to recreate true phase separation from atmospheric absorption if the ethanol evaporates after it is saturated, and I've tried many combinations. This is why we generally only see it in carbs (they're small).
• Less loss of volatiles mean less gum formation (better solvency).
• Less loss of volatiles is good for the environment. Yes, that counts.
• Less oxygen (less convection, more vapor space) means less gum formation.

It won't stop these things from happening in the carburetor, but it should significantly extend gasoline stability in the tank considerably. Preliminary calculations suggest at least double.

But can we demonstrate how this actually effects the fuel over time on a small scale, in a controlled manner? Calculations only go so far, since water condensation and absorption, differential evaporation, and fuel oxidation work together in complex ways. Science project time.

Actually, both carbon and silica gel are both adsorbents that pull water and organic vapors from the air. Silica gel (the packs you find in with your new DVD player) has a high affinity for water, while carbon has a high affinity for organic vapors. However, both adsorb reversibly; that is, if exposed to high temperatures and either clean air, or an excess of something else, they release what they have previously adsorbed. Carbon can be flushed by water vapor and air, while silica gel can be flushed with hydrocarbon and air. Both should have the effect of keeping the tank drier and reducing evaporation, adsorbing and desorbing with each day/night breathing cycle. Both should reduce oxygen in the tank. But how much?

Results in the fall. The long version will be in Practical Sailor.These things can't be rushed. I expect we are going to find the improvements are small and that a sailor won't "feel" any difference. But his engine will start a little easier, he'll buy a little less gas, and have a few less problems. The math works, it just won't bring instant gratification, not like $100 spent on some bit of deck hardware would bring. More like the "pay me now, or pay me later" benefit of changing the oil;   

But meanwhile, like the holding tank vent filter that I installed (and am very pleased with), I've installed a carbon vent filter on Shoal Survivor gas tank and I'm not planning on taking it off.

Note for the spelling or technically obsessed: sometimes I say absorb, and sometimes I say adsorb; both are correct. Alcohol absorbs water. Silica gel adsorbs water. The mechanism is very different and the reversibility is very different. This is the reason adsorbents are so useful.

22016, Rev. 7-30-2024

In the spring I enjoyed posting a rant about the 7 sins of spring boat work. However, either not all sailors read this blog and follow my sage advise, or perhaps I simply need to these few items to my  growing list of obvious time wasters.

1. Pulling halyards and replacing with messenger lines. Let's look at the case of a typical 45-foot mast:

Capital. 4 halyards x 90 feet x $1.30/ft = $468. Of course, these will last 8 years anyway, so perhaps hiding them for 5 months will stretching that to 10 years. We'll save $117.00 over 8 years. We'll need messenger lines; I'll give you a discount and assume that most are old halyards, so only $150.00, or a $33.00 loss for our efforts. 

Labor. If we are very efficient, it takes us 1 hour each way for all 4 halyards, or 16 hours over 8 years. -$33.00/16 = -$2.06/hour loss.  If all the messenger lines were free (and I have watched people buy them) you would have earned $7.31/hour. Whoopee. And I bet that won't seem like much if just once in 16 x 4 = 64 cycles, your stitching breaks free and the line goes to the mast head and back down to the base.

Those messengers need stored and to be hauled to home and back. More work.

Perhaps the most obvious flaw in the practice is that the lines need not wear at the same points in the winter that they wear in the summer. They can be shifted by simple means: the roller furling jib will be lowered, the topping lift can be raised 1-foot, and the main and spinnaker halyards can be extended 1-foot to hide the normal wear points; pull them out a little further and tie them to the rail instead of clipping them on. That will take only minutes in the fall and seconds in the spring. With simple practice, I suspect the lanes will fail first at one of their normal wear spots and all of the effort of storing the lines will have been for naught. Good exercise, I suppose.

