Finishing the downhaul

I posted on the SCAMP message board asking for pictures of downhauls. I didn't get any pictures, but I did get a link to Michael Storer's page about rigging a lug rig that was very helpful. I wish I'd read that before I started rigging my own boat. I would maybe have understood things a bit better.

I also found a link explaining how mechanical advantage worked. I hadn't thought about it in a long time and that page was helpful to explain the system that I intended to use.

Since I asked for pictures on the thread,  I need to post my own pictures.

After the paint cured, I could attach the fairlead and the cleat

The simulated downhaul

Using a fiddle  on the cabin and a block with a becket on the boom.

Currently, there is only a single Harken block with no becket on the GigHarbor boom. I'll need to either replace that or just tie the line to the padeye.


Coming up next: Softshackles.

More maintenance work

Last weekend, I posted about my attempts at maintenance. Over the week, I've finished up quite a few of the projects.

Centerboard rigging

The simple 6mm standoffs I built are now done and attached. This seems to keep the rope & tackle away from the sides. It still bumps occasionally, but not nearly as bad as before.

In the pictures below, you can just see the standoffs.

See the standoffs under the cleat and under the padeye?

Another shot of the fully attached fairlead.

Skeg trailer hitches

I got this idea from Simeon. In this thread on the SCAMP message board, he talked about tying a rope through his skegs to his trailer. I thought that was a good idea as I've never liked the belly strap method where the straps go up & over and have the possibility of marring or breaking the coamings.

But I didn't like the idea of threading a rope through the skegs each time. I rather liked the idea of toggle bolts instead.

I ordered some 5/16" toggle bolts that were rated to like 900lbs on the pull through. If I were to do this over again, I'd use 3/8" or 1/2" toggle bolts instead. I also ordered some short webbing straps and stainless black 1 1/2" fender washers.

Then I got to work drilling holes in the skegs.

After piloting, I used a 1 1/2" paddle bit to chow a hole in the side of the skeg.

Hole in the skeg

Hole with washer inserted.

I over drilled with a 1/4" drill bit a guide for the toggle bolt. This will be filled to make sure no wood is exposed.
Then I filled the hole with thickened epoxy glue and glued the washer in. It's easiest to sink the washer in just a little bit so it is a mm or so below the surface. You can fair this later with thickened epoxy.

Washers glued in  and tape over them to hold

 When that was done, I drilled the 5/16" hole through the middle for the toggle bolt.

Toggle bolt and eye nut in place

And here it is with the strap in place

 I wasn't too happy with where the washers ended up and since glue doesn't stick very well to stainless steel, I then mixed up another thickened batch of epoxy and faired over the washers. This way they are unlikely to fall out.

Shot after fairing a bit.

toggle bolt though the hole

port side in place

and tied down.

shot of the interior with the toggle in place

I used it just today and it worked fine.

Downhaul rigging

I wanted to re-do my downhaul so that I could get more tension on the luff of the sail. I had been using a single block/v-cleat combo to pull it down, but it was hard to reach and hard to get leverage.

I decided to do something more like the plans. To do that, I wanted to have a fairlead and cleat on the cabin top. When I built the cabin top, I had placed a doubler under the cabin top  where I knew I might want a cam cleat.

I just needed to create a block of wood to raise the cleat up just a little bit. I cut that from some spare chunks of doubled up 6mm plywood and re-coated that with epoxy.

Then I had to sand it down to fit flush on the curved surface. I used a trick I learned from Dan bcbimmer. Just tape a piece of sandpaper on the curved cabin top and rub the piece back and forth.

Shaping the block to fit the surface

After it was shaped, I need to sand down the paint to get it to stick.

Just before gluing down the block

dry fitting the parts where they belong (oops, the cam cleat is upside down)

Pilot holes drilled and glued down. Fillet applied

dry fitting the parts

Finally, it's painted

I'll wait a few days for the paint to harden up before I mount the fairlead and cam cleat down. The fairlead is just screwed into the block, but the three #6 screws in the cam cleat go all the way through the block and have acorn nuts on the bottom.

A line on the padeye on the boom will go down and through a double block mounted just next to the mast box. From there, it will go back up to a block mounted on the same padeye on the boom and back down through the double block. Then it goes after through the fairlead and cam cleat. This gives me a 2:1 purchase. Not as good as some others, but I can fix it later with more blocks if needed.

Rudder repair, centerboard rigging and skeg protector repair

In my last post, I discussed some of the changes I wanted to make. Today I did some work towards that.

Skeg work

The UHMW plastic guard that protect the bottom of the skegs had pulled the screws out on the port side. I think I messed it up once when I put it on the trailer a bit sideways.
I jacked up the boat with a racing jack and was able to get under the trailer to fill the holes with new thickened epoxy and screw them down again. While I was down there, I made a parts list for through-skeg tie downs like Simeon has. I'll post an article when I get those done.
No pictures for this one.

Traveler rigging

I had a rope traveler with a sliding shackle around it. The shackle slides along the rope and has abraded the rope a bit. I replaced the shackle with a real 12mm block. I then used a pair of shackles to make a flexible shackle to the sheet block. Works great.

New traveler rigging

I really like the adjustable traveler. I don't change it very often, but it's kind of nice when I need it.

Re-rigging the centerboard

The centerboard tackle was rubbing against the side of the seat and rubbing off the paint. I use centerboard tackle slightly modified from the plans. I've been told there is a better way to rig it, but /i like mostly like mine, except for the rubbing.

All I need to do is to build some 6mm standoffs to pull the tackle away from the seats. I've got the pieces epoxied, now they just need to be painted and installed.

Centerboard rigging as original

Harken 108 turning block. Note the scratch where it jumped the block

standoffs

standoffs with pieces attached

I also used a fairlead to guide the centerboard uphill. 

fairlead in place

I'll finish this later this week after I paint the blocks.

Re-rigging the boom downhaul

I spoke with Rick at the Small Craft Palooza. He encouraged me to redesign my downhaul to really be able to crank it down. The leading edge should be completely taut when not running in light air or downwind. I was using a combo block/cleat from Duckworks. It's okay, but it's hard to get it too tight and hard to reach when under sail. Today, I cut and epoxied blocks of wood to mount on the cabin top for a 2 factor downhaul that cleats near the cabin top. I'll need a tufnol double block and then I'll mount it all later. I'll post pictures when I get it all done.

Epoxied blocks: padeye, cleat, 2 different blocks for the downhaul rig