Plastic Classic Forum

Chris Campbell

Hi Brian, I'm not 100% sure what you're trying to do in the first question. Are you trying to get the binnacle out of the cockpit? In that case you can disconnect the steering cables (and any wiring) from below, and it should come free. If you're looking to remove the housing the compass is sitting ...

Chris Campbell

Welcome, David!

We look forward to seeing pictures of your Cheoy Lee, and to hearing about your projects!

Cheers,

Chris

Chris Campbell

Hi Tom, Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your new boat. She's a pretty little thing, and from what I read by sailors of small Alberg designs (predominantly the Sea Sprite 23 and Alberg 22, although there are others), you should be very happy sailing her! I'll chime in with my experience ...

Chris Campbell

Congratulations! What an accomplishment. I really can't imagine how it feels, but I certainly can feel happy for you myself and wish you the absolute best, no holds barred! What design is your boat? How did you build her? How did you get it done so fast? Seems like many people who set out to build a...

Chris Campbell

Hi Bill, I'm not sure how much this varies by boat, but I have always been surprised at how well well balanced boats balance even when you seem to be attempting to unbalance them. That is to say: I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised at how well Bolero behaves with the full working jib and a doubl...

Chris Campbell

I searched around a bit and found it also called v-joint. I have bought cheap paneling with v-joints before - it's about 1/4" thick, has tongue & groove (in a v) on it's edges, and an extra V in the middle to look like narrower boards than it actually is, which might bring it to your 1-3/4&...

Chris Campbell

Another 'glass one for sale: http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1971/He ... ted-States

Chris Campbell

Can't see the top of the mast to know if it's fractionally rigged or not - the running backstays could be because it is (forestay tension and proper support for the rig in heavy air).

The boomkin is surprising - but presumably there is some reason, not immediately apparent, for it's existence...

Chris Campbell

I'm guessing she's a Chuck Payne design - not that that is clearing anything up, of course...

Chris Campbell

Congratulations on your purchase! The Sagitta looks like a lovely boat, combining many of my favourite things about sailboat design.

Have any pictures to share?

Chris Campbell

Hi David, Weatherbird had a foam/lead/foam/foil sandwich of some type - not sure who made it since it came with the boat, but it worked quite well. Attaching things to the walls was done exactly as you've suggested, with solid pieces glued into holes cut in the insulation. I think keeping the size o...

Chris Campbell

Good idea, Hirilondë - that would be much easier than bending, although I guess it wouldn't give continuous grain lines. I suspect that after a few attempts at bending a person might not care too much about that, though! Here's a gallery on the LeComte Owners' site that shows some of the efforts tha...

Chris Campbell

Again, I raise the question about the filter Practical Sailor did a piece on. 100 microns......doesn't that sound like it would let in way too much stuff? I believe that the filter Practical Sailor reviewed (the West Marine one) was what is being referred to as a Baja filter here - it's a funnel wi...

Chris Campbell

What about putting a high loop with an anti-syphon valve in it in the bilge pump line? I haven't done this myself, or even seen it done, but given that it's done in head and engine plumbing, I can't see why it wouldn't work for the bilge pump. I can see one problem with it - that it would increase t...

Chris Campbell

Congratulations, good luck, and please share your experiences with us when you get a chance!

Cheers

Chris Campbell

I seem to recall that another LeComte owner (fusto?) discovered that the coamings were solid teak with cuts made longitudinally into them at the front end to make it possible to do the bending. I know that another owner tried building boxes and steaming a pair without cutting into lamina and failed ...

Chris Campbell

While browsing first Xantrex and then Defender, I discovered the Battery Bug . It is a battery monitor but also a battery condition analyzer - it determines the batteries remaining capacity by using a test of the battery's actual state, vs. keeping track of amps in and out. I haven't read enough yet...

Chris Campbell

Oops - giving wrong impressions already! A battery bank can be a single battery or more than one - the concept is just that a single bank of batteries are all wired together (so a single battery, not wired to any others, is also a bank). So you have two banks - one with two batteries (probably the h...

