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S A I L B O A T   P R O J E C T S

Sun Shade
Starting with nursery shade cloth, or a painter's drop-cloth, a nylon sheet, or sail material, this Sun Shade is a must for lounging around under a hot sun.

Sitting at your mooring and enjoying the views is the next best thing to a day of sailing. So to protect us from the sun I came up with an easy-to-store sun shade. The Shade is held open by two folding stretchers, one placed forward of the boom-vang and one placed aft of the mainsheet. A line running from each corner of the Shade to the aft and to the midship mooring cleats adjusts the Shade with the help of barrel-cinches.

Note that you can make the side pieces (shown in the drawing as 14") even wider and they will cover more of the sides of the boat. If you make them much wider you'll probably want to add some reefing-ties to hold them up when you want them out of the way.

Start with the main piece, 88" x 97", and add a 1" double hem (that's 1" rolled twice for those of you who are new at this).

             Barrel Cinch
Adjusting the corners. Now cut four pieces of the same light weight line about 48" in length. Tie one end around each of the four corner grommets. These lines will anchor the corners of the Shade to the aft and to the midship mooring cleats. Make a loop at the end of the line and run it back through a barrel cinch. You can use the cinches to level the shade or to tilt it to block a low setting sun. Barrel cinches can be found in the camping department of most big department stores or outfitters.

Constructing the Stretchers that hold out the sides of the Shade is fairly simple. Start with some 3/4" stock and cut two sticks 80" long x 3/4" x 3/4". Bevel the ends of each stick 45-degrees, not quite to a point. Pre-drill then drive a 5/8" sheet-metal or round-head screw into the beveled end of each Stretcher stick, leaving 1/4" of the screw untightened. The head of the screw should just squeeze through the grommets.

To set up, roll the Shade out on top of the boom and tie off the forward and aft lines to the boom. Hook the loops of the corner lines around the stern and midship mooring cleats. Open the Stretchers and place one forward of the boom-vang and then through the forward corner grommets. Tie the line coming from the center of the stretcher to the boom-vang. Repeat these steps with the aft Stretcher being sure to place the Stretcher aft of the mainsheets. Finally, adjust the corner lines with the barrel cinches and you're ready to relax. To finish the project make a draw-line sack that will hold the rolled-up Sun Shade.

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Jib Sheet Jam Cleats
A must for the solo sailor. Change your standard jib cleats to Jam Cleats for quicker control of your jib.

Raise the Jam Cleats on blocks that are cut a little larger than the base of the jam cleat. Round off the corners and add a finish.

Align the cleat on the deck to receive the tailing end of the jib sheet. Add support to the cleat by backing the nuts with some large washers and/or perhaps a piece of plywood.

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Fwd Cockpit
Quick additions you can use on almost any size sailboat. Here's a view of the cockpit setup just under the companionway.

Add some bungees to secure bottles and accessories.
A bungee stretched between eyestraps is a great way to secure articles around the cockpit. I also found a that good location for storage was just inside the companionway above the battery hatch if you stretch a bungee across there.

Rails make the cockpit into a double-bed
The wood rails under the edges of the seat cushion hold plywood panels that turn the cockpit into an outdoor double bed so you can camp-out under the stars. (Also see "Sun Shade" above to keep the dew off you.) The rails are 3/4"x 2-1/2" mahogany (finished size), stained to match the teak, and secured with bolts through the inside. Be sure to use a stip of wood and large washers on the inside.

Cut a piece of exterior plywood to fit inside the cockpit between the seats. Then cut the plywood into 13-1/2" sections. That length can stand upright on edge inside of aft the seat hatch for storage. The forward section can be used alone as a convenient cockpit table. To keep it from sliding add a couple of dowels sticking up from the rails thru a hole or notch in the plywood.

Safety Harness Attachment Point
Add an attachment point under the companionway for a safety harness by securing a pad-eye with a backing plate of plywood and fender washers. This location for attaching a safety harness will keep you in your boat while still letting you reach most of the boat's vital areas.

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Aft Cockpit

Tiller Locks -
A must-have for the solo sailor.