Perhaps they are high-tech lines on a tricked-out "racing" boat. Though she may have Kevlar sails, she's an over weight monohull and pretending to race is rather like a whispering contest. Real race boats can go 20 knots. They have 2 or 3 hulls or or flat bottoms. One designs race too. Handicap racing, particularly hauling lead and cookware around sheltered waters is plain silliness, in my not altogether humble opinion. I feel the same about bowling and golf too, by the way; really, you either win or you don't. Age and weight classes I get.

On my last boat I got 10 years out of my Kevlar halyards, and they are anything but durable. I simply trimmed them a few feet every few years. 

See also Reeving Eye, below.

2.  Hauling for the winter. My last boat was seriously damaged by improper blocking. Really, how many boats are better supported on stands than by water?

Freeze damage is a lesser risk in boats in the water, since the temperature very seldom dips below freezing; the water keeps them (relatively) warm. Every spring I see a few rudders and keels that have been split by ice while stored on the hard; they've seen temperatures they would never see in the water. Yes, you need to be sure of your through hulls and drains.

Off-season sailing. Anyone who would willingly miss the Chesapeake in October shouldn't call themselves a sailor; it's the finest season. Additionally, the cost-per-sail is half when you sail twice as much, or nearly so. Spring commissioning largely goes away. Engines and electronics prefer regular use.

Expense. About $325 to haul/block/launch. Another $1,000 in storage. A total waste. Yes, hauling for painting is unavoidable, but there are plenty of 2-year paints, and that only takes a week.

Insurance. No, hauling is not required and staying in increases rates only about $50/year (they know yards aren't safe places).  You are typically required to "lay-up" for a few weeks (the specific weeks are designated in my policy), but that can be in the water. The only requirement is that "the boat not be available for immediate use", which is simple to document in the log. Don't be dumb enough to have an accident sailing during the designated week.

3.    Taking everything home, for safe keeping. Thanks, but no thanks. I've got enough stuff at house. My marina is safe--in over 20 years nothing has moved on anyone's boat.

4.   Extra lines, but no chafe protection for those they already have. Would you rather have one good climbing rope or 2 ropes that were pulled up from the ooze under the marina?

5. Tarps. Yes, they can help, if well thought out. I've also seen gelcoat rubbed to bare glass, stanchions pulled in, biminis crushed flat, and stands pulled out (the high-wind domino is always a fright to see). Invariably, they blame the damage on the winter, not the tarp. I'm very judicious in my use of tarps.

I simply feel better knowing that my toy, my alter ego, my escape, is in a continuous state of readiness, to go where I want and when I want. Any illusion of freedom requires that.

But humans are herd animals; if we see a group, we follow the crowd. 

 _______________________

Reeving Eye

 If you are going to pull your halyards, imagine the things that can happen if your tape, thread, or paper clip splice comes apart:

• The reeving/mousing line falls to the ground, the halyard goes to the masthead, and you have to climb and get it. Annoying or bad, depending on your skills.
• Both lines fall to the ground. You will have to climb and tread a new line down the mast, not snagging anything or placing the line where it will chafe against wiring and anything sharp. Much worse.
• The reeving line falls to the ground and the halyard collapses into a piling inside the mast, tangling and wrapping around fasteners, wiring, and through-bolts. This can take days to sort out, if you can sort it out. You'll want to sell the boat. If you contract it out, it can cost thousands.

Instead, connect the halyard to the reeving line with a reeving splice. Do it right.

• Remove about 8-10 inches of core. There is no need to taper it, just cut it square. Milk the cover back out until it extends 8-10 inches beyond the core.
  
• Make a very small eye from the cover by burying it back into itself. You don't need a fid, just a length of rigging wire bent into a tightish hairpin. Ideally, the buried cover touches the end of the truncated core, but this is looks not function. Lock stitch to keep it in place. The eyes should be 30-50% line strength, depending on the details. Very strong and no larger than the line itself.
  
• Lash the two lines together with heavy whipping twine.

 As a bonus, the eyes will be there next year AND there is no need to whip or otherwise finish the line ends.

Another possibility is to simply stitch the cover flat against itself. Just as functional.

I'll post a video on sewn eyes as soon as I find it. That's a slightly different thing, but it is often the only way to splice a used line.