Reenie K

Eventually, I'll be designing a tent to fit over the boom to cover the cockpit for short overnight trips. Since the bow always points to the wind when at anchor, I decided a little cross ventilation would be in order.

Here are a couple of pictures of portholes I figured out. The only thing not shown is the screen I want to add.. Total cost of materials was under $25.00 for two. Considering that one brass porthole costs about $90 on EBay, I'm really happy.

The wood trim (more red oak) will be on the outside. The clear plastic unscrews from the inside.

There was no anchor light when I got her. According to the law, I'm not required to put one on. That would be small consolation as some motorboat grinds us to chum, now would it.

The light is from boaterbits on EBay. The grey bracket is the masthead with the sheeves for raising and lowering the main sail

The rest was all custom made. The two supports are flattened spreaders from the standing rigging, ground to an angle and curved to fit the masthead. Took forever to get the curves right.

The wiring was another challenge, threading the wire through a mast filled with hard flotation foam.. Fun fun fun.

Anyway it turned out pretty good, I think.

Well, I'm pretty caught up with indoor jobs. Now I need the weather to break. If it snows or rains any more, I'll be able to do the shake down cruise in my front yard!
Anyway, now is a good time to go through the list of stuff that needs to be done.
(I'm even gonna try doing this in some kind of category order)

This is actually an upgrade, not a repair. The cuddy cabin is small, about the size of a fairly expansive coffin! It would be a little disorienting to wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to see. (If I sit up suddenly, I'll bash what few brains I have left on the overhead)

So here's the fix...

The light is actually chrome, but it's reflecting the interior color of the cabin, which adds another task to the list - Paint the interior!

You can see some damage to the overhead above the light.. I'm planning on doing some fiberglassing to that area to improve the look and make the cabin slightly more watertight.

I started getting ready for taking the boat out and the skies clouded over. It gave me a chance to check out my modifications and upgrades, though.
The first picture is my homemade ladder. I weighted the bottom two steps with melted lead so they sink below the surface. I like the look and I like the fact that it stows very compactly. Space is really limited on the Reenie K. The hardest part was figuring out how to splice the two line ends together.

The next picture is my jib modification. The jib sheets (lines that move the jib from side to side) were getting hung up on the horn and mast hardware. By raising the jib a few inches with a fitting from the old shrouds, I think I solved the problem.

Picture three shows how the sails are rigged on shore before launch. When we get away from the dock, we can simply raise the sails. No more trying to attach sails out on the water, with the sails flapping and the boat bobbing and the crew stepping on lines and the captain cursing!

The last pic is the roller boom with the main sail attached and rolled up. This is how we'll be rigged at anchor, whether we're having lunch, taking a swim break or spending the night someplace. Speaking of swim breaks, I took some advice from the Coast Guard Auxiliary people. I bought 100 feet of floating line to stream when the crew and passengers go swimming. That way if they drift, they can swim to a line if they need to. I also will stream the line when I'm singlehanding the boat and the weather is a little ummm "active."

I sanded where I patched today.. WHEW - I expected to see Tom Joad driving across Route 66!
I also moved the boom crutch forward and it works (and looks) great! just have 6 more holes to fill now
I figured out how to build a box around the mast step. It will keep some rain out, and may stop the jib sheet from getting hung up under the mast step when we change tacks. I'm also seriously looking for a way to make a cockpit tent.. more on that later.

Tomorrow I do more sanding, more filling and fix a few electrical issues from moving fittings...

Here is a very rough idea of how it will look. I'll use the floor to patch areas that are open in the pics

As a friend of mine says, "If you are standing still, you're losing ground!"

The snaps I ordered came in today, so I started making the tent fit. It's going to work well, but I have to admit the first cut of the bottom of the tent was kind of nerve wracking.I got the stern part done so far. The forward part needs to be done when I can focus on the job, cause I need to cut the bottom in such a way that I can use the bottom to lengthen the sides. I need to figure out how a sewing machine works, I guess....