The addition of a tiller locking/braking system is another "must" for the solo sailor. A tiller lock (brake) will free up your hands so you can use both of them on the jib sheets, or to give you time to go forward to unsnag a line, or to hold the tiller to one side to help swing the boat when you are leaving a mooring or a dock solo. Really helpful when picking up a mooring solo because it holds the tiller centered to keep the boat from falling off.

While sailing in a steady breeze, once you trim up the boat you can set the brake and take your hands off the tiller, she'll pretty much sail a straight course on her own until the wind shifts. Just don't fall overboard ! Very helpful when you would like a little time "hands-free" for a meal break.

There are a number of brands available. The one that I use has a squeeze handle that locks/unlocks the tiller with just a squeeze of my hand. And there is a lock-out button that will fully disengage the brake so that you aren't squeezing the handle all of the time. Also it can be quickly locked/unlocked with just one hand. I find the one in the picture, called the "Tiller-Brake", to be excellent and it's the only one that I've found that doesn't require you to turn around and release something. The Tiller-Brake is distributed by RWO Marine in England (Item R0810), and can be ordered through your local chandlery, or through "Svendsens" at www.svendsens.com or 510-521-8454.

Tiller Extender
I put this together in just over an hour. Buy a 3/4" wide length of flat-bar from the hardware store, bend and cut it to have inside measurements of 1" wide x 1-3/4" high. Drill 1/4" holes through the top of the uprights and through the base for the pivot bolts. Drill a 1/4" hole through the top of the tiller, set back 8-1/2" from the tiller end. (This will give you room on the tiller for your hands when you're not using the extender, while still giving it enough leverage to safely steer the boat.) Paint with an anti-rust paint.

Cut the wood extender handle from 3/4" stock to 1" x 24". Drill a 1/8" pivot hole through one end. Stain and finish it to match the wood on the rest of your boat. When dry, add a grip with by wrapping the last 6" with some bicycle handle-bar tape that matches your boat colors. Attach the handle to the flat-bar bracket with a 3/16" x 1-1/2" round-head bolt, four flat-washers and a lock nut. Put a washer on each side of the bracket.

Put a flat-washer on the 2-1/2" bolt and run it up through the bottom of the tiller. Add a flat-washer on top of the tiller and then a standard nut. Tighten securely. Place another flat-washer on top of the nut, then add the Tiller Extender and then another flat-washer. Finally add one more standard nut and tighten finger tight. Finish by adding the lock-nut and tighten it down.

In total you'll need eight flat-washers, two standard nuts, two lock nuts and two bolts plus the flat-bar, wood, handle bar tape and a couple of elastic hair-ties or small bungees to hold the extender to the tiller when
it's not in use.

That all said ... I found that I really didn't use it so after a few seasons I took it off. But that's just me, you may find it more useful which explains why the info is here.

Relocating the Main Traveler Cleats
On older boats the cleats for the Main Traveler are located on the inside of the transom where they are often blocked by the cockpit cushions and only accessable by the skipper. By relocating the cleats to either side of the boat they are more easily accessed and reachable by either the skipper or the sheet person. Relocating the cleats is a fast job since the cleats are held in by just screws.

     

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Safety

Keep an Air Horn in the Cockpit
We probably all deal with weekend boating traffic so I attached a cup holder on the transom to hold a hand-held air horn (see under the tiller in the picture above). Now I can reach a horn quickly when I need to warn off inattentive skippers on other boats.

Run a safety line to your rudder from the stern of your boat to save the rudder should it ever get pushed up and out of the gudgeons. I added an eye bolt to the top of the rudder and clipped a line to it from the stern with a snap-shackle.

Outboard Motor Safety Line
After a stormy night in which large swells came through the harbor and in the morning I found the motor barely hanging onto it's bracket, nearly knocked off by the bouncing of the boat in the storm, I then added this snap-on safety line running from the main-traveler bracket (1), around the back of the motor, and snapping to a eyestrap on the stern (2).

Gas Tank Safety. While under power my boat rolled from a wake and the gas tank turned on it's side, pouring gas through the loosened gas cap and into the boat. So I ran a safety line with a shackle from the inside of the hatch and around the gas tank handle to to keep the tank from tipping over.

