New HF/SSB Backstay Offset

Solace HF/SSB antenna cable ran down the backstay with a two inch off set as shown in the photo to the left.

The problem was, what to do about the cable as it ran pass the backstay turn buckle. Ordinarily, I might have fashioned something up to keep it tidy, but with the boarding ladder in the middle of the pushpit, people were constantly reaching up and grabbing anything to help themselves get aboard. Mostly they grabbed the back stay and HF cable. Eventually it became loose and pulled out of the deck fitting. (The ladder here is part of the pushpit, but when needed folds down and steps are formed over the railing.) Yes the back stay is right in the middle of the boarding area!

So I came up with another idea. I used two tubes. Pressure PVC  pipe; one 50mm and the other 20mm. I made end caps which can be viewed here.
for the 50mm pipe and some 32mm for some shroud antichafe rollers. (Another project)
The 20mm pipe has some strategically placed holes placed in the tube along one straight line. These were big enough just to fit my pop riveter. The length was assessed to allow the tube to move up the backstay to gain access to the turn buckle. The 20mm pipe was pop riveted to the 50mm pipe.
The back stay was marked for it's present tension and the turnbuckle was then undone.
The first end cap was placed on the back stay and held in place with some self amalgamating tape. A small rope was thread through the 20mm pipe by which later we would draw the HF wire through.
The combined pipe was then placed over the back stay and the top endcap engaged into the 50mm pipe. A small hole was drilled each side and a small SS screw inserted through to engage and hold the top endcap.
The bottom endcap sat on the very bottom part of the turn buckle, just above the swivel  The inside hole here is large because the "T" bolt that makes the bottom part of the turn buckle is larger in diameter than  the backstay cable. This bottom end cap does not slide up and down.
The tubing was slide up the back stay and the turn buckle re connected and tensioned. The top wrench, which holds the top swage at the turnbuckle and prevents the backstay from twisting, supports the tubing while tightening the turnbuckle. Once the turnbuckle is tensioned and the split pins applied, the tubing is allowed to to slide over the turnbuckle and engage the lower endcap. The same two holes with screws to secure the endcap were applied to the lower endcap as done for the top endcap.
The HF cable was then threaded through the 20mm tubing and attached appropriately.

Hint. As you undo the HF cable above the backstay isolator, place a small rope around the isolator so that later you can have a companion pull down on the back stay, which will help with re connecting the turnbuckle. Also, if you buy pressure PVC pipe, it may have black writing on the pipe. A paint thinners on a rag usually wipes this off so you have a nice white tube.
How to stop the pipe from turning? I'm trying some heavy self amalgamating tape at the bottom end, which at the moment has a little give, but seems to hold everything in place. Another method might be to place a bolt through the 50mm pipe and through the turnbuckle openings.

To access the turn buckle again, it is a simple case of talking out the small screws at the bottom endcap and sliding the combined assembly (minus the bottom endcap which stays in place) up the backstay to gain access.
In the photo to the right you can see that there is just enough room to slide the 50mm pipe up the backstay. The HF wire is cable tied to the isolator and gradually moves away from the backstay until it enters the 20mm pipe.
The holes which were made for the pop riveter will later have some 20mm rubber bungs inserted to tidy the whole thing up

Chain Stripper Modification

Bent stripper compared to new stripper

Last year I had a guest on board who was trying to be helpful and undertake some of the chores on the boat. He was going through the anchoring process and while anchoring, I (he) found a deficiency in my capstan while easing out chain as one puts on the snubber.
Normally, when bringing in the chain with the capstan, a stripper is in place to ensure the chain comes off the capstan and goes down the Hawse pipe. Otherwise, it can get caught in the gypsy (wildcat in the USA) and wind up the chain around itself. Easing chain out, say when anchoring, the weight of the chain is usually sufficient to take the chain of the capstan gypsy. But in my case, my guest was not aware of the potential issue and as he eased the chain out while holding tension on the snubber line, the chain stayed in the gypsy and bent the chain stripper on the opposing side. You can see the bent stainless stripper above.

