Messages

Hi All,

Where is your refrigerator compressor/condenser?  Any pros or cons to its location?

The frig on Ennui Went hasn't worked since our purchase three summers ago.  We've always been icebox sailors, but the budget allows for an upgrade this year, and the fridge is it.

My original compressor was in the aft lazarette.  The lines to the icebox are roughly 15 feet, which is longer than I'm finding in stock evaporators.  Before I pay more bucks for line extensions, I'd thought I'd canvas the tribe.

Thanks for your input.

Dan

I've got a brand new C34 standard rig headstay for sale.  Well, most of it.  Specifically, it's 45' of 5/16" 1x19 316 stainless wire with a swaged 5/8" pin marine eye from Rigging Only.  Total length - eye center to wire end - is just over 45'.  I purchased it last summer for just under $175.  I'm offering it for $125, hoping to sell it with an "idiot" discount of only $50.  You can offer me less, but know that doing so will just make me feel more of an idiot.

You'll need a turnbuckle stud to complete the stay.  The published forestay length - eye center to stud end - is 44'-5", so there's plenty of wire to work with.  If you want to go the mechanical terminal route, Rigging Only has a stud available here.

Wire has only been unrolled once (that's when I learned I bought a tall rig) and then rerolled.  No wear.  Photos and original Rigging Only invoice attached.

I'll leave this posted here for awhile before offering it on eBay.  Here's hoping this fits the bill for someone.

Dan Cross
s/v Ennui Went
C34 #159
dancrosswis@gmail.com

My go-to way to loop a cleat or piling I saw at a boat show.  Put 3 well made good sized loops in your left hand, 4 in your right hand, swing them under hand like 1-2-3 then throw easy.  To loop over something, cleat one end to your boat, hold or stand on the other end.  To throw the whole line just have the bitter end in your right hand and let go.  Half inch newer, ie soft, line works best.  With a little practice you can throw over something further than a boat pole can reach.
I couldn't find a video. 

Here's a video.  It's poor quality, but you can see what's going on.  As Jim says, split the coil in two, one coil and each hand, and then throw them both at the same time over the piling, just hanging onto the ends.  Works well with practice.

Hi All,

I converted the article I wrote for this summer's Mainsheet into a tech wiki.  It, frankly, flows much better than the article and I had the chance to throw in more photos.  If anyone's interested, I've indexed the page under Galley and Plumbing, and here's a link.

Dan Cross
Ennui Went #159

Can you make Stu a bull rail stick?  LOL

-ken

I think I found the solution.  Bat ears are extra.

Dan

[Loop Size]

probably, but with the size of hard points varying from a 24" bollard to a 3" cleat, I would imagine that different size loops (and sticks) might be in order depending on the usual boating area and "the norm" one runs into.   On a small dock cleat, possibly a loop that is temporarily held open, but tightens most the way so that it tends to stay on and not slip off the cleat?

What's your range of beta trials and/or actual use, Dan?

Great comments.  Here's what our experience has shown.

Loop Size.  Yes, the loop size can adjusted to fit the size of what you're trying to snag.  If you're good at making bowlines, resizing the loop is fast and easy and is done with the stick on the line.  Just undo the bowline, resize the loop, remake the bowline, and snug the stick back up against the bowline.  Note that the Docking Stick website has a good instructional video showing how to rig the stick.  That said, I've never had to resize my loop.  And, that's simply because I make a loop that's large enough that the stick never gets close to what I'm catching.  I'm not at the boat to give real dimensions, but I suspect the line length in my loop is about 4 feet.  So, the stick is well away from the cleat it's hanging from.  Again, the website instructional video gives good examples of how this works. 

Line Length.  This will vary based upon the docking situation.  We used the stick most often this summer when entering a transient slip with no (or suspect) dock help.  When setting up, I take the loop end of the line back near the aft quarter of the boat.  The Admiral ties off the line at our midship cleat, so we have the line preset to just short of the the distance from the midship cleat to the transom.  I then pass the loop forward to the Admiral.  She will drop the stick over the first cleat or post we pass at the end of the dock.  I continue moving the boat forward and use the spring line (under idle power) to hold the boat against the dock while we set up the rest of our lines.  Provided we're coming into a 35'-or longer-slip, this gets us docked without running out of slip room.  We also used the stick to get a line to a cleat on a dock with 20+ kts blowing off the dock.  As we know, this is the situation where a jump ashore is fraught with danger.  We had the dock room to set a longer line from the midship cleat.  I came in at about 45° and as I straightened out, the Admiral caught a cleat with barely a lean and we then sprung forward and into the dock.  And, I can fully envision backing up to a narrow dock space to drop a spring line over a cleat, falling off with the wind to get parallel with the dock, adjusting the spring line to the dock space, and then springing forward and into the dock.  I can't wait to try this.  I'm sure we'll amaze all onlookers.

