Preparations for offshore

[James Samiljan]

Hello all. Greetings from NH. We did not get to sail the San Picaro very much this summer.  I was recovering from double knee replacements in the spring and my son Paul had business commitments that kept him in NYC.  When we finally managed to get together, we discovered that a repair done to our rudder last winter had failed.  The boat ended up on the hard for about 5 weeks.  Fortunately for us, Rod Jermain was vacationing in Maine at the time and stopped by the yard to examine the rudder and make specific recommendations to the glasser for its repair.   He is such an incredible resource and so generous with his time.  We have also had the pleasure of meeting Rod's brother Phil, who was operating a Sea Tow craft in Casco Bay this summer.   He came by the San Picaro while we were at our mooring in Falmouth Foreside.  He told us that he admired the boat and then asked us what the hull number was.  Then he said that he had worked for Alajuela in the '70's.  I asked him if he knew a man named Rod Jermain, and he replied that he was Rod's baby brother Phil.  A friendly and gregarious guy and very much like his big brother. 

 

Well, we are about to make up for lost sailing time.  I have just retired after 45 years of teaching Spanish at Phillips Exeter Academy in NH, and my son Paul is taking a leave of absence from his job.  Our plan is to participate in the Caribbean 1500 in November and we will be sailing from Hampton, VA to Tortola, roughly 1,500 nm. We are currently upgrading the San Picaro's electronics, adding SSB, a tiller pilot, and making all other necessary preparations to have her ready for departure from Yarmouth, Maine in mid October.  I have sailed for most of my life (now 71 years), but neither Paul nor I have offshore experience.  We figured the Caribbean 1500 would be a good initiation for us.  We have many questions for the blue-water sailors in the group, but today I would like to ask just a couple.

 

1.  How much fuel would you recommend that we carry for the passage from Virginia to Tortola.  We have just the 60 gallon integral fuel tank and are trying to determine how many additional jerry cans we ought to be taking along with us.  Do most of you store them on deck, and if so, what is the best way to secure them.

 

2.  We have a Monitor windvane which we hope to use as much as possible.  I know from the Scanmar website that it is possible to attach a small tiller pilot to the Monitor counterweight or to a shortened wooden airvane.  Do any of you have experience with this arrangement?  If so, do you have any recommendations and/or photos?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Jim

 

[Nick Kats]

Jim

 

Offshore sailing is far simpler & easier than coastal. The coast is where most sailboats are lost. Hardly any at sea. What hazards?

 

Extra jerry cans for diesel on deck are a waste of time. Sail.

 

Bon voyage,

 

Nick

Teddy, 39' Colin Archer

Ireland

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[Shaun Sims]

Hi,

We carry an extra 100lt but like to keep the weight down low.

4 x 20lt plastic jerry cans under the V berth insert, 2 x in Port lasserete, 2 x in starboard hold under starboard stern cushions against engine access hatch, 2 x at base of mast either side and 2 in the heads on long blue water passages.

Installing a watermaker gives us a lot more room now we are not carrying addition water jugs.

Perhaps on a much larger vessel we'd think about them against the stancheons but when you do as much heavy weather sailing as we do, it's too much strain and creates a lot of drag if the toe rail goes under.

Fair winds,

Mico

[Dennis Wilcoxon]

Hi Jim,

I have a Monitor on our Maya. I've sailed her a few thousand miles coastal and offshore with it. Other than coming in and out of port. It's all you'll use. I built a mini vane blade out of aluminum an set up as pivot on the stern rail for a tiller pilot to vane just as you describe. I used it coming up Tampa bay the last twenty or thirty miles on our very first sail and trip home from Miami. 'Haven't used it since. If Maya wasn't for sale I'd be glad to send it to you. 

I later installed a hydraulic, below decks autopilot and have used it exclusively for local sailing. The Monitor is for off soundings and out of traffic areas now. For the trip you mention I'd think that a tiller pilot to tiller and the wind vane are more than enough. Rigging an additional link to the Monitor is overkill. Ask Frank and Lynda on Simba. They use nothing more the just described set up and have sailed her -wow- everywhere. 

