Messages

Thinking about installing 1-1/4" aluminum T-Track on port and std toe rail.  What length 5/16" screws should I use?

I replaced my Hurth with a ZF10 about 6 years ago.  Because the price has gone sky high for a direct replacement, I'd seriously look into having it re-built.  I didn't rebuild then because, at the time, the cost to rebuild was about 75% the cost to ZF 10.  Not the case today...

I thought long and hard about davits.  Mainly because I wanted an easy means to launch my 91 lb 8' RIB and my 56 LB 4-stroke 6 HP Yamaha, kept on the push pit, without shredding my back someday.  Well, I really don't like the idea of davits on the back of my 34 obstructing my great view so, I decided to try a different approach for a season or two first.

A few weeks ago I installed a Garhauer engine hoist on the push-pit.  I also bought one of their dinghy davit blocks, which are 6-1, plus an additional carabiner clip to use to lift the dinghy off the fore deck each weekend.  I replaced the 60' davit block line with a 150' and bought a $15 canvas bucket from Harbor Freight to keep it all in.  The bucket also works very well to pay the line out from / capture the line in etc. without having to coil it all the time.

So far, it's been great and I'm loving it.  I can easily handle deploying and retrieving the dinghy all by myself on the fore deck after hoisting my spare jib halyard to a pre-marked point without having the admiral up there while I manage the winch.  I make sure I clip the top carabiner clip to the bag handle so its easy to employ and keep the lines from getting tangled.  Also, the engine hoist is awesome and very easy to use.  So, I'm < $700 in and don't have the davits and dinghy obstructing the great view from my cockpit.  Also, the davit block and line is long enough to work for man-overboard retrieval which really appeals to me.

Just thought I'd share my possible alternative.

My boat had a limber hole in the fwd compartment pan with a cork in it.  I replaced it with a transom plug and keep it in there all the time so I don't unknowingly contaminate the bilge.

Paul,
Thank you for capturing the feelings about sailing and the price of what you love so eloquently.  For many and maybe even most of us on this forum, having these boats must ne a love.  Otherwise, would we devote so much time, energy and money caring for them?

Bill-all you are missing is a new FIN keel to make the boat perfect!   

Noah,
Beginnings is my first sailboat after a Hobie Cat in my much younger days.  Knowing I'd be sailing in waters that can be quite shallow and being inexperienced, I was interested in a shoal draft and considered myself lucky that the boat I bought happened to be one.  I spent my 1st season sailing her on the Barnegat Bay in NJ, which is notoriously shallow & soft, where you spend most of your time with your head on a swivel for other craft and eyes on the plotter to keep a 4'-9" draft off the bottom. Sailors in the Barnegat say that if you haven't run aground, you ain't sailing.  The next season I moved to the northern Chesapeake, which is also considered shallow and I now feel spoiled.  I'm quite satisfied with my relatively rare shoal draft and don't miss the possible additional speed for the places I can otherwise go on the Chessy's tributaries.

When it comes to maintaining a 34' sailboat (cost of doing business) $366 is not very much money. I just replaced my covers for $4,000, a recent refer replacement cost over $1,500, the batteries are coming due for replacement at around $1,000, and last but certainly not least I'm soon to be hauling out for new bottom paint and a few other items like new cutlass bearing, I don't know what the final total will be yet but I know it will be several thousand dollars.

How's that $366 looking now?

Kevin,
Your preaching to the choir my friend and yes $366 isn't much.  In the past 5 years I bought new transmission, damper plate, stuffing box, SS shaft, cutlass bearing, flexible coupling, prop, exhaust riser & muffler, fuel tank, Dodger & Bimini with frames, all new standing and running rigging, new life lines, new depth sounder, wind anemometer, auto-pilot with instruments, new alt with external regulator, all new battery cables & switches, house and aux batteries, battery monitor, new refrigeration and that's only the big stuff.  So, I save as much as I can where I can by shopping to have more for the next item.   Not complaining and I don't dare total it all up cause I love having the boat and I cant take it with me ;)

Lets go sailing y'all!

karista,
Thanks for the info!   That's much less expensive than the price listed on CD.  I'll be giving them a call...   

CD is charging $366 plus shipping.  I was going to do it a year or two ago and don't remember it being that $$$ when I looked before.  Seems pretty pricey for a 80' piece of vinyl and the reason I'm interested in shopping.  So, looking for alternatives if there are any.

Thanks for the reply.  The tan rubber in my rub rail is pretty beat on my '87 and I'm thinking about replacing it with gray.  i was looking @ the replacement on CD and was wondering if it might be available elsewhere.  CD is a great resource for the hard to find but, if someone else has what you need, elsewhere is usually less expensive.

waughoo - Did you find an alternative to what's available from CD?

For anyone that's knowledge has been enriched by Rodd and maybe even saved a buck or two by learning from him, please consider making a modest donation to help someone that's helped us

I've only made that run once.  if you mean marina's, what you said is my take on it.  Up the Maurice river is a possibility but, that's only about 15 or so miles North of Cape May on the Jersey side.  Further North on the Jersey side, and closer to half way between Cape May & Delaware City, is the Cohansey River.  I've never boated on it but, 25-30 years ago I used to frequent a restaurant in Greenwich on the Cohansey and remember it used to have a very swift current where the restaurant and marina was.   Certainly more then 3 knots and it wouldn't surprise me if it approached 5 at peak because its narrow, and winds like a snake with 6' tides.  One that I wouldn't want to deal with in my 34, given a choice.  Especially trying to dock with that because the marina had no protection from the currents.  I don't think there are any on the DE side so, you'd be left with anchoring.  In favorable weather, I'd think you could find a decent spot to anchor.  Its about a 50 mile run to DE City so, pick a good day, start out early and hope the wind & current aren't against you.

LOL

I took my '87 C34 from the Barnegat to Worton Creek on the Chessy via the C&D canal several years ago.   Pretty much any NJ inlet South of Ocean City & North of Cape May should be approached with utmost caution, especially near low tide without local knowledge.  Same thing goes for Delaware City Marina.  Especially if you draw more than 4 foot.  For DE City, Marina they're happy to give detailed directions over VHF.  My low tide approach in to DE City Marina 4 years ago from the South was to keep #1 buoy in to the Delaware City Branch Channel, within a boat length to port then follow a direct path to the docks on the Northern side of the channel.  I think once in the channel slightly favor the Southern side but that detail is a little fuzzy.

Enjoy the trip!