All part of the learning curve...

Well, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but i know what I DON'T want to be.
Mama, don't let your kids grow up to be seamstresses! We finally got one seam done- after two sewing machines, several beers and thread that really is invisible. Oh, yeah, if you see a temper lurking about, send it here. I seem to have lost mine!

Nylon is a screaming horror to sew, particularly for a first time tailor. The job LOOKS like a first time, but I think it will work and I think it will keep the rain off and the bugs out. By next Saturday, I should be done with it. I am on standby this coming week, so no sailing for me..Darn!

One side of the tent is finished. I'll take pictures tomorrow morning and post them here. It looks OK, considering the sewing maching I used was made in 1928 and I've sewed maybe three times in my entire life.

I have an appointment tomorrow evening, so I won't be doing anything more with it for a few days. I also ran out of screw in snaps. I'll get some more in a few days and hopefully the weekend won't be too busy. I'd like to finish it up and test it out one evening.

Check back for the pictures..

Here they are:

Well, it is effectively finished! I have to add a few fittings to hold a couple of extra poles in place. I'll get them at Lockwood's next week. A few large padeyes will do the trick.

I ran out of screw in snaps and ordered more, which are due in next week.. To finish up, I robbed Peter to pay Paul, so I'll have to repay Peter next week also.

Pictures tomorrow.

Well, here are the pics... All done and I wanna go camping!

I got tired of two bad options when I anchor for lunch.
Option one is sit in the sun and bake.
Option 2 is crawl into the cuddy cabin to get out of the sun and roast (Not much ventilation from the two portholes I put in on the sides of the cabin. I probably need to add 2 on the front)

So I made Option 3. I bought a tarp from Lowe's that has one soft side, so it doesn't have that hard tarp look. I sewed loops in the leading and trailing edges for tent poles from the cockpit tent, then I tied lines to the 4 corners.

The tarp lays on the boom, the poles add some rigidity and the ties are cleated to the deck, making a cover that is suitable for light winds. It covers most of the cockpit, provides for a breeze and doesn't block the view.

I finished it late at night and then it rained for 2 days, so I don't have pictures yet. Maybe tonight.

I'm not sure I'm going to be ready for a camping trip this weekend. I might have to be content with another daysail trip. Gonna try real hard tho.

Here's a pretty poor pic of the sunshade, finally. I have not tested it on the water... soon tho!

Lowering has been a real challenge, cause either the sail flops into the cockpit, into the water, or you have to try rolling the sail around the boom while it's flapping in the wind. The risk of catching the boom in your teeth is a very real possibility.

Of course, for 2 or 3 gazillion dollars, you can buy a set of lazy jacks, which are lines that run from the boom to the mast and contain the sail while it's being lowered.

I found a site that has a number of cool ideas, one of which is a homemade set of lazy jacks. I had to buy some hardware, but I had the lines. They work GREAT! Only thing i have to watch is the battens (sail stiffeners) hanging up on the lazy jacks when I raise the sail. That's a lot easier than doing without and unrolling the sail, trying to attach the main sheet and ducking a lot.

Here is what the lazy jacks look like:

I might have to move the lines higher on the mast, but I'll test it a few more times first.

I finally bit the bullet..
After much searching on the web, and in local shops....
I broke down and bought an inexpensive jib furling system.
Inexpensive being a relative term, you understand

A jib furler wraps the jib ( the front sail) around the fore stay (the wire in front of the boat) or around a wire in the sail itself. The better ones wrap around the stay. I have the other one.

What that means is when I stop for lunch. or anchor for the evening or when the seas get choppy and I want to use the engine, I don't have to go forward to lower the sail and try to wrap it up with one hand while I hold on with the other hand.

I pull a line from the cockpit and the sail wraps up around itself! No more flapping sails and no more worrying about unexpected swims!

Pictures to follow!