Fuel- Really as much as you can carry. I hate fuel jugs on deck but they are effective. There is a spot on our Mark1 just aft the comings where a single 5 gal. jug sets nicely on both sides. Then one can lash jugs to the three stays on each side. That's 40 more gallons. But then what to do with the empties? I have a space below in the engine room for three empty jugs so that's all I carry in extra fuel. But I always carry that on passages and trips. Fueling at odd locations sucks. 

You should see our auto pilot set up. I'm quite proud of it. 'Took a long time to think it through and execute it but boy was it worth it. Tiller pilots are disposable. A hydraulic system is indestructible.

By the way. I assume you have roller furler on your jib and staysail?

Cheers,

Dennis

 

--

[Carl & Debbie Gaines]

Autopilot: Diva came with a heavy-duty Navico hydraulic A/P. It was unreliable - probably due to weak/failing electronics. Kept the hydraulic pump and all the mechanical linkage (hydraulic ram, chain, pulleys, cable, stern dorades, link to bottom of tiller) and replaced the electronics with a new Simrad AP16 (I think that's the number, but I'm off the boat at the moment). Absolutely love it, but then we're cruisers, not sailors. We motor most of the time and have done 4 round trips on the ICW from Florida to Chesapeake (and once to Nantucket) using it extensively. It steers better than I do, even in the crowded Waterway - quick and spot on.

Jerry Jugs for water & fuel: keep 3 per side tied to wood railings at the shrouds. On the A38 there's plenty of room to move past fore and aft. We tie them down with webbing and friction clips. Occasional wave hits have not been a problem. We tie them through the handles, so they may get knocked down, but don't go swimming. If we got in heavy water offshore, we should probably lash them with line, but we are old fart wusses and avoid the white stuff.

Have fun,

 

Carl & Debbie
s/v Diva

---

From: James Samiljan <jsami...@gmail.com>
To: alajue...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Saturday, September 8, 2012 12:56 PM
Subject: Preparations for offshore

[glenn gelhar]

Jim,
 All the best on your upcoming travels. I have sailed Vindsang, my 38 many open water miles. Hate to say it but she is now in New Zealand and being sold and will now hail from Australia. She has carried me over many miles and I know will be good to her new owners who may jump on this listserve soon. Anyway..to get on to your two questions.
 1. I enjoy the open decks and have only carried two diesel jerry cans and one gas in the aft lazzerette. It doesn't leave much more space but can be done. This leaves added weight astern and low. If I was adding any other cans, and planned on lots of motoring which I don't do much, I would place boards on the shorads and place them there. I'm sure you can estimate the total miles of your crossing and add extra cans depending on your cruising range. Vindsang has crossed to the Marqueses twice from Mexico and didn't need any extra fuel from cans. That 60 gallons can get you far.
 2. Vindsang has an Aires vane, Samanta, who has 'stock' upper vane and while I have thought to use a smaller one in heavy air, have never need to. I do carry lots of extra parts and have only had problems being hit in marinas. They are fragile compared to most other gear on the Alajuela.
Fair winds,
Glenn
 

---

Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2012 09:56:54 -0700
From: jsami...@gmail.com
To: alajue...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Preparations for offshore

[James Samiljan]

Thank you, all, for your replies.  They have been very helpful for us in making our decision to go with a small tiller pilot and attach it to the Monitor.  I have talked with Scanmar, and the installation seems to be pretty straightforward.  The San Picaro is on the hard as we begin to prepare her for the trip south.  We will be sure to post updates to the group once we get underway.

 

Regards,

Jim

[Frank & Lynda - SIMBA]

Jim -

 

An additional thought on the tiller pilot when used to steer the tiller not the Monitor, and I think you may use it that way a fair amount.  I don't know which model you will be using but if you have not yet picked one go for the largest available and consider the mounting of the ram carefully.  There is a good chance the installation instructions will suggest the ram be attached to the tiller about 18-inches from the rudder.  I would (and I have) doubled that to about 36-inches, the Alajuela 38  it is too much of a load on the ram of available tiller pilots for the 'typical' installation.  All that means is that the 'rudder' or 'gain' setting would be increased a bit to get the response right.  In addition you should either purchase an extension for the ram so that it can push further and/or provide for a couple of mounting positions for the stationary end of the ram so that the ram will be able to push/pull the tiller far enough depending on the tack.

