Wednesday, September 30, 2009

I am back!!!

First some updates details and hard ware issues. So here I am at the machine shop that I work at. We have a nice 48''x48'' electronic scale can not see the read out here sorry about the bad pic. The haul weight out at 95lbs, and with all the other goodies the total weight was 125lbs. This is the una rig hole the only thing I got a chance to run this season yet it proved to be a very fun, fast rig for my purpose mainly learning this boat and wind conditions on the small lake that I have easy access to. This pic shows the loop for the vang and the out haul running correctly the only thing that needs to change here is to move these in a bit and add a 424 fair lead on each side for the cunningham.
Here is the out haul coming down from the boom the right side is the WRONG! way to run it. It ends up holding up the reach ability on the boom. The left runs down the mast to 424 fair lead and down to deck cleat.

Here is my una rig mast step. It looks ugly yes I know. Not sure what I did wrong. My logical conclusion was to first to drill the hole through the mast set it in place cut my aluminum set them on center of mast step with mast in step used a long scratch all to mark location then drilled my holes. The look off center yet work really well. What works really good is that I have a extra long 1/4'' bolt that I push all the way through and thread on the nut half way and the push back till the nut catch on the one of the screw that secure the bracket down. This locks every thing in. Looks not good yet works extremely well. Sorry about the bad pic nut is on the left catches on the crew above.

Here is a new main sheet block. The one called out on Dix print is discontinued so West marine recommended something else (Ronstan) I spent an entire month scratching my head going am I stupid or is this thing not right. Finally broke down and called Annapolis Performance (Hind sight tells me that these guys are much better at sail boat stuff than West Marine!!!) they recommended a Harken 2138 pic here this works much better!

Out haul tail here attached to a wonderfully sail by Baxter. I need to redo the small line that keeps the sail down to the boom. This current idea is ok yet needs improvement. Update will come as I do some trial and error.

Here is some on the water pics in some very calm conditions. Just one of those day set out with good conditions by the time my friend got out on the power boat to take these pics all wind quit. grrr..



FIRST WAR WOUNDS!! On the elbow the day aft the pics above had much more challenging conditions. The Interlux top coat with grip works good yet easily tears the flesh right off you.

On a performance note I am so impressed with the amount of speed you can get out of the una rig. I was out in 9-13 knot winds got her going fast enough to get the out haul lines howling in the wind. Saturday step up a bit to 10-15 knots had lots of fun. Then Sunday it stepped up again 18-22 knots. I had so much fun and learned just how much she will take. I also had my first at speed spill. Had her heeling pretty good heading south on an east wind at a good clip. I knew I was on the edge just needed to push to learn more. A gust came up and put me over. I went in on the heeling side just under the boom had enough time to un-cleat the main sheet did not have enough time to in hale before hitting the water. Needless to say the only unpleasant thing of the whole experience was the amount of water I took in through the nose and such. Swam around to the rudder regained breath then went around to the center board grabbed the righting line about in line with center board put a knee on the center board and put my hands on the wing and gave a little pull and she came right up. With the main sheet un cleated she waited patiently while I swam back around to the back climbed in over the rudder. Got on the deck and regained full composure sheeted in and off we go. Best news was with this clear step up in wind conditions there are no signs of stress on the deck ring and no signs of stress in the x deck. I have not even touched the jib! Can not wait … winter is going to be a long one this year.
Some closing pics is a must. I was able to sail right into the last weekend of Sept. This is good for my area. My hope is to add a wetsuit for next year so I can get a little longer season in.
Two of them make a great pair. The CLC 16' Kayak is over five years old now yet still is going hard and strong! Just keep a good coat of varnish on it and it remains unstoppable. This is what my back porch area looked like most of the summer take off early morning before the wind came up in the kayak then take off in the afternoon for a good sail. This works out for more fun than you can swing a stick at. It is going to be a long winter yet look forward to updating the sail boat and getting it honed in ready for the cat rig so that is ready to go for spring!











































Monday, September 21, 2009

LONG TIME NO HEAR YEY I KNOW

Long time no hear yes I know. Been completely consumed getting the PJ going. Spent the entire month of July with the wrong main sheet block. The one called out by Dix on the prints is discontinued. So West Marine gave me one that they recommended it just did not work out for my purposes. It was not letting the main sail out fast enough and cleat was not adjustable I kept busting my knuckles on the deck when I went to un-cleat. I gave Annapolis Performance a call (hind sight tells me that these guys are much better at the sailing stuff then West Marine!). Got me set up with a much better option (pics and details will come when I get a chance). Got the new main sheet block on just in time for Labor day weekend to find out that I was limited on my reach ability in the boom. Got a good amount of sailing in any way just limited me on how much I could do. Found out that it was my out haul lines that were holding me up. Come to find out I needed to run the out haul lines the same way I had the Cunningham lines ran. Both sets of lines get ran down the boom to 424 Harken fairleads. Prints call out for just one set of fairleads you need two sets (one for Cunningham one set for outhaul) on the top of the x deck. I did not have extra on hand at the time so I ran both sets through the same fairleads it worked for the short term. Finally got good sailing in the weekend after Labor day. I got a real good amount of sailing in this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I am so impressed with the amount of speed you can get out of the una rig. I was out in 9-13 knot winds got her going fast enough to get the out haul lines howling in the wind. Saturday step up a bit to 10-15 knots had lots of fun. Then Sunday it stepped up again 18-22 knots. I had so much fun and learned just how much she will take. I also had my first at speed spill all my other spills have been in launch or landing (the haul is such a high performance shape that when she is at slow speed it is very easy to spill it). Had her heeling pretty good heading south on an east wind at a good clip. I knew I was on the edge just needed to push to learn more. A gust came up and put me over. I went in on the heeling side just under the boom had enough time to un-cleat the main sheet did not have enough time to in hale before hitting the water. Needless to say the only unpleasant thing of the whole experience was the amount of water I took in through the nose and such. Swam around to the rudder regained breath then went around to the center board grabbed the righting line about in line with center board put a knee on the center board and put my hands on the wing and gave a little pull and she came right up. With the main sheet un cleat she waited patiently while I swam back around to the back climbed in over the rudder. Got on the deck and regained full composure sheeted in and off we go. Best news was with this clear step up in wind conditions there are no signs of stress on the deck ring and no signs of stress in the x deck. This is a boat full of fun and I have not even touched the jib!