BYYB Forums

Welllllll.  I've  been getting a little feed back lately.  I beat myself up, almost cut off my hand fitting stringers into Indigo and now it turns out that the stringers that come in the kits are 1/2 inch instead 3/4 like the plan calls for.  Why didn't I think of that??  Kits are cool.   They only have one drawback that I can see; everything has to fit perfectly or you are screwed.  Offsetting that is the fact that you can dry fit all the parts around what you are working on and get that perfect fit.

There are a few guys starting on their boats and it is pretty interesting to be on the other side of the pen. 

I've got a long ways to go to get all my strength back, but it is coming.  Meanwhile, I am just hanging around in the shop realizing what a great boat this is for me.  It fits me like a glove, and appeals to my sense of aesthetics.  I can't help but thinking she is going to show me some things on the water too.'''

I have a few more pics that show some of the stuff I got done before I left last summer.  Later this month there will be more.

Al

Thanks for the photos! She IS a great little boat - really looking forward to see you sailing and enjoying her later on down the track. Sometimes personal circumstances mean we have to change tack, (And if you do have to change tack that is more than OK - it's be true to yourself ) - but if it is at all possible I would encourage you to stick with Indie and get her in the water and sailing - if and when that happens there are people all over the world who be giving you a standing ovation!! No pressure LOL !!!!

I have done a few things that go along with what I wrote about last time, so here they are.

The pic of the open forward hatch shows how it opens such that I can stand in it and easily reach all of the operating parts up forward while standing inside.  That would be quite difficult with the hatch cover facing the other way.  It also shows gasket pieces test fitting the seal for the hatch.  I use pickup topper foam gasket tape for all my hatch seals.  When I apply it to the hatch coaming, I always over lap the outside edge of the coaming to be bent down by the cover and ensure a solid seal.  It works pretty darn good.

Another  pic I took to illustrate just how big the boat is.  I am six feet tall and stout.  This is me standing in the companionway.  Not too shabby for room.

Another pic is  close up of one of the portlights.  I am not satisfied with mine as I have said before.  Maybe you might think otherwise.  If you do, it sure will simplify construction. 

Not much more for now.  I have the mast figured out in two styles.  I'm not sure which I will go with, but I know that I want the best leading edge I can get with my gaff main.  Cleaning up the leading edge on Duckie's main has made a big difference in her performance and I want to keep that.

Al

Fantastic work! What a beautiful boat!

Looking really good! good progress indeed!

Hey Al, what did you do on the leading edge if your weekender sail that made it perform better? I'm always interested in learning more performance-enhancing tricks. Also I'm well jealous of your new boat, a canoe-yawl looks just right for the kind of sailing I do, although I do enjoy the small size of my weekender.

(08-27-2018, 12:18 PM)Al Stead Wrote: [ -> ]Ya could have knocked me over with a sledge hammer.  While talking to SWMBO this morning she told me " Don't sell the boat." 
We knocked out a scheme to keep her indoors this winter, and that saved her life.  It was pressing on me that I don't have much time before the snow comes and does what snow does to unfinished wooden boats.  So, I'm pulling her off the market for the winter.  Who knows what will happen, but at least now she is safe. 

Al

 Greetings Al,
Sorry for the delay. Ya know, work, work, work...! This is wonderful news! Hang in there, keep warm, and can't wait to see "you" launch!

Regards,
capnpablo

I did two things.  I changed from hoops to lacing, specifically Dutch lacing which isolates each wrap into a distinct section so that I can space the luff closer to the mast.   The other was to carve the mast into an octagon shape with slightly rounded edges to mitigate chafe. 

I did the lacing because I was unsatisfied with the hoops always hanging up when I raised or lowered the sail.  I also figured that if I could get the sail closer to the mast there would be less turbulence between the mast and sail.  My CP  16 has sail slugs that pull the luff right up to the mast by way of a groove in the mast, so it couldn't be too bad.  While driveway sailing one day I noticed that the luff of my sail was swiveling around the mast to match the angle of attack of the wind.  Because the sail was closer to the mast, it was easier to see the two interacting as I looked down along the edges.  Sweet I thought just like an airplane wing.  The effect was equivalent to a swiveling mast step. 

I cut  my mast into an octagon shape because I wanted to lighten it up without building a whole new one, also I thought it looked better.  The effect of my artistic endeavors was a narrower leading edge which sweetened up the angle of attack even more.  Now when I look down the mast and sail together they really resemble the leading edge of an airplane wing.  Admitedly, it still is not a solid edge so there is still some turbulence between the two, but it is greatly reduced. 

When I let Bill Paxton sail Duckie, he was really taken with her power and speed.  We sailed up the lake farther than he ever had, before he realized it, even with that burdened boat.  We talked about that and concluded that my sail had to be the reason.  I didn't bring up the mast and lacing, because I didn't want to take credit for the improvement.  I wasn't quite sure at the time either.  I am pretty sure now so I feel comfortable recommending it to others. 

I also didn't mention my new gaff's self vanging feature.  When I built a new lighter cooper layup gaff, I also lightened up the jaws.  The new shape of the jaws was for strength as I saw it at the time, but I got an unforeseen pick up in performance in the process.  In a nutshell, my new jaws prevent the gaff from swinging out freely. The effect of this is that I reduced sail twist at certain points and still allow the gaff to react to a gust on it's own.  Simply put the new jaws press against the shrouds as they twist out, but not enough to jam them tight.  I have a fair bit of chafe that I have to repair each year, but I gladly do it for the boost I get on a broad to close reach.  Multi masted gaffers will often run a line from the mizzen to the tip of the gaff to be able to make this effect.  Mine just ended up doing it on its own.  On Indigo I will run the line from the mizzen.  I credit my 6.7 mph speed that day to reduced sail twist from the jaws.  All of this was by accident.  I didn't set out to improve performance, well maybe a little, it just showed up.

Al

Cool! One of my hoops is broken anyway, so I might give lacing a try next spring. I used a spokeshave a few years ago to whittle down the mast to an octagon shape. I didn't really notice better boat oerformance but he mast is sure easier to raise and lower nowI think I knocked at least five pounds off it.

I noticed on your videos that I watch all the time, that your rings seem pretty big.  With that much space between the sail and mast there won't be much connection to keep the laminar flow intact.  Your hoops will demonstrate the swivel that will happen with the lacing,  but I'm not surprised you can't feel much.  If you use the Dutch style lacing, be careful to get the sail as close as you can without impeding the  laces movement.  Right now I am having some trouble with raising and lowering my sail because I have the lower end just a bit too tight,  I always leave the tag ends of the lacing long in case I need to adjust things later.  Dutch lacing can take a couple hours to do up because each loop requires the throat halyard to be tight.  I lace from top to bottom so each splice is equal to all the others.  But I only have to do it  once a year, so it is no big deal.  If nothing else, it is something to play with.

Al