Ebbtides

[Bill Robinson]

Hi Ben,
You asked about other improvements/modifications that I have made on Jenain, so I will list them.
1. I built a removable hard dodger. This is a marked improvement over a canvass covered frame dodger, both in terms of protection, and durability.
2. Leading on from this dodger, I built a sailing awning, that attaches to the rear of the hard dodger. This gives great shade in the cockpit when sailing.
3. I added a short removable sprit, which makes flying the asymmetrical spinnaker much, much easier.
4. I added a Twistle sail, and associated hardware to the sail inventory. In my opinion, this is a perfect sail for Trade Wind sailing.
5. Other items are the 25kg Rocna anchor, the powerful Lofrans windlass, the Watchmate AIS, the ReefRite furler with it's Kiwi slides, the 50hp Beta Marine diesel, the 4 bladed, feathering VariProp, the folding mast steps, and the LED lighting.

Over the years and miles, Jenain has evolved into a very efficient long range cruising machine, mainly as a result of hard lessons, and a few close shaves. Each of the additions and modifications contribute to make cruising easier, safer and more fun. I get to sail a lot of boats with my delivery work, and there is always something good on even the worst of them. I am just now adding a raw water failure alarm system, to Jenain, as a result of a lesson learned on my recent delivery to the Philippines.

Have a great weekend,
Bill.
Aboard yacht JENAIN.

[Bill Robinson]

Hi Ben,

I will photograph the sprit , in position, for you today, as well as the anchor rollers.

The chain plates are in fact welded to the inside of the hull, as well as the deck and toe rail, exactly as per Alan Pape's design.

The incident that prompted my decision to fit a raw water alarm, was the failure of the impeller on the Westerbeke gen set, of the boat that I have just delivered. It was shut down very fast, by the factory fitted raw water temperature switch, before any damage occurred on the engine. This is cheap, but vital protection for an engine. There is so much junk in the waters now, that raw water failure is almost inevitable. I have ordered a temperature sensor, for an alarm, from Borel Mfg., but I will build the circuit etc. myself. Their alarm unit requires a 50mm cut out, and I do not have a convenient place for this. I want to keep all the engine instruments etc together.

Like most yachts in the nineties, Jenain started out with a 45lb CQR anchor, which dragged alarmingly. This was then replaced by a Bruce, which was no improvement. Next came a Delta, which was a bit better, but still we dragged. I finally bought a 25 kg Rocna years ago, in 2006, I think, and it has been absolutely great. As Jenain is uninsured, my anchor system must be top notch. I sleep well now with the Rocna, (and the Watchmate anchor watch). I have also  built a 40kg, two piece, Rocna , as a "storm anchor". This replaced my previous Paul Luke "fisherman" storm anchor. It stows well in the bilge, and is easy to assemble and deploy. Peter Smith, the inventor of the Rocna, commented that it was a better design than his own prototype, two piece Rocna. I consider Peter one of the most knowledgable experts on anchoring. The Rocna web site, is a mine of great information, as is the anchoring section of Attainable Adventure Cruising. The top two anchors, are the Rocna, and the Spade, but as the Rocna is much stronger than a Spade, it is my choice of anchor.

Regards,

Bill.
Aboard yacht JENAIN.

On 1 Aug 2015, at 05:57, Ben Dyer <ben...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hey Bill,

That is a great list!  Most, if not all, of those things will need consideration on Freerange.  

I would love to see your removable sprit and bow roller. I could see part of it in your photo of the windlass.  

At the moment, assuming all is good next weekend when we go through Freerange with the surveyor, we will be spending 6 weeks at Christmas out of the water with her and making some modifications and improvements.  My plan was to begin with important features on the deck, bulwarks and stanchions first, then bow roller and finally chainplates and rigging if time permits. 

Regarding the chainplates, from the photo it appears they are welded to the top of your toe rail?  Is that an optical illusion?  If so, and you have the camera handy, I would love to see where they attach to the deck.

What happened to prompt your consideration of a raw water alarm system on Jenain?

Love to hear your comments on the Rocna and any experience you have gleaned from other anchors.  I am assuming this is your go to anchor?

Ben

> Subject: Ebbtides
> From: jenai...@yahoo.com
> Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2015 15:04:18 +0800
> CC: ebbtid...@googlegroups.com
> To: ben...@hotmail.com

[Bill Robinson]

>
>
>>
>> Hi
>> Here is a list of the things that I did right when building Jenain, and also the things that I got wrong!

>> 1. Deciding to go with the taller rig option. Alan asked me why, as Cape Town is a windy place. My answer was that I was not going to sail much in Cape Town! Although we have had our share of strong winds, there has been an awful lot of light wind sailing, and I have been very happy to have the extra sail area.
>> 2. Going for running back stays instead of the diamond stays. The runners are easy to set up, and add tremendous support when really needed. Now that Spectra and Dynema are readily available, the next stage will be to replace the wire with one of these lighter alternatives.
>> 3. Building a steel rudder. I could see no point in having a steel boat with a wooden rudder.
>> 4. Fitting a feathering propeller. The first was a 3 bladed Max Prop, and the current one is a 4 bladed VariProp. They give 0,5 to 1 knot of extra speed under sail, and make a big difference in light airs. The huge braking force in reverse, has also got me out of trouble.
>> 5. Using a S.S. pipe for the toe rail capping instead of wood.
>> 6. Putting in opening ports in the front of the coach roof and into the cockpit from the aft cabin. These greatly improve ventilation.
>> 7. Fitting a Walder boom brake. With her long, low boom, this is a necessity.
>> 8. Building a hard dodger eventually. If I had done this from the outset, I would have saved a lot of time and money.
>> 9. Fitting a 25kg Rocna anchor. They were not available in 1996, but this is one of the best bits of kit on Jenain, along with the ReefRite furler, and it's Kiwi slides, and the Vesper Marine Watchmate AIS. All from New Zealand!
>> 10. Replacing the steel fore deck bollard with a S.S. unit. All the steel ones rust, as it is virtually impossible to keep the paint coating intact.
>>
>> Things that I got wrong.

