I saw a boat recently which had large cotter rings through the turnbuckles instead of cotter pins. This looked like a great idea to me as I sometimes find it difficult to get bent cotter pins back out of the turnbuckles. Any down side of using rings instead of pins? Dave
On Oct 27, 2015, at 8:07 PM, David Paine via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Answers for Patrick: > > > 3) > Is the exhaust hose looped up? Yes but not enough. Usually there is a > flapper valve on the exhaust but the reverse transom angle and the angled cut > of the exhaust make commercial ones unusable. > > 4) Does your fuel tank vent line not have a check valve in it? (1-way valve > to allow air egress but prevent water ingress) Or was the check valve not > working? > > No check valve and in any case, a check valve allows flow of air or water in > only one direction. If it were put in correctly the fuel couldn't get out > but displacement air and water could. > > 9) What do you mean by "wire" a turnbuckle? Did your turnbuckles not have > cotter pins in them on the upper stays? (Is running without pins actually > something people do??) > > Heck yeah, who uses cotter pins? I use stainless steel wire through the hole > in both screws and through the body of the turnbuckle.. Cheap and easy. > > > > On Tue, Oct 27, 2015 at 11:51 AM, <cnc-list-requ...@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: David Paine <paineda...@gmail.com> > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Cc: > Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2015 14:50:37 -0400 > Subject: Stus-List Bermuda1-2 lessons learned > Hi All, > > As I mentioned last spring as part of a question about life rafts, I had > planned to sail my C&C33-1 solo to Bermuda and back (double handed) in the > Bermuda1-2 race. I did, It was fun, it was terrifying, it was expensive to > prepare for, and it was frustrating as I did not do well (dfl) in my class in > part because of the high winds and seas near the gulf stream probably favored > the HR49 and other heavyweights in my class but mostly because I was > climbing a steep learning curve. Of course, a C&C35-1 won the return and > did well on the way there so (in my case) it's the sailor not the boat. In > preparation for the next one, I need to resolve a few issues with the boat > and a lot with the skipper. I was putting together a list that I thought I > would share. > > (1) The autopilot has to be more than bullet proof. I thought my below > deck pilot was, but I was wrong, and as a result I found myself upside down > in the cockpit locker and crawling deep underneath the cockpit floor in > horrible conditions to tighten bolts that allowed the tiller arm to slip (no > woodruff key or slot to put it in). I lost a lot of time bobbing around with > the sails down repairing the autopilot or sleeping. The fix for this one is > obvious but will require dismantling the quadrant and figuring out how to > bolt the tiller arm to it. Other issues with the autopilot were completely > my own fault as I made changes to the electronics but did not have time to > proof test the changes. > > (2) When a wave fills the cockpit and it gets flooded (and it did repeatedly) > the engine instruments are going to get wet. This is not good as the > switches will (and did) fail, I am considering relocation or creating a > waterproof cover. > > (3) Following seas WILL drive water up the tailpipe and into the engine. As > a result, I sailed into St Georges harbor and up to the customs dock then I > spent a day in Bermuda sucking water out of the engine and drying it out > enough to get it started. For the return trip, I put a plug in the exhaust > pipe but the plug was washed out in the "washing machine like conditions" and > ... we got to sail the boat into the Newport Yacht Club dock at 3:00 am on no > sleep. Then spend another day pumping oily water out of the engine. Yeah, > slow learner. > > (4) The fuel tank vent on my boat is high up on the starboard side but by > the time I got to Bermuda, the tank had a quart of water in it (which I > siphoned out). Good filters (a racor) helped but I need to relocate the vent > -- the question is where? It may not be wise but on the return trip I > wrapped the vent with tape (which, if I had run the engine I would have > removed) A better solution is needed. > > (5) Reefing has to be quick and easy -- I spent far too much time screwing > up enough courage to go to the mast to reef and shake-out. My current > reefing system (probably original to the boat) has a winch on the boom which > makes the first reef fine but I used all three reef points and releasing the > last reef before pulling in the next in 35-40 kn of breeze is a nightmare. > I need to work on leading the lines to the cockpit. > > (6) A removable inner forestay and a blade foresail might be nice. My new > furling 130 spent a lot of time furled 50% and that really has screwed up the > shape of my formerly new and now blown out 130. > > (7) The boat was reasonably dry inside (a result of hours of rebedding > hardware) but somehow the mast collar leaked like a sieve. The boot looks > perfect so it has to be the where the Al collar (mast partners) meets the > deck -- who would have thought that the one place I didn't rebed would be a > problem! > > (8) Hoisting a radar reflect on a flag halyard to the spreaders seems like a > good idea until the line breaks and you lose both. > > (9) The one turnbuckle that I did not wire was the port diamond stay. Turns > out the mast will stay up without this - whew! It is extremely unnerving to > see a piece of wire swinging around at night in a blow. Wire everything. And > use lock tight on critical bolts -- my solar panel broke loose as a result of > a bolt getting unscrewed. > > (10) Fighting with a 10 foot long spinnaker pole to fly the spin gets really > old. Luckily the wind only died down enough to fly the spinnaker at the end > of the race but if the conditions had been more benign, I would have had to > fly the spinnaker much more. An assymetrical with a short prod would be > nice (but probably outside my ability to rationalize the spending). > > (11) Getting a decent weather (GRIB) file occasionally would have been really > helpful. I suppose I need to figure out how to do a SSB or Sat phone modem. > > Tons more lessons learned but that's enough for now. > > Best, > > David > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Email address: > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom > of page at: > http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com > Dr. David Knecht Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology Core Microscopy Facility Director University of Connecticut 91 N. Eagleville Rd. Storrs, CT 06269 860-486-2200
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