Plastic compared to SS

We were in the middle of "nowhere" and there was no way I could straighten that stainless. So what to do? I used one of my wife's "polyplastic" chopping boards and cut it up to make a plastic, but temporary chain stripper. While getting everything ready, including a cardboard template, I decided to design it so it was able to strip the chain whether it was coming in, or going out. I used both hacksaw and Dremel for fashioning the plastic stripper and the thing worked so well, it stayed on for the whole cruising season (6 months). I improved the cardboard cut out a little and had a piece of 6mm stainless laser cut when I went home.

Plastic stripper in place

New SS stripper to replace plastic in place

Hose Clamp Safety Clip

You know the pain!
If you work on boats, cars, trucks or anywhere else hose clamps are in use, professional or do-it-yourselfer, at one time or another you will end up being injured by the tail end of a hose clamp. You know, the end sticking out 2—3 inches past the screw that catches your cloths or scrapes down the back of your hand or arm. We all have the scars.
Now there is a real solution to the problems created by over-sized hose clamps. The Clamp Clip™ is patented, made of stainless steel, and is designed to hold down the free end of a hose clamp.
The Clamp Clip™ is easy to install. On hose clamps already in use, simply loosen the hose clamp, snap on a Clamp Clip™, slide it over the free end of the hose clamp and re-tighten.
Now slide over to their website here, to read the rest, or order some.

Backing up a Chain Plate

Capt'n Pauley's Virtual Board Yard has shown us how he backed up his chain plate. This is in a similar vein to the backing up I did on Solace for my forstay installation. In my case the forstay padeye had no support at the deck and so I installed a small bulkhead in the chain locker and put two stays from the padeye down to the bulkhead. You can read about that here. For Capt'n Pauley's article, read on.....

The aft chain plates on my Columbia 10.7 had a problem; the tabbing on the hanging locker had broken, allowing the shroud to poll up the chain plate and crack the deck. That allowed water to leak into the deck core, weakening it.

Before I could re-core the deck, I had to off-load the chain plate and hanging locker. I accomplished this by yying the bottom of the chain plate ( a stock Schaefer part) to the lower srtinger by means of a cable and turnbuckle. The following photos show how I did it.
I used a 24" length of 1-1.2" x 1-1/2" sainless steel angle underneath the stringer. The forged eye bolt passed through this angle. I also filled in either side of the eyebolt with wooden filler blocks, then laminated 6 layers of fiberglass cloth and epoxy. The fiberglass strips went down the hull, scross the top of the stringer and then down the wood blocks and hull underneath the stringer.

A view from above the stringer.

The new chain plate in place. This chain plate extends below the locker to connect to the cable stay.

A view from below the locker showing the cable connected to the new chain plate.

A view showing the cable stay connected to the eyebolt and chain plate.

The finished installation. A very minor cut will need to be made to the edge of the berth cushion.

Fuel Level Sender Units & Filling Cap

In cruising, you travel from country to counrty where environmental laws are increasingly becoming more strict. But we all want to look after the environment, right? Fuel spills are a serious mater and there are various ways to minimize these. Also, when under way, one sometimes has to top off the fuel tanks from Gerry jugs. This is made all the more harder if one has to do this on deck with rain or sea water washing over the deck.
(In one passage we carried 17, five gallon Gerry Jugs as well as our full 100 gallon tankage. We used all but 25 gallons in that passage in which we also endured a BIG storm. This system helped to do fuel transfer much easier, when being on deck was life threatening)

We installed, on each fuel tank, a filler cap, and while we were at it, installed a sender unit for fuel gauges. These were purchased through WEMA , a company that supplies sender units. As an aside, we also installed one of their special sender units on a holding tank; but have to report I'm less than happy with it due to it having to be cleaned periodically. A task I don't enjoy. But the Fuel sender units have been flawless and I can recommend them.

