Storm Windows

This project is an excerpt from a larger article at Sail Delmarva, originally published on March 7, 2010. You may think that this is off season for this subject, but

• It isn't off season here in Seattle
• You need to get ready for next winter sometime
• It'll help with air conditioning too.

It was COLD this winter and I slept on the boat a good number of nights. You need to look closely at the picture to see the reflection, the only clear evidence. They are simple: 1/8-inch acrylic cut with a plastic cutter, trimmed to size on a bench grinder, and some are fitted with fabric loops to facilitate removal (the larger ones in the cabins and next to the salon door). They fit in the bug screen groove and help just a little with the cold. Cost - $8.00 for a handful of ugly thrift store posters - I threw the posters away.

I especially like the source of the acrylic that Drew used. And I am impressed with the idea of replacing bug screens with a piece of acrylic - this is an idea that will work with the Beckson ports on Eolian too.

Please don't weep!

Moisture wicking down thru the end grain of the sampson posts over the long, rainy Seattle winters was a source of water in the chain locker on Eolian. A quick and very nautical fix for this was some thin sheet copper (gotten at a craft store) and some small copper brads.

If you decide to do this and find the sheet is too stiff to work with, heat it to red heat and let it cool slowly - this should take the work-hardening out of it.

Ratlin' up to the yard

This project is from s/v Siempre Sabado, originally published on Thursday, December 10, 2009.

Just so you don't think that ALL I do is go to the store and sit around doing crossword puzzles, here's a picture of what I did yesterday. I installed ratlines on the starboard lower shrouds. The mast steps are great for climbing all the way up to the top of the mast but if the mainsail is up it's a little more difficult. Besides, one has to be all harnessed up when using them. Enter, the ratlines. Made from well-varnished white oak, they're about 1-3/4" thick to be semi-friendly to bare feet. They're very easy to climb and, because they cant inboard, they feel quite safe. Just the ticket for working on the spreaders or, more often, for "ratlin' up" to get a better view when navigating shoal waters or looking for coral heads to avoid. Most boats that have ratlines only seem to have them on one side of the mast. But I plan to put them on both sides so that there is always a clear view regardless of which tack we happen to be on. People without ratlines are always yappin' about windage and weight aloft, but I have a feeling we're going to love them regardless of what the detractors say.

BTW: they have been Lulu-tested and declared "Safe-feeling" and "fun". So there.

So there indeed.

Need a pilot?

Steve at s/v Siempre Sabado. offers this tool tip: " If you ever come across this tool while you're out and about, buy it."

It's a pilot hole maker by Stanley. I've never seen another one and don't remember where I bought this one. It rode in our camper toolbox for years. If you've got the right size screw and the wood isn't too hard, you can make threaded pilot holes with this little gem a lot quicker, and with less mess, than you can pull out your cordless drill. And it can get you into some spots that the drill won't fit.

Steve & Lulu Yoder
KJ4STN
S/V Siempre Sabado
theyoders@earthlink.net

www.yodersafloat.blogspot.com

He who dies with the most tools, wins.

Adequate Current For The Bilge Pump

Eolian has 3 bilge pumps, at various levels in the bilge. Each is controlled from this panel, mounted just to starboard of the companionway stairs.



The primary pump is a huge 3700 gal/hr pump, which needs 14 amps at load. The other pumps are smaller. (Number two has a bell wired in parallel with it, so that when it runs, the bell serves as an alert.)



Eolian's showers drain into the bilge and are pumped overboard by the #1 pump. Some have said to me that it is a shame to be running the bilge pump so often. But I have a warm feeling when I am showering and the bilge pump kicks on. It is a frequent check of the serviceability of this important system, which otherwise might never be tested until it was absolutely required to be running.



But apropos to the subject of this post, the wiring to all three bilge pumps was a single 12 gauge wire. Tho 12 gauge wire would have been adequate to serve the large pump, it was inadequate to serve all three pumps running simultaneously. Having all three pumps running at once is not a situation I would want to see, but should it happen, I would certainly want there to be enough power supplied that all three *could* run simultaneously. So step 1 was to pull the 12 gauge wire and replace it with 10 gauge. The breaker in the power panel was upgraded to 30 amps too.



I had originally thought that this was the end of the job. But later, when I was running the pump manually, trying to scavenge as much water from the bilge as possible, I noticed that the pump ran considerably faster when I held the "Off-Auto-Manual" switch in Manual. Hmmm. The only difference between Auto and Manual is that the current for the pump has to pass thru the float switch when Auto is used. I checked the connections (I had made them) they were soldered and still solid. Despite being rated for this pump, it was apparent that the bilge pump switch was limiting the performance of the pump.

So I installed a relay. Having had less than stellar luck with conventional mechanical relays on board, I found a solid-state relay that would do the job for a pittance on eBay. This one is rated for 40 amps, and only requires a few milliamps to trip. That is, with the relay in place, the float switch only has to switch a few milliamps - the current to the pump goes directly thru the relay.



The difference was like night and day. Not only did the pump run better - it ran better than when I had used the Manual position on the switch panel earlier.



If you have a high-capacity bilge pump onboard, I strongly recommend you install a relay too, in order to get all the performance you paid for from your pump.

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This post appeared originally at Windborne In Puget Sound

Sparkman & Stephens type plans

Sparkman & Stephens build some absolutely gorgeous boats. In doing one of your projects, you've probably not said to yourself, "I wonder how S&S would do this."

But maybe you should have.

This gem is from Craft A Craft:

Sparkman & Stephens, a long time maritime design firm, has placed quite a few of what they call "Type Plans" available on their web page. These are small detail plans of various features on boats,say bunk board mounting or sail rigging designs, etc. Looks like there could be some great ideas to use here if you are building or modifying a boat.

S&S Type Plans
Over the years we have created a catalogue of typical details which might be found on any yacht which we refer to as "Type Plans". These were delivered to shipyards along with the plans and specification when building a new S&S boat to assist them and to attempt to standardize many of the details that can be found onboard an S&S boat. While many are somewhat outdated we include them here as they are extremely interesting. We hope you enjoy reviewing them.