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