>> 1. Building beautifull teak hatches and dorade boxes, with dovetailed joints etc etc. These turned out to be maintenance nightmares, and very difficult to keep watertight. Now with Bomar S.S. Hatches, and plastic dorades, this is a non issue.
>> 2. Bolting the Lexan ports into the cabin top. The bolts started leaking, and the steel rusting after a few years. Now the Lexan is simply stuck in with Sikaflex, no holes no leaks and no rust. The next improvement will be to replace the 12mm Lexan, with toughened glass, no crazing!
>> 3. Putting in too small a motor. The first engine was a 34hp Perkins, it was way too small for a 12 ton boat. The 50hp Beta Marine engine uses less fuel, and has enough grunt to get us out of trouble. I nearly lost Jenain in Chagos when a sudden wind shift had us on a lee shore with a coral reef meters behind the rudder. At full throttle the Perkins barely made head way into a 40 knot wind, compounded by the next point.
>> 4. Fitting a manual anchor windlass. Originally, I had a S.L. Sea tiger windlass. It was very slow, and if you are single handed, you cannot motor forward and crank at the same time. Now, with the 1500 Watt Lofrans Tigeres windlass, I can raise the anchor from the cockpit, while motoring forward. A big safety plus.
>> 5. Fitting an engine driven refrigeration compressor. Although the system was very powerful and efficient, it was just not reliable, and I spent many days, and much money repairing it, only to have it break down again after a few months use. I now have two Danfoss compressors, and have not had to do a thing except drink cold beer for years.
>> 6. Slavishly following Alan's drawings. He drew a great interior design, but the sink and worktop heights in the galley are too low, even for me, and I am not tall. Perhaps he designed them for Cornish men?
>> 7. Bolting the granny bars and dorade protection bars to the deck. Again rust and leaks eventually started. They, and almost everything else possible, are now welded to the boat. No leaks and no rust.
>> 7. The hull ports are too small, and could easily have been 50% larger, to let in more light.
>> 8. The 5 mm steel cockpit locker lids are too heavy, and difficult to keep rust free. Mine are now hot dip galvanized, which has reduced the maintenance, but if I have the opportunity, I will replace them with aluminum ones.

>> The main thing, is that the Ebbtides are very good sea boats, tough and comfortable. All the other stuff is minor, and a great reason to keep tinkering. I always seem to have a new project going on to improve Jenain, and keep me from being too idle. The latest, is to fit a raw water failure alarm system, following on from the lesson learnt on my recent delivery.

>> Cheers,
>> Bill.
>> Aboard yacht JENAIN.

[Bill Robinson]

Hi Ben,

Yes, the Sikaflex is more than sufficient. When I changed the original ports on Jenain, I had to use a large hammer to smash them out from inside, AFTER, I had first removed the 6 mm bolts! My ports are recessed, so they are flush with the outside of the coach roof, and so cannot be pushed out except from inside. The glass windows in my hard dodger are fitted with a sealant only, (as are the windscreens etc. on cars, trucks and busses nowadays). 

There will nearly always be rust eventually, wherever anything is bolted to a steel boat. Unfortunately, not everything can be welded directly to the boat. To mitigate this problem, I use the following technique. I always put a base of tufnol under every fitting. I then put O rings on the bolts, between the fitting and the tufnol, and also between the tufnol and the steel of the boat. I only tighten the fitting slightly initially, so as not to squeeze the sealant out, then allow the Sikaflex or other sealant to cure for 24 hrs, before tightening finally. It is important that the bolts are not allowed to turn and break the sealant's "seal", in this final tightening stage. Therefore only the nuts on the inside are moved. An alternative technique, for smaller, lightly loaded fittings, is to weld S.S. threaded studs to the boat, and then use nuts and washers to hold the fitting in place.

Yes, the foredeck bollard is also called the Sampson post. I cut the horns off the original steel Sampson post, and then welded the new S.S. Sampson post over the old one. Easy to do, and strong. The S.S. one is not very thick walled, as the strength comes largely from the original steel unit under it.

Regards,

Bill.
Aboard yacht JENAIN.

On 4 Aug 2015, at 05:28, Ben Dyer <ben...@hotmail.com> wrote:

So the sikaflex is sufficient to hold the ports in the cabin top in place…  Then this will be another early, and what sounds like a simple, modification as there seems to be the signs of some rusting in that area.

How did you go about replacing the foredeck bollard with a stainless steel one?  Are you talking about the samson pole?

> Subject: Fwd: Ebbtides
> From: jenai...@yahoo.com
> Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2015 09:49:27 +0800
> CC: ebbtid...@googlegroups.com
> To: ben...@hotmail.com
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