Workin Towards Singlehanding
I’m planning my first cruise to Long Island, NY in early August to go see my favorite band, Dream Theater with my friends Adam & Khrystine, fellow graphic designers and prog-metal lovers. I’m going solo. So the latest effort has been to get the boat ready for singlehanding. The two key elements to that end are the mechanical tiller pilot and wind driven self steering windvane.
I picked up the Simrad TP32, rated for boats up to 14,000 lbs… just about the weight of Elizabeth. I really only use the tiller pilot when motoring, which allows me to prep & set sails. The tiller pilot requires a pedestal mount to meet the height of the tiller. These mounts were on backorder indefintely. So I had one made locally by a metalworker. I brought him some SS parts I had laying around from my double anchor roller, that I had to hack off. A threaded rod and a SS tube to fit over it. Perfect for this pedestal mount. All I needed was a base, a nut welded to the tube and a few tapped holes for set screws. I wanted the 3″ tube to be removable, so it wasnt a toe stubber/line catcher when not in use. I think the build is robust, however I would have preferred a slightly wider base to distribute the horizontal load a little more. However, I think it will be fine.
The 80 watt solar panel I have will eventually end up on the wind generator pole, but for now, I have it on the port side lifeline. I replaced the lifeline with a 1″ OD SS tube, added some aluminum flat bar under the panel for extra support and as a place to attach some mounts. It’s not a bad set up, but the panel is too wide for this loaction. There is a 13″ wide panel you can get that would be more appropriate for this rail mounting set up. But this will get me going for now.
I’m currently in the middle of rebuilding the Monitor windvane. I have a few parts coming in the mail next week, so right now, I’m on hold with this. There are a million and one pieces to this thing, gears, bearings and bushings, set screws and ring snaps galore. One part had some significant crevice corrosion, so I opted for replacement… to the tune of $350… ouch.
Prog-metal and a BCC…now thats an oxymoron!
Of course if I hear another concertina at a wooden boat show I may puke.
j’aime beaucoup vos blog ,a vous les americains,surtout ceux qui pronent le retour a la simplicité et aux petits bateaux ,si tu veux venir en france avec ton voilier tu seras le bienvenu,d’ailleurs nous aussi nous revons de visiter le maine et les etats qui l’entourent
amitiés pierre
Merci Pierre!
Ou habite tu? Je vais aller en France l’annee prochaine avec mon bateau. Cette hiver, je vais plancher a la Caribe. Je voudrais visiter Martinique et Guadaloupe, pour practiquer mon francais!
j’habite a toulon ,dans le var ,une des plus belle region de mediterrannée ,si tu viens par chez nous je te donnerai les indications pour bien profiter de notre region !je lis tres bien l’anglais mais par contre j’ai du mal a l’ecrire et a le parler car je ne pratique plus !