 

Looking forward to your reports.  Is the fleet going to be equipped with trackers like iBoatTrack or YellowBrick?

 

Best,

 

Frank

Simba A38

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[john briggs]

Jim

You likely have done this already.... check the bottom of the samson post.  There was the start of some dry rot there, and better to repair it now than when it's blowing 40 knots with waves at anchor.  The boat did have a tiller pilot and you can see the mounting location at the rear of the cockpit on the cockpit rail.  As Frank suggests below, it was probably easily 36 inches from the fulcrum of the rudder.

I look forward to hearing your adventures.  Don't let any of the little last minute stuff stop you!  

cheers, John

[Michael Skott]

Hi all,  Michael Skott here, the owner of Lively Lady Alajuela 38 for the passed 30 years, my water tanks are leaking again and was wanted to know if any body has had that problem?  Pulled them our 30 years ago when i bought her and put new bottoms on but, is now needed to be done again.  Would be nice to get new tanks made, but aim sure its not going to be easy to find someone to make new ones.  Many thanks yours Michael Skott    

--
Michael Skott
skottphoto.com
Office 360 376 5284

Cell 360 317 6983

[dra...@comcast.net]

Michael-The aft tank on my 38 went bad about 20 years ago. I cut a hole in the top of the tank through (inside) the access port and epoxy fiberglassed the inside of the tank. That worked until about two years ago. Rather than do anything extreme at that time I put a bladder in that tank which has worked well so far. Not a real good solution but may be better than taking the tanks out and replacing them? 

Ed-ex owner of Draco

---

From: "Michael Skott" <skott...@gmail.com>
To: alajue...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2012 2:06:32 PM

[Michael Skott]

Thanks very much for the info   

[Jones, Thomas H.]

Has anyone converted the original icebox on an Alajuela 33 into a refrig and then re-insulated it?

Tom Jones

Whisper

[John Vallely]

This might warrant a new thread, but I'm also planning to upgrade my
A-33 icebox insulation, minus the refrigeration. First challenge is to
figure out how to get the old one out. I took the screws out of the
end plywood panel when I had the top off (found some Corian for the
counters), but the cabinet is either glued together or the poured
insulation is holding it in place. If the latter, I'll have to figure
out how to cut it to free the end so I can get the glass liner out.
Any other tricks to getting the icebox apart without taking a sawzall
to it from the top?
JV
Selkie

On Sep 24, 6:20 am, "Jones, Thomas H." <tjo...@GFNET.com> wrote:
> Has anyone converted the original icebox on an Alajuela 33 into a refrig and then re-insulated it?
> Tom Jones
> Whisper
>
> From: alajue...@googlegroups.com [mailto:alajue...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Michael Skott
> Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2012 5:07 PM
> To: alajue...@googlegroups.com
> Subject: Re: Preparations for offshore
>

> Thanks very much for the infoOn Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 2:16 PM, <drac...@comcast.net<mailto:drac...@comcast.net>> wrote:
>
> Michael-The aft tank on my 38 went bad about 20 years ago. I cut a hole in the top of the tank through (inside) the access port and epoxy fiberglassed the inside of the tank. That worked until about two years ago. Rather than do anything extreme at that time I put a bladder in that tank which has worked well so far. Not a real good solution but may be better than taking the tanks out and replacing them?
>
> Ed-ex owner of Draco
> ________________________________

> From: "Michael Skott" <skottph...@gmail.com<mailto:skottph...@gmail.com>>
> To: alajue...@googlegroups.com<mailto:alajue...@googlegroups.com>

> Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2012 2:06:32 PM
>
> Subject: Re: Preparations for offshore
>
> Hi all,  Michael Skott here, the owner of Lively Lady Alajuela 38 for the passed 30 years, my water tanks are leaking again and was wanted to know if any body has had that problem?  Pulled them our 30 years ago when i bought her and put new bottoms on but, is now needed to be done again.  Would be nice to get new tanks made, but aim sure its not going to be easy to find someone to make new ones.  Many thanks yours Michael Skott