Chris Campbell

I installed a Xantrex XBM in my last boat, and loved it. It completely took the guess work out of knowing the state of the battery, and eliminated my worry that I was running it down. Well worth it. I also had two banks - a group 27 start battery and an 8D house battery. I put the monitor on the hou...

Chris Campbell

Here's a link to Pineapple Sails in California. They have several articles on their site that explain reefing quite well - why 2 line is better than single line reefing etc. http://www.sailmaker.com/articles/index.htm What a great site! I've just read their blurb on full vs. conventional battens (a...

Chris Campbell

Welcome! I looked at the Dolphin 24 extensively before buying my slightly larger Yankee-built 30. Gorgeous boats, with a great reputation as sailors. Robin Lee is a beaut among beauties, too - very nice! I'm sure you know about it - but in case others don't - there is a great site about the Dolphin ...

Chris Campbell

I know someone who applied this stuff: http://www.coppercoat.com/ and was happy with it - but has since sold the boat (after only two seasons), so I can't say how well it worked in the long term. I can say that our waters are bad for fouling (Halifax has a sordid history when it comes to waste manag...

Chris Campbell

Thanks, Tim. I tried sounding the decks with a hammer, and with the plastic end of a screwdriver, and they sound alright to me, but I'm no expert. They do change sound in some places - like near the edge - but I'd expect that since the structure is different there. I started to doubt myself as I was...

Chris Campbell

I installed the unit that's for sale on Craigslist on Weatherbird, and was very pleased. The only visible bit of the installation is the control head, which can be put anywhere, so you don't clutter up your classic boat with more plastic parts than necessary. You don't have to manually throw a clutc...

Chris Campbell

Too late! I'm done! But thanks for that background - very interesting. Surprising to hear that the Germans were building with cored fiberglass in '33 - especially surprising to hear that Kledgecell has been around that long! I'm happy enough to have used balsa, and I feel confident that the protecti...

Chris Campbell

I've ordered a flat track and risers, and will put up with the aesthetic. I think it'll be fine, and I'll certainly enjoy having a good traveler. Sailing on my Dad's Ericson 27 a week ago I found myself tweaking the traveler regularly - pull in the jib until it touches the spreaders, then adjust the...

Chris Campbell

When I bought Luna (then just Hull #70), one of the things that drew me to her was the fact that her decks had been recored. Yankee 30's are notorious for soft decks, and she had had that dealt with. See below for an aside (read: rant) on the Yankee's soft decks. Her decks were recored with divinyce...

Chris Campbell

I got the third layer of 'glass down tonight, I'm done with laying up 'glass on the cabin top. Nice! Still a long way to go until she's ready for paint, but I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment for getting this part done. And I feel very confident that she's strong enough for anything that I ...

Chris Campbell

Hi Rachel, Sorry for the delayed response - first I was away (sailing!), then I forgot. Lousy excuse. Tim's suggestion was offline, so I can't direct you to it - but basically he told me to butt the pieces together with staggered joints, as the whole thing being laid up together became monolithic an...

Chris Campbell

I apologize in advance for the lack of picture, but I saw a ~25' cabin runabout last night named:

Oh-Sea-Dee

It did appear to be quite clean.

Chris Campbell

Congratulations, Doug - that's a lot of progress! She's definitely coming along nicely. I just got back from a week on my Dad's Ericson 27, and I really enjoyed her. She's great to sail, has an amazing amount of room for a 27 footer, and did everything we asked of her with aplomb. He keeps her on th...

Chris Campbell

Top skin's on. I went with more or less the layout planned above, although when I started cutting I forgot my plans and did something different - from which I had to recover. Oops. Anyway, the end result is good. I butted and staggered the joints (thanks, Tim) and will have a third layer over much o...

Chris Campbell

I guess it depends on whether there is another boat around that I want to be inching past instead of being inched past by. I've certainly been known to slip into racing mode in the past...

Chris Campbell

Good point about the boat name thread! I've been pondering this and discussing with others and it turns out there is a functional reason to stick with flat - or even a reverse curve. Trouble is that as the traveler is moved off-centre, it will tighten the mainsheet, since the car will move further f...

