Fixings and Fittings

A couple of years ago, a good, long time friend came to visit me in Belize.  He made a prediction that boat parts will begin to occupy my living space ....

He was right as this niche in my living room shows!  These items include: Sail bags containing the main and jib sails - A burgundy main sail cover - A waterproof and sun light readable navigation tablet - An inductive charger to maintain the tablet's waterproofing and charge - A mast head navigation and anchor light - Two electric outboards, batteries and a motor controller - A solar charger and AC chargers for the motor batteries - A jib roller furling rig - Not to mention a composting toilet in the closet.  I expect to add a few more items to this collection before the boat is fully assembled for the first time.

The last episode detailed the construction of the mast tabernacle.  Here the primered tabernacle is installed on the forward cockpit beam along with the associated hardware.  This hardware facilitates sail raising and lowering by halyard lines that extend to the mast top.  The halyards pass through the black "rope clutches" and around the blocks below.  A lever on the clutches releases the grip on the halyards so the sails may be raised or lowered as required.

The mail sail is gaff rigged; that is to say there is a spar at the top of the sail.  The gaff requires two halyards, one at the throat adjacent to the mast and one midway along the gaff length.  This employs two of the four clutches.  The jib sail only requires one halyard and clutch.  The fourth halyard and clutch may not be used unless I get a wild hair for a reaching and/or downwind sail.

Jib control fixtures have been install along both cabin sides.  The jib will have blocks installed on the clew (the jib's lower corner control line attachment point).  The jib sheet (control line) will attach to the eye on the fixture's forward end, pass through the clew block and return to the adjustable position fairlead block before the sheet enters the black cleat on the aft end.  This arrangement will give the sheet a 2 to 1 mechanical advantage on the force applied to the sheet.

For those not familiar with sailing or sailing terminology my clarification attempts may not have hit the mark.  An explanation of how this hardware is used may be more useful.  The fairlead is repositioned along the track by lifting a pin and moving the fairlead to the desired position and releasing the pin into a hole along the track.  When sailing into the wind the sail needs to be pull in as close to the boat's centerline as possible.  This is called close hauled, beating into the wind or hard on the wind to name a few.  The fairlead is moved as far aft as possible and the sheet is pulled in tight to be held by the cleat.  As the boat is sailed off the wind the sheet is eased and fairlead is moved forward until it is moved fully forward when sailing down wind.

Here the jib control mounting fixture is being adhered to the cabin side.  The plans called for backing plates to be installed on the cabin interior but this was detailed in a section not associated with the hull construction and was not incorporated into the finished interior.  My work around was to laminate a two and one quarter inch thick mounting beam.  The mounting surface was cut at an angle to match the cabin slope.  This provided a large gluing surface and a stiff fixture to distribute the load.  The adjacent large fillets attaching the roof and the interior bulkhead will help in caring the load.

To assure good adhesion primer paint was removed from the cabin side.  Standoffs, from the bimini fail, were repurposed to hold the mounting fixture in position as the epoxy cured.  A line around the hull helped to press the fixture against the cabin side.

There remains a hollow wooden mast to construct before the boat is completed.  My attempts to obtain the required material have not yet been successful.  Once the mast is rigged, the boat will be dismantled to begin the laborious process of (re)painting the crossbeams, cabin sides, mast and cockpit.  Before launching my slip must also be prepared with a dock, a boat lifting/launching mechanism and a paved area for haul outs.  There are also the hoops of registering a self built boat, obtaining a captain's license and assuring the boat can transit the silted canal with the overhanging mangroves.  All this leads to the most annoying question of when will the boat be launched.  Hell I can't know as there is much I don't control, but it is somewhere on the horizon.