David

 

Have used cotter rings for years - no issues.  Be sure you use rings that
both ends are flush with the ring - one end does not bend into the circle.
Using pliers makes it easy to install or remove

 

 

John and Maryann

Legacy III

1982 C&C 34

Noank, CT

 

From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of David
Knecht via CnC-List
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2015 10:12 PM
To: CnC CnC discussion list
Cc: David Knecht
Subject: Re: Stus-List Bermuda1-2 lessons learned

 

I saw a boat recently which had large cotter rings through the turnbuckles
instead of cotter pins.  This looked like a great idea to me as I sometimes
find it difficult to get bent cotter pins back out of the turnbuckles.  Any
down side of using rings instead of pins?  Dave

 

On Oct 27, 2015, at 8:07 PM, David Paine via CnC-List
<cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote:





Answers for Patrick:

 

> 3) 

Is the exhaust hose looped up?  Yes but not enough.  Usually there is a
flapper valve on the exhaust but the reverse transom angle and the angled
cut of the exhaust make commercial ones unusable.

 

4) Does your fuel tank vent line not have a check valve in it?  (1-way valve
to allow air egress but prevent water ingress)  Or was the check valve not
working? 

 

No check valve and in any case, a check valve allows flow of air or water in
only one direction.  If it were put in correctly the fuel couldn't get out
but displacement air and water could. 

 

9) What do you mean by "wire" a turnbuckle?  Did your turnbuckles not have
cotter pins in them on the upper stays?  (Is running without pins actually
something people do??)

 

Heck yeah, who uses cotter pins?  I use stainless steel wire through the
hole in both screws and through the body of the turnbuckle..  Cheap and
easy. 

 

 

 

On Tue, Oct 27, 2015 at 11:51 AM, <cnc-list-requ...@cnc-list.com> wrote:

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Paine <paineda...@gmail.com>
To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com
Cc: 
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2015 14:50:37 -0400
Subject: Stus-List Bermuda1-2 lessons learned

Hi All,

 

As I mentioned last spring as part of a question about life rafts, I had
planned to sail  my C&C33-1  solo to Bermuda and back (double handed) in the
Bermuda1-2 race.  I did,  It was fun, it was terrifying, it was expensive to
prepare for, and it was frustrating as I did not do well (dfl) in my class
in part because of the high winds and seas near the gulf stream probably
favored the  HR49 and other heavyweights in my class but mostly because I
was climbing a steep learning curve.   Of course, a C&C35-1 won the return
and did well on the way there so (in my case) it's the sailor not the boat.
In preparation for the next one, I need to resolve a few issues with the
boat and a lot with the skipper.  I was putting together a list that I
thought I would share.

 

(1)  The autopilot has to be more than bullet proof.   I thought my below
deck pilot was, but I was wrong, and as a result I found myself upside down
in the cockpit locker and crawling deep underneath the cockpit floor in
horrible conditions to tighten bolts that allowed the tiller arm to slip (no
woodruff key or slot to put it in).  I lost a lot of time bobbing around
with the sails down repairing the autopilot or sleeping.   The fix for this
one is obvious but will require dismantling the quadrant and figuring out
how to bolt the tiller arm to it.  Other issues with the autopilot were
completely my own fault as I made changes to the electronics but did not
have time to proof test the changes.  

 

(2) When a wave fills the cockpit and it gets flooded (and it did
repeatedly) the engine instruments are going to get wet.  This is not good
as the switches will (and did) fail, I am considering relocation or creating
a waterproof cover.

 

(3) Following seas WILL drive water up the tailpipe and into the engine.  As
a result, I sailed into St Georges harbor and up to the customs dock then I
spent a day in Bermuda sucking water out of the engine and drying it out
enough to get it started.   For the return trip, I put a plug in the exhaust
pipe but the plug was washed out in the "washing machine like conditions"
and ... we got to sail the boat into the Newport Yacht Club dock at 3:00 am
on no sleep.  Then spend another day pumping oily water out of the engine.
Yeah, slow learner.  

 

(4)  The fuel tank vent on my boat is high up on the starboard side but by
the time I got to Bermuda, the tank had a quart of water in it (which I
siphoned out).  Good filters (a racor) helped but I need to relocate the
vent -- the question is where?  It may not be wise but on the return trip I
wrapped the vent with tape (which, if I had run the engine I would have
removed)   A better solution is needed.

 

(5)  Reefing has to be quick and easy -- I spent far too much time screwing
up enough courage to go to the mast to reef and shake-out.  My current
reefing system (probably original to the boat) has a winch on the boom which
makes the first reef fine but I used all three reef points and releasing the
last reef before pulling in the next in 35-40 kn of breeze is a nightmare.
I need to work on leading the lines to the cockpit.

 

(6) A removable inner forestay and a blade foresail might be nice.  My new
furling 130 spent a lot of time furled 50% and that really has screwed up
the shape of my formerly new and now blown out 130.

 

(7) The boat was reasonably dry inside (a result of hours of rebedding
hardware) but somehow the mast collar leaked like a sieve.  The boot looks
perfect so it has to be the where the Al collar (mast partners) meets the
deck -- who would have thought that the one place I didn't rebed would be a
problem!

 

(8) Hoisting a radar reflect on a flag halyard to the spreaders seems like a
good idea until the line breaks and you lose both.  

 

(9) The one turnbuckle that I did not wire was the port diamond stay.  Turns
out the mast will stay up without this - whew!   It is extremely unnerving
to see a piece of wire swinging around at night in a blow.  Wire everything.
And use lock tight on critical bolts -- my solar panel broke loose as a
result of a bolt getting unscrewed.

 

(10)  Fighting with a 10 foot long spinnaker pole to fly the spin gets
really old. Luckily the wind only died down enough to fly the spinnaker at
the end of the race but if the conditions had been more benign, I would have
had to fly the spinnaker much more.   An assymetrical with a short prod
would be nice (but probably outside my ability to rationalize the spending).

 

(11) Getting a decent weather (GRIB) file occasionally would have been
really helpful.   I suppose I need to figure out how to do a SSB or Sat
phone modem.

 

Tons more lessons learned but that's enough for now.

 

Best,

 

David

 

 

_______________________________________________

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Dr. David Knecht

Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology

Core Microscopy Facility Director

University of Connecticut      

91 N. Eagleville Rd.

Storrs, CT 06269

860-486-2200

 



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