Roller end caps to protect skegs

After a few instances of damage to the skegs from the trailer roller mounts I wanted to protect the skegs. Here are some shots of the old rollers.

roller

The skeg sometimes get cut by the mounting pillars

I picked up some 3 1/2"  roller ends and new 13" x 5/8" shafts and installed those today.

Here are the shots after.

End rollers installed

Better shot of the end rollers

I also raised the center roller about as high as it would go (see the first shot). That should guide the hull up and over until the skegs get on the rollers.

Trailer damage to the skegs

The Gig Harbor trailer has cut up my skegs a few times.

Just yesterday I scraped a skeg against the roller mount as I was pulling her onto the trailer. This has happened before.

Scraped the skeg on the trailer rollers

I've had to do more maintenance on the skegs than on any other part of the boat.

If I had to do the skegs all over again, I'd seriously consider just building the things out of 2" UHMW plastic. I have no idea how to bond UHMW to the hull though. I expect that even bedding compound won't stick to UHMW.

There are roller guide end caps that should protect the skegs. I'll do some investigation.

Canoe paddle house sign

At some point in the last couple years, my dad gave me a canoe paddle he had since I was a little kid sailing in his snipe. The paddle is probably even older than me. Around christmas time 2016, I epoxied and varnished it and applied some house numbers and set it in our front yard to be a house number sign.

Unfortunately, I didn't sand it well enough and the epoxy didn't stick well to the varnish on the paddle and started to flake off.

I decided to re-do the paddle.

I sanded it down to the wood and made sure I got all the finish off.

Then I epoxied it and used spar varnish to protect it from UV sunlight.
I'll put the numbers back on it and use for our house sign.

fourth coat of marine spar varnish

The blade center and handle is red oak. The black spots are the screws for the house numbers.

Numbers

Handle

It's finished, I just have to mount it on the pole now.

Battery meter installation followup

I finished the installation of the battery meter. This post is for pictures of the install and notes if anyone else wants to do the same thing.

I was able to borrow a phone end crimper from a friend. Ten RJ12 ends were $1.29 from Fry's. I tested the cable to make sure I knew how to wire it before clipping off the end and running it through he bulkheads.

A few wire ties and it's all done.

Meter installed

Shunt mounted on the starboard side. Main switch (red) on port side.

In this photo you can see the blocks I put in to hold the battery in place

A better shot of the shunt

The Victron BMV-700 is a small meter. Requires a 52-53mm hole. I used an adjustable hole drill bit. I tested for measurement on a scrap piece of MDF until I got the right size.
When drilling a hole with the adjustable hole saw bit, I found it easier to cut the hole about 1/2 way through the plywood, then put a sharp jigsaw blade in a vice-grip and cut the circle piece out manually.

The build quality of the BMV-700 is ok. I worry about it in the marine environment but it should be ok.

Battery meter installation

I always worried about my battery failing if I depleted it fully. I know it is a 79Ah battery, but I never was able to figure out the amperage load when running the motor. I did install a voltage meter in the cigarette lighter/auxiliary port, but a voltage meter is a poor battery gauge.

I know about battery state of charge meters from some of the investigation I had done into building an electric car. A state of charge meter monitors all power coming out and going into the battery. Since it knows the capacity of the battery, it can monitor and alarm when the battery is at 50%, the rough safe zone for battery usage.
After some investigation, I decided on Victron BMV-700.

Since I had designed the circuit and done all the electrical work, I knew how to wire in the SoC meter. It's a simple shunt that goes inline on the ground side of the battery and a long cable with RJ12 telephone jacks that goes to the meter which should be mounted someplace visible.

I've now over drilled all the mounting holes and drilled the through holes for the RJ12 control cable.

After the epoxy cures, I'll mount all the equipment and test everything.

The meter will be on starboard side of B3. The hole is above the hatch.

The shunt (black lead) and the meter just outside the battery well. You can also see the grey control cable in the back.

I'd like to cut that control cable but I don't have an RJ12 crimper. Anyone have one I can borrow?

Re-rigging halyard and maintenance

A couple weeks ago I moved the PT Puffin into the garage. Last weekend, I did some maintenance, including epoxying the skegs and re-attaching the UHMW skeg protectors.

This weekend, I decided I wanted to re-rig the halyard. I've long used the method proscribed in the plans -- run the halyard through the block at the pick point of the top yard and the tie a bowline just around the mast. The bowline loop travels up the mast with only a little resistance. This works fairly well.

I wanted it a little bit easier to rig, so I thought about parrel beads on a traveler.
I couldn't find any good size beads laying around the house. I have a 3d printer at my house, so I printed up some ABS beads sized just right.
My printer jammed up and didn't print a few of the beads, but most turned out well.
I have some dyneema that I used for my soft shackles.

3d printed parrel beads

 The beads needed a bit of sanding and cleanup.

Here you can see a couple unfinished beads.

 I had a bronze ring that was just perfect.

I used hot knife to trim one side.

Finished product

Now it slides up and down very well and is rigged just about exactly the same.

I'm itching to go for the first sail of the year, but it won't be next weekend. Maybe soon though.