Fog Charts
Getting caught by a fast forming fog bank can be unnerving at best and unfolding a large chart in the cockpit for guidance often requires that you have two-more hands. My solution was to photocopy the areas that I generally sail in and place the copies in clear acetate 3-ring binder sheets. I pre-marked common course lines and headings directly onto the photocopies so that I can refer to them quickly. You can put two photocopies in one acetate sheet, back-to-back. Tape several acetate sheets together or place them in a thin binder to keep them organized.

  Download PDF Charts of Mass Bay
  View Chart of Mass Bay

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Un-Stepping A Mast
The basics of getting your mast down safely and easily.

Photo A | (Fore to Aft): Here's Chip, Kevin, and myself conducting our Fall ritual of unstepping my mast. The hardest part of the endevour is usually getting three of us together at the same time on a Saturday morning.

Before you begin you'll need to build a crossframe (Item-3) to catch the mast when it's down. The one in the photo is a little short so next year I'm going to build a taller one. I'll let you know later how to build one for yourself.

Also I tie a safety line to the forestay or roller furler (Item-1) and run it through the pulpit, then aft through the jib car, and up to my hand (Item-2). This allows me to control much of the decent as the mast comes down.

Place the tall guy in the middle.
Begin by loosening all six of the shroud turnbucks. Then disconnect the two foreward lower shrouds completely and tie them to the mast. Disconnect the mast light, antenna, and pennant halyards.  

Here Chip has already disconnected the forestay and has moved to the base of the mast, ready to remove the bolt holding the mast to the step once the mast is all of the way down. Put the tall guy in the middle to help lower the mast while the person standing in the cockpit feathers-out the safety line.

Taking her down.
Photo B | Meanwhile the cockpit person (furthest aft) is keeping an eye on the spreaders as the mast comes down to catch the mast with his hands above the spreaders. Once the cockpit person has the mast in hand move the tall guy quickly aft to help. He needs to keep his hands at the spreader to be above the pivot point for the mast or else the top of the mast will teater into the water once the pin is pulled out at the step. Note that I've moved Kevin all the way aft (our tall guy) and that his shoulder is positioned above the spreaders.

The Crossframe
Photo C | The third photo shows a good view of the crossframe supporting the mast. This one is too short and needs to be several feet taller.

To make a crossframe support start with a 12-foot 2x4 and cut it into two 6-footers using a 45-degree cut. Place those two angled ends down and connect the tops together with a 1/4" bolt about 9-inches down from the top ends. Next take a 12-foot 1x4 and cut it into four 3-foot lengths. Screw them to the 2x4's to create the legs as shown in the photo.

It's really helpful to place a sheet of plywood over the cockpit footwell to give everyone more height and so no one will fall into it. In Photo-C you can see the plywood panels that turn my cockpit into a double-berth (see cockpit projects) that help out great for this project. All that's left to do is to disconnect the shrouds and backstay and tie them to the mast as we are doing here.

Photo D | I have a removable ladder-rack for one side of my pick-up that I use twice a year to move my mast back and forth between my back yard and the dock. A couple of saw-horses in the back yard and the mast is resting for the Winter.

~ A thank you to Richard for the photos and
to Kevin and Chip for their labor.

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Gull Swatter
Keep gulls from using your boat's bow for a diner table.

If you have a hank-on jib.
1. If you use a mooring pick-up, cut the line that's attached to the weight. Thread about a foot of the line through the weight and tie a knot on each side of it to keep it from slipping. Tie a shackle to the end of the length of line and clip the shackle to the bow stem.

2. Tie a thin line to the pick-up just under the styrofoam float and then tie a loop on the line's other end. The jib halyard shackle will clip onto the loop. Adjust the length of the line so that the pick-up hangs from the halyard and completely suspended above the deck.

3. To keep the "swatter" from whipping back and forth wildly, tie another line, again just under the styrofoam float, and the other end of it to the bow cleat. Leave just enough slack in the line so that the pick-up will just swing the width of the deck.

If you have a furling jib,then instead of the jib halyard, run a line from the spreader with a shackle attached to the lower end. The lower end can be secured to an eyestrap on the mast when not in use.

If you don't have a mooring pick-up, then suspend a broom handle (wood or plastic) or a dowel over your deck instead.

