Beaching project

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Mon May 05, 2008 5:23 pm

In a "pre-survey" of testing out my new beaching legs (to change props tomorrow), I took some underwater pics of my prop.

I used a waterproof camera case and strapped the camera to my bottom-scrubbing pole and set the self timer.

To my surprise there appears to be no trace left of the big prop shaft zinc I attached in April 07. It either fell off (I doubt that) or got completely eaten by stray current at the marina.

I probably have enough shaft sticking out to attach two zincs. I wonder if this would cause a shaft imbalance, although gut feeling tells me that at only 1000 rpm it should not be an issue. Any thoughts out there?

Post by **Tim** » Tue May 06, 2008 5:59 am

I see a lot of boats with two zincs around here, when shaft length allows. We used to do it all the time on a boat we had with an exposed shaft.

Ceasar Choppy · Post by **Ceasar Choppy** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:14 am

When I bought my boat it came with two zincs installed just forward of the shaft strut. The first zinc was for electroysis protection. The second was to keep the shaft from falling out of the boat if put in reverse too hard.

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Wed May 07, 2008 11:04 pm

After a false start yesterday, I got the job done today, in spite of gusting 20 knot winds. The little Vega sat rock-solid on her new 'legs' while I changed the prop and cleaned the knotmeter paddle wheel.

Pictures

Zach · Post by **Zach** » Wed May 07, 2008 11:16 pm

Peter,

Thats the coolest thing I've seen in a while!

Do you have a bolt that keeps the legs attached to the hull?

Bluenose · Post by **Bluenose** » Wed May 07, 2008 11:29 pm

Peter,

That absolutely rocks! Nice job. Bill

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Thu May 08, 2008 12:20 am

There's a 1/2" thru hull in the side of the boat with a 3/4" x 8" x10" plywood backing block contoured and epoxied to the hull inside. A long bolt goes through the leg and the thru hull, with a washer and nut inside. The top of the leg is curved to fit the hull side and the legs are splayed at a 10 degree angle for stability. The fore and aft lines shown aren't really needed as the one bolt holds the leg vertical.

When the legs are removed a threaded cap plugs the thru hull. These caps are hidden behind the setee locker doors.

I made these legs from plans at the Vega Association of Great Britain web site, and used a couple of old wood fence posts, but now I know they really work I can see some light weight telescoping metal legs as a future project ... something that can be carried on the boat with ease on those longer voyages into the wilderness.

feetup · Post by **feetup** » Thu May 08, 2008 10:22 am

That's fascinating Peter. Is that out in East Sooke somewhere? I spent some time on the Vega website, what a wonderful boat. Looking at the pictures of yours, there is no way I would have believed it to be 27 feet. Talk about a lot in a small package.

Tim J

jlroberts280 · Post by **jlroberts280** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:31 pm

so cool

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:42 pm

Peter,

Since this thread popped up with a new posting, I re-read your description, and something jumped out at me that I hadn't noticed before:

Peter wrote:When the legs are removed a threaded cap plugs the thru hull. These caps are hidden behind the setee locker doors.

When I first got my Alberg, I was looking for a way to cap off some un-used through hulls (I wanted to remove the gate valves and cap the NPS through hulls directly for future use).

I was never able to find any sort of cap to fit on NPS threads (which kind of makes sense, although I did find them in larger diameters - not sure how they actually work though), so I just moved forward, which entailed installing all new seacocks and through hulls in the "keeper" openings, and closing off the others permanently with fiberglass.

However I'm still curious what you used to directly cap off a through-hull, assuming that it's NPS (they all are, right?). I suppose since it's above the waterline, you may have simply pressed an NPT cap onto them (?) From your link:

Oh, and now that I look at the photos again, I have another question: In thinking of boats on stands on the hard, there's always that chain that runs through under the boat, to keep the stands from splaying. What does that with the legs? I see the lines going fore and aft to keep the legs from moving on that plane, but what about if, say, the boat wanted to lean to starboard; what would keep the starboard leg from "kicking out" away from the hull, perpedicularly?

I see that it works great, so I'm not criticizing them; I'm just curious how they work. I even want a set :D Of course it helps to have your tidal range.

Thanks,
Rachel

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 11:12 pm

Now that I'm curious, I had to go and re-read James Baldwin's article on the beaching legs he made for his Triton (and similar-sized boats). I'd read it before, but without any pre-conceived questions in mind.

It's here, by the way, along with a number of other good ones:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-main ... -legs.html

His overall concept is similar, except he uses the after-shroud chainplates to attach the legs to the boat. He noted that those fore and aft guys tend to pull the bottoms of the legs inward, and that he then runs a line across from the top of one leg to another (over the coach roof), to counteract that.

I'm guessing that yours work similarly, but use the guy lines to pull in at the bottom, and then the beefiness of the design to keep the tops from moving out?

It would be quite a freeing sensation to know that you could beach your boat. Very neat!

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:01 pm

Rachael:
The caps are standard PVC NPT threads. With liberal use of teflon tape on the threads, and a gentle 'snug' with pliers, they're watertight. Overtightening them would only cause them to split. I would have used bronze if I could find some. As I'm in and out of these lockers all the time I'm not worried about them secretly leaking.

The legs are very stable because they have quite a long area pressed against the hull. The only reason I used fore and aft guys was because the darn things kept floating up before I could dash below and tighten the bolt! Also, the large pads attached to the bottom of the legs help, too.

On a subsequent beaching (made in haste as I slept in and missed the best tide) I accidently parked one leg over a hole. As the water receded the boat started to heal, so I attached my small Bruce to the main halyard and rowed it out to the high side. Winching in the halyard brought the boat upright immediately. It doesn't take much to maintain balance, but if she goes over too far ... well, let's not go there!