Stick Lengths.  I modeled my stick on the commercial version.  With my experience so far, I doubt I'll need a different size.  If you're regularly grabbing a large post or big buoy, a longer length may help.

Finishing Up the Tie-Off.  The stick and line are as secure as your bowline.  I'd certainly not hesitate to keep the line ashore in moderate conditions.  And, you can always use a water bowline or double bowline for additional security.  That said, it's our practice to tie off our dock lines with their bitter ends onshore, so we remove the stick and line during that process.

Hope this helps,

Dan

When ever you need to cut a bolt, always insert a nut on the thread further than the cut line.  Once finish the cut, unthread the nut slowly.  Do not remove it, stop just before the end, re thread  back and for a few time.  This will replace the last thread that was cut.

Thanks Patrice.  I've used the technique you describe many times with metal bolts (though I like-and haven't used-your tip of turning the nut back and forth a number of times over the final thread).  I also run a file around the rim of the bolt at the threaded end, to give it a bit of a champher to ease starting the bolt.  I just haven't yet tried these technique with nylon bolts.  I'll let you know if nylon turns out to be any different.

Dan

Dan, not sure what the 1/4 inch bolt does, I think it is to put pressure on the dock line when you screw it in so it won't move while in the stick?, you say to tap the hole for the bolt, but then as per instructions, you insert bolt and "nut", guess I am a little confused at that step. If you tap the hole for the bolt, whats the nut for?  Maybe it is pretty plain but in my confused old age, I can't get it.  Thanks

Good Catch, Bob.  I fudged a bit here.  You're right, the bolt keeps the stick from sliding down the loop, which it definitely will do.  When I made up the sticks this spring, I did not include the nut.  The nut is threaded onto the bolt before the bolt is threaded into the pvc tube.  When the bolt is threaded in as far as needed to capture the docking line, the nut is tightened up against the pvc tube to keep the bolt in place.  I added the nut to my instructions.  I've not yet actually added it to my sticks, so it's not in the photos or diagrams.

Dan

Hi All,

I made up some Docking Stick knock off's this spring.  They worked great this summer, so I put up a Tech Wiki Article describing how I made them.  Hope some find this helpful.

Dan

Guys,

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'll post any response I get.

Dan Cross
Ennui Went
1968 #159

And, I didn't bother to level it. The pump just fits under the original shelf. I moved my AC pump there, looking for a better location to keep its prime.

I raised the shelf off the hull about 1/2 inch on narrow boards under the left and right ends of the shelf. This provided clearance for the bolts connecting the pump to the shelf.  The spacer boards are epoxied to the hull. The shelf is screwed to the spacer boards. To make sure everything lined up, I screwed the shelf to the spacers, buttered up the spacer boards and then pressed the assembly to the hull.

Sorry, the photo is attached (I hope).

Dan

Hi Ed,

This spring I moved my fresh water pump to the hull below the shelf it orginally resided upon.  I made up a small shelf and epoxied it (West and colloidal silica) to the hull.  The reduction in sound during operation surprised me.  It's a big improvement.  Here's a photo:




Dan
Ennui Went #159

[Adapter gauge pegged at 4,000 PSI]

Hi Folks,

We had a good Memorial Weekend cruise visiting Door County (WI).  Great food with lots of pots going and, a first, a little oven action.  And then we ran out of CNG.  Water for the last morning's coffee heated slowly on the grill.

Fortunately, Marinette has a CNG pump.  I've made a CNG refill adapter along the lines of our Tech Wiki article, modified to include a needle valve as described at http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/cng-refilling.168890/.  And, I used it once last year, an episode that left me uncomfortable.  So, I thought I'd canvas the experience of others before reconnecting to the hose.

Here is the sequence of events last year (as I recall; I've got contemporaneous notes on the boat), this is at a 3600 PSI pump:

   
• Tank valve is off
• Attached adapter to tank
• Set needle valve to about 1/4 open
• Attached pump hose to adapter
• Paid the pump
• Turned on the pump
• Adapter gauge pegged at 4,000 PSI (it's limit)
• Pump turned off?
• Opened tank valve
• Tank filled slowly until I shut off the tank value at 2200 PSI.  Adjusting needle valve did not appear to affect flow rate.
• No sale registered at the pump

I'm not sure how to interpret what happened.  My theory is the pump quickly turned itself off when the pressure at the end of its hose shot up.  The CNG that filled my tank may simply have been in the hose? 

Next time, I suspect that I should open the tank valve before turning on the pump, so the gas has a larger volume to rush into.  How worried should I be about that 4k+ PSI spike?

I haven't found a step by step description of the refill process.  I'd like feedback on whether my procedure sounds right.  Any suggestions on the needle valve setting?  Any other suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks,
Dan Cross