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Hank-on Sail Striking Line
Here's an easy, permanent system for hauling down your hank-on headsail without having to leave the cockpit.

Basically you are going to end up with a permanent "messenger" cord that gets pulled up with your headsail when it's hoisted and then is used to pull the headsail back down later on. All that you'll need is about 50' of cord (1/8th or 3/16th), a few small swivel snap shackles, a small cleat, and some eyestraps or nylon bulls-eye fairleads of some sort which you'll run the line through.

Begin by taking your hank-on headsail to the bow and clipping it on. Then take some swivel snap shackles and starting from the top of the sail, count down in-between the first and second hank-on, and clip swivel snap-shackle #1 onto the forestay. Tie the end of your cord to the swivel ring on the back of this shackle.

Clip another snap-shackle, #2 onto the forestay about halfway down the luff inbetween the hank-on shackles. Thread the cord down through the swivel ring - don't tie it off to the shackle, just thread it through.

Now, as you can see, when you raise the headsail the two shackles and the cord will get pulled up with it. To finish up we need to get the cord to run back to the cockpit.

You now need a turning point close to the stem fitting so that the cord can turn across the deck.
To one of the holes in the stem fitting plate add shackle #3 and thread the cord through it's ring. (You may have to try different types of shackles to find one that works well with your stem plate. You could also attach an eyestrap to the deck if there is no place to clip on a shackle.)

Clip another snap shackle, #4 to the toe rail near the aft end of the bow pulpet for another turning point. (Some boats have an attachment point at the bottom of the pulpet for the life line, boats that don't will have to add a small fitting like a eyestrap to the deck). If you are trying this on a larger boat you may have to use other hardware along the deck that would have small pulley wheels to make the line haul easier.

Run the cord through the swivel ring of shackle #4 and then to the cockpit over the cabin top or along the toe rail. To help guide the cord along the cabin top you'll want to add a fairlead or an eye near the forward end of the cabin top.

Add a cleat at the cockpit and tie-off the end of the cord to it. Hoist the jib first before you cut off the end of the cord to make sure there will be enough cord when the sail gets pulled all of the way up. By having a cleat to tie the line off to, once the sail is pulled down by the messenger and cleated, the sail will stay down snug on the deck and not blow around much. Great when the conditions get bad and you don't want to go up on a wet and bouncing deck to tie down the jib. If your jib halyard also leads into the cockpit you'll now be able to haul and strike the jib without ever leaving the cockpit.

At the end of the day remove the jib from the forestay and put it away, but leave the messenger line, still shackeled to the forestay, and ready for the next sail.

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Pre-Launch Check List

Launch Date: ______________________

To Buy :
__    In March: Fill-out and send mail order list.
__    Buy 2-qts. bottom paint
__    Buy 3-4 small paper paint buckets, 2-med. paint rollers, 2-disposable roller trays, 4-sm. foam brushes.
__    Buy 3" masking tape.
__    Buy clear liquid wax for hull.
__    Buy boat motor oil.
__    Buy new sailing gloves.

To Do :
__    Empty cabin and check interior hardware.
__    Check all mast and boat hardware and boat's
          electrical problems.
__    Make any hardware or electrical repairs.
__    Wash curtains, clean cushions.
__    Check dingy and painter.
__    Scrape and sand bottom of boat.

__    Check motor spark plugs and clean or replace.
__    Check motor shaft level.

__    Lay sails out on lawn, wash and inspect them.
__    Check stitching on sails ___, sail cover ___,
          ensign ___, curtains ___.
__    Check tell-tails for replacing.

__    Check winches for repacking.
__    Sand teak, tiller and oars with 100# sandpaper
          and apply 3-coats of finish.
__    Check and clean scupper hoses.
__    Wash and wax cabin.
__    Tighten toilet drain plug.
__    Close sea cocks.
__    Wash entire exterior except bottom.
__    Mask and paint bottom, two coats.
__    Wax cockpit, deck and hull.

__    Recharge boat battery.
__    Reinstall battery, clean bulb terminals and check circuits.
__    Reinstall cushions, curtains, radio, boom and sails into cabin.

__    Buy fresh gasoline on way to launching. Mix in oil.
__    Take Windex and install just before raising mast.

Additionally :

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