> On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 4:39 PM, Frank & Lynda - SIMBA <SV.Si...@att.net<mailto:SV.Si...@att.net>> wrote:
> Jim -
>
> An additional thought on the tiller pilot when used to steer the tiller not the Monitor, and I think you may use it that way a fair amount.  I don't know which model you will be using but if you have not yet picked one go for the largest available and consider the mounting of the ram carefully.  There is a good chance the installation instructions will suggest the ram be attached to the tiller about 18-inches from the rudder.  I would (and I have) doubled that to about 36-inches, the Alajuela 38  it is too much of a load on the ram of available tiller pilots for the 'typical' installation.  All that means is that the 'rudder' or 'gain' setting would be increased a bit to get the response right.  In addition you should either purchase an extension for the ram so that it can push further and/or provide for a couple of mounting positions for the stationary end of the ram so that the ram will be able to push/pull the tiller far enough depending on the tack.
>
> Looking forward to your reports.  Is the fleet going to be equipped with trackers like iBoatTrack or YellowBrick?
>
> Best,
>
> Frank
> Simba A38
>

> From: James Samiljan<mailto:jsamilja...@gmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, September 14, 2012 11:05 AM
> To: alajue...@googlegroups.com<mailto:alajue...@googlegroups.com>
> Subject: Re: Preparations for offshore
>
> Thank you, all, for your replies.  They have been very helpful for us in making our decision to go with a small tiller pilot and attach it to the Monitor.  I have talked with Scanmar, and the installation seems to be pretty straightforward.  The San Picaro is on the hard as we begin to prepare her for the trip south.  We will be sure to post updates to the group once we get underway.
>
> Regards,
> Jim
>
> On Saturday, September 8, 2012 12:56:54 PM UTC-4, James Samiljan wrote:
>
> Hello all. Greetings from NH. We did not get to sail the San Picaro very much this summer.  I was recovering from double knee replacements in the spring and my son Paul had business commitments that kept him in NYC.  When we finally managed to get together, we discovered that a repair done to our rudder last winter had failed.  The boat ended up on the hard for about 5 weeks.  Fortunately for us, Rod Jermain was vacationing in Maine at the time and stopped by the yard to examine the rudder and make specific recommendations to the glasser for its repair.   He is such an incredible resource and so generous with his time.  We have also had the pleasure of meeting Rod's brother Phil, who was operating a Sea Tow craft in Casco Bay this summer.   He came by the San Picaro while we were at our mooring in Falmouth Foreside.  He told us that he admired the boat and then asked us what the hull number was.  Then he said that he had worked for Alajuela in the '70's.  I asked him if he knew a man named Rod Jermain, and he replied that he was Rod's baby brother Phil.  A friendly and gregarious guy and very much like his big brother.
>
> Well, we are about to make up for lost sailing time.  I have just retired after 45 years of teaching Spanish at Phillips Exeter Academy in NH, and my son Paul is taking a leave of absence from his job.  Our plan is to participate in the Caribbean 1500 in November and we will be sailing from Hampton, VA to Tortola, roughly 1,500 nm. We are currently upgrading the San Picaro's electronics, adding SSB, a tiller pilot, and making all other necessary preparations to have her ready for departure from Yarmouth, Maine in mid October.  I have sailed for most of my life (now 71 years), but neither Paul nor I have offshore experience.  We figured the Caribbean 1500 would be a good initiation for us.  We have many questions for the blue-water sailors in the group, but today I would like to ask just a couple.
>
> 1.  How much fuel would you recommend that we carry for the passage from Virginia to Tortola.  We have just the 60 gallon integral fuel tank and are trying to determine how many additional jerry cans we ought to be taking along with us.  Do most of you store them on deck, and if so, what is the best way to secure them.
>
> 2.  We have a Monitor windvane which we hope to use as much as possible.  I know from the Scanmar website that it is possible to attach a small tiller pilot to the Monitor counterweight or to a shortened wooden airvane.  Do any of you have experience with this arrangement?  If so, do you have any recommendations and/or photos?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Jim
>
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>
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