Just a little faster....

My new Doyle Cruise Laminate and Storm sails have finally arrived! John from Doyles Sydney loft managed the project and the sails were made in their NZ loft. I just had time to hoist the main before the cruel norwester blew me off the water on the weekend. The main has three leech battens and two full length battens running on Ronstan Ballslide cars, a Cunningham and two large reefs. I need to do some work on the mast gate to accommodate the slides but otherwise she hoisted by hand very easily. Rowed out and snapped a few pics without battens and she looks fantastic sailing on her mooring.

To compliment the new sails I installed new dymeena halyards and racing braid genoa sheets. Still practicing hi-tech braid splices (there's a few depending on the product). Next will be reefing lines. I was able to reduce all my specified line diameters by using hi-tech FSE Robline Dymeena, Usacord Racing Braid and Donaghys Spectra Speed braid products.

The cabin sole is now 95% done with only the floor anchors and nav seat floor to go. As soon as I clear the cabin sole of gear so you can actually see the sole, I will post a pic or two. I am very satisfied with the transformation of the cabin. As soon as I replace my crazed windows and I know the damn things won't leak on the saloon bench seats, I will replace the foam to make it more comfortable and re-trim the cabin....well I'll see what a quote or two comes back with first and if horrified, will break out my Sail Rite sewing machine and have  a crack myself....hell, its not like I'm busy!!

Cabin sole upgrade

Spent Saturday in the boatshed (Relles garage) adhering the Lonseal Mahogany and Holly vinyl to the marine ply sole. Prep was straightforward, sand with 60 grit, acetone wipe followed by a wipe with alcohol. I then set about completing a test piece by spraying with Ardex AF152 Sheet Vinyl Adhesive, wait 2 hours for it to tack off, wipe the sheet with alcohol and then lay in position. Next was the 3 section, 100lb steel roller! Damn that sucker was heavy.....poor little Kia certainly knew it was in the boot. I am glad I hired the roller from Kennard Hire, as it without it there is really no way you can effectively get the pressure required to set the vinyl onto the adhesive. Once happy,  I completed the remaining pieces and she looked a treat.

 Sunday was spent on my knees replacing the sole support strips that I previously treated with wood preservative so they would not rot away as they had done before. Laid the new sole and fitted a few lifting latches to make removal easier. after I change out the SS Keel Bolts and washers and paint the bilge with 2 pack. I can then install the PYI Floor Anchors - a quarter turn SS Zud style fastener that sits flush. I will then be IASF compliant for fixed floorboards.

 



Early Christmas!

The Jefa Alloy Tiller Lever and Autopilot linear drive have arrived and look to be quality products. The lever will replace the mild steel lever that was once epoxy coated but is now rusting away. The linear drive will provide better thrust and is far more robust than a wheel pilot belt drive. Best part is I can leave the wiring and fittings in place for the wheel drive whilst removing the drive mechanism so i can readily re-install if the primary linear drive ever craps itself. Third redundancy is the Hydrovane and fourth the Sea Squid!

                                      
The original 1983 rusted steel tiller lever showing the tie rod end  and rudder reference take-off.

 The flash new Jefa Hi Tensile Alloy Tiller lever, custom machined at no extra cost. Great service from Jefa so I bought one of their Linear drives below! The arm to the left is telescopic whilst the one to the right is fixed. The tierod pins all match the new arm so installation should be reasonably straight forward once dimensions are calculated.

My KISS HF counterpoise antenna ground arrived last week. This system replaces the need to run copper foil to a Dyna Plate though bolted to the hull and constantly immersed in seawater. Tuned lengths of wire run inside a 1" plastic tube and are connected to the auto antenna tuner and then run forward down both sides of the hull, reflecting the backstay HF antenna. Reports indicate the system works extremely well and exceeds performance of the ground plate system.......we shall see once the HF Radio has been procured and installed. I did find an old SEA HF (Oz compliant) on eBay, but went to dinner and could not get the last bid down in time.....it went for $580.00! (curry was too good to leave!). Probably fortunate really, as I knew the Offshore Racing Rules would require me to eventually have a DSC capable HF, but no one could tell me what year this would come into effect, so the SEA was a good, cheap stop-gap solution.

Well wouldn't you know.....Yachting Australia released new info the next day! All new installations post 01 Jul 2014 must be DSC capable and all yachts must have HF DSC by 01 Jul 2017. SATPHONE regs were also introduced and are welcome, as new technology can provide excellent SAT coverage and text messaging at minimal cost. The Notice of Race can now state if a SATPHONE can be used in lieu of HF. I prefer if every vessel can hear me if I am in distress so I will use HF and when offsore back up with an Iridium SATPHONE.