To cut the holes for the fittings, we used a regular hole saw found at most hardware stores, using some cutting fluid to help preserve the hole saw. I think we got about 5 holes cut before I had to purchase a new hole saw, which was cheaper than getting them plasma cut. Each item was sealed with an RTV automotive cement which formed the gasket and was impervious to diesel.
Now, I fuel the tanks from inside the boat to minimise the potential for a fuel spill into the ocean. The same applies with filling from gerry jugs. And of course, I have a very quick way now of checking how much fuel I have without the need to "dip" the tanks. A task which requires getting under the floor boards if done.

Forestay Installation

When we purchased Solace it didn't have a forestay and yet we had running back stays. A pad eye was on the foredeck where perhaps a forestay should attach to, but that was just attached to the deck with no support from below such as a bulkhead. We decided we wanted a forestay, but with suitable support from below to take care of loads; as we intended to use it for a storm jib. Here's what we did.

The padeye was above our anchor locker which had no convenient bulkhead to attach to. So we created  and glassed in a false bulkhead in a "V" shape to allow the anchor chain to continue to lay down. This was then finished off with a coat of "Flowcoat"; an air cure gelcoat.

Two rods were shackled to the new bulkhead. These had turnbuckles for adjustment of tension and PVC tube placed over for protection from the anchor chain.

Shackle to bulkhead

Finally, the padeye on the deck was replaced with a folding padeye which matched the one seen here under the deck. Reinforcing between the padeye and underside of the deck was also undertaken. The two padeyes where then secured through the deck with countersunk bolts and nuts. The two rods where then shackled to the underside padeye to provide the support need for the forestay. We finished with installing our forestay and used a quick coupling cam lever to attached and remove the forestay from the padeye when not needed. Perhaps unluckily, one storm has proved it's effectiveness and I'm convinced our mast stands today because we had the forestay and running backs attached when a shroud broke. 

Rudder Shaft Seal Upgrade

The packing gland on the rudder shaft of my Hylas 44 never did prevent water from  coming into the boat; with rate of about a drop every 10 seconds, I wanted something drier; like no water ingress.

First I removed the rudder quadrant to access the packing gland flange and cleaned up both the removable flange, (top left in photo below) and the area to be resealed (left).  I obtained a double lipped seal with stainless steel spring for my shaft which was 2.25 inches. Measuring the flange which use to press down on the packing gland, (and now inverting that flange) the sleeve measured three inches. So a seal of 2.25 ID and 3.00 OD would do it. Then I obtained a reinforced hose of 3.00 ID. I used a silicone hose but you could use a good quality rubber hose.

Next, some hose clips and gasket maker and lithium grease. I used a silicone RTV type gasket maker for motor vehicles. Having removed the packing gland material, I started to assemble my new shaft seal. I only had about 2.75 inches of shaft to work with placing the seal on and the up turned packing gland flange took most of that.
I applied grease down the shaft where the packing gland use to sit and gasket maker to the surface of the flange where the upturned packing gland flange will bolt to.
Slid the flange over the shaft and mated the surfaces and secured with the four bolts.

Grease down shaft & gasket maker applied

As the bolts tightened the RTV squeesed out and I left this for 24 hours to set.
After the RTV had set, the hose was placed over the flange and I applied grease to the seal and inside the hose, pushing the grease as far down as I could get it. Then I cleaned out the surface area to where the seal would sit. This is going to have some of your favorite sealant applied here for the seal. Without the sealant, the seal will tend to slip out of the hose when pressure is applied to the hose clamp.The lower hose clamp was applied and I used my RTV sealant to the OD side of the seal and the ID of the hose. I slipped in the seal to the hose and applied the hose clamp loosely and left for 24 hrs to set before tightening a little bit more.
Finally, everything was reassembled and the boat placed back in the water. I now have a very dry rudder shaft. Now, if I can just get rid of the rain water that comes down the mast.

Grease applied before seal

Costs; $30 for the seal; $18 for the hose; grease and gasket maker $20. Hose clips I had already.
Paul
s/v Solace
http://web.mac.com/paulngina/site_1/Home.html

Finished product