Chris Campbell

Hi gang, I'm replacing the traveler on Luna as part of my restoration - the old one wasn't working very well and I had to remove the 'glassed-in towers as part of my deck recore anyway - so I've got a blank slate to start with. Background: the stock traveler on the Yankee 30 is on the cabin top, it ...

Chris Campbell

I confess to liking Ships and Giggles also. For any sort of non-classic powerboat, really. But I also have to confess to having a plan to name my first boat "Faust", and the dinghy "Mephistopheles". Fortunately, by the time I got my first boat I had decided against it (and she ca...

Chris Campbell

I completely agree with Tim about the inconvenience of having a valve in your exhaust system - if you need the motor in a hurry (as well seem to at one point or another) you have another step to take before you can have it running - which might lead to some regrets. On the other question, that of ta...

Chris Campbell

Nice job! I hope I can do as well (or somewhere near it) when my time comes.

Congratulations!

Chris Campbell

I messed around with the idea of making my Yankee fractionally rigged for a bit, for all the reasons that are given here - big main/small jib is easier to manage, frac rigged main gives you a way to depower without reefing, needing a Lewmar 43 primary winch on a 30' boat seems ridiculous... But I di...

Chris Campbell

Excellent job, Laura! Especially to put up with a perfectionist mate during the process - that is a tough one. But the final result sure does appear to be worth it - and she has the satisfaction of knowing she did it, and did it right. Being able to keep the jib on deck and the rain out of the cockp...

Chris Campbell

I would use jackstands in preference to a cradle. Should cost you about the same as the lumber for a cradle would, but can be sold when you're done with them (if you won't need them again). They're also easier to shuffle around to paint or work on the bottom, and you don't have to design anything up...

Chris Campbell

Congratulations, indeed. You've got a big job ahead of you, but if you have the time, money, and stomach for it it is more than possible, and you'll triumph and enjoy yourself along the way. Not to mention having a boat which is truly yours, and which you'll be able to trust completely. Keep us post...

Chris Campbell

Don't know much about them, other than they're pretty - but I'm a sucker for a canoe sterned yawl. Also that Ted Brewer sailed one for years and loved it - he apparently liked it so much he was only interested in changing to another canoe sterned yawl (the Nimble 30, but I don't think he lasted long...

Chris Campbell

I always managed to step the mast on my 22 without a crane, or a tabernacle, for that matter. We did it with four guys - one to start lifting an end, two to keep the foot still (which you wouldn't worry about with a tabernacle) and act as human gin poles, and one to drag it upright with the forestay...

Chris Campbell

OK, here's a diagram of my proposed solution, to make it easier to visualize: http://www.ramoak.com/yankee30/images/282t.gif And I've posted a description and my thoughts on my site, here . Will this be enough? Do I need a third layer over the whole thing? Should I do what Doug suggested and dig a h...

Chris Campbell

I'll try to draw a pattern to include here in a minute, but for now here's a description: There will be four pieces per layer: one running transverse across the partners, one each side running aft from there to the back of the cabin top, and one filling in the small area behind the saloon hatch. I'l...

Chris Campbell

Getting ready to cut the cloth to do my layup (won't be able to actually lay it up today due to dinner plans, but I'll be ready for the next chance, hopefully tomorrow) - and am wondering about overlapping the pieces of cloth. If I were doing this with many layers of 10 oz. cloth I wouldn't ask - I'...

Chris Campbell

Oof! How frustrating that sounds. Good luck with it today, assuming that you were actually talking abuot yesterday in your write up. I guess there is something to be said for the summer we've been having in NS, then (below normal temperatures and more cloud & damp than usual) - although I'm sure...

Chris Campbell

Sorry the day got turned around on you - rest assured, though, for a sprint like this you're setting new records that a single day's slowdown can't erase!

Good luck for today!

Chris Campbell

Actually, I do have the page in Skene's - but is your copy the 8th edition? In mine (8th edition), it's on page 188. Here's a rundown of the numbers that might apply to you, from reasonable through overkill: Order of numbers is: wire diameter, breaking strength, pin diameter, radius of remaining met...

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