The list is getting smaller

It was a beautiful day on Sat but unfortunately it was another another busy weekend on the tools as I put the Whitlock Cobra steering back together with new bearings and tie rod ends. Nice not to have the slop in the rudder accompanied by the loud clunk! I also have a new Jefa tiller lever being manufactured and a Jefa Linear Autopliot Drive on order that connects directly to the new lever. My current drive is a wheel mounted S1 Wheelpilot drive. The Jefa unit is also much stronger so there should be not repeat of the stripped gearbox I experienced in a gale north of the Whitsundays last year. I will be confident the steering will be right for another 10 years.

Spoke with my sailmaker on Friday and the sails should be ready by mid Nov. I still have a fair chunk of work to do by way of installing the Solent Stay, a 6m trysail track on the mast and T-Track sheeting points on the cabin top for the #3 and Storm Jib before I can test these two sails. There is a bit of fabrication required to make sure the Solent stay is anchored to a strong point on the hull; in my case the forward bulkhead.

 Rogue Wave's cabin sole ready for a makeover!

 

The other job I have on (I like to mult-task!) is refurbishment of the cabin sole (floor). I have pulled up all the sole and will be installing a product I saw at the Sydney Boatshow. To face the sole with teak and holly is cost prohibitive so I needed to look at other options. Rogue Waves sole was replaced by her previous owner, however the laminate used was a light beech coloured woodgrain effect so it looks out of place. It is also slippery when wet! So the product I am using is from Lonseal and its a Mahogany and Holly non-slip vinyl and I think you will agree, it looks fantastic. It will certainly brighten up the interior. While the sole is out it provides an opportuinty to dry and air the bilge, replace some rotted wooden sole supports, and design a system to lock the sole in place using 1/4 turn fasteners. Busy times.

Whitlock Cobra 4 Steering Pedestal

Strangely enough, the frustrations of separating the dissimilar metal parts of the pedestal did not eventuate, and all parted company with a minimum of abuse. With the assistance of a three inch 2 jaw puller, some quality Australian made 'Bolt Off' penetrant, an impact driver and some persistence, she stripped down without a hassle. Patience is the key....spend a few days giving every bolt, screw, shaft and nut a little spray every morning and afternoon before taking out the tools - you will be rewarded.

The frustrations came when the search for parts came on a Sat. Only one bearing mob open and they had all but one bearing.....the main lower bearing. Oh well, probably needed a week off the tools anyway. Parts should arrive mid week and I hope to have the pedestal back in the boat next Fri evening. Won't hold my breath given the tempo at work at the moment. Will post again when she is back on the water.

This is the solid bronze pinion and the front of the pedestal. Great condition for its age and so it is for the bronze quadrant rack gear - don't see this type of HD enginneering much anymore without paying through the nose.  By the time I shim it all up she should be nice and light on the helm. The shaft is supported on two R16 ball bearing races. Replacement items are: R16 1x2x3/8" (open type) at around $22ea.

This picture shows the shagged lower bearing 9R24 (QTY 1 fitted). Some balls had turned to powder! Replacement items are: Lower shaft bearing (QTY1) R24-2RS 1-1/2x 2-5/8x7/16 (sealed type $31)
Upper shaft bearing 6205DU (orig) replacement 6205VV (sealed type $16).

Knock Knock.....no sail this weekend

Just when you think all is well, Murphy lets loose with the old curve ball.
I heard a slight tap and had a bit of play creep into the steering pedestal somewhere off QLD early this year. As I made my way south so did the tap....which has finally turned into a loud knock! It is now a problem so the pedestal is off the boat to see if I can overhaul. A 28 year old pedestal with a mix of alloy and stainless should present some challenges on disassembly !
In the meantime I have fitted my emergency tiller until I can replace the worn components. The worst part is not having an autopilot which means no easy self tacking if solo. So apologies guys, this weekend is cancelled so I can get stuck into the repairs.

Rogue Wave off the Gold Coast QLD

Here's a short video of the final leg of my single-handed sail from Southport QLD to Port Stephens NSW that marked the end of 4 months long service leave and also the end of my Malaysia to Australia adventure. I departed Southport around 1600 h after several days port bound due to wild weather. The Gold Coast Seaway was pumping at around 4 metres and breaking right across. I have crossed that seaway hundreds of times and every crossing still gets the same respect as if it was my first. I left on the heels of the front to take advantage of the strong E to NE winds.

We punched our way out of the seaway at the top of the tide and bashed E through the 3 metre swell to get some sea room before I headed SE to round Point Danger off Tweed Heads. Great breeze on the beam provided swift passage all the way past Port Macquarie. After two nights at sea I motorsailed through the heads of Port Stephens at 0500 h to a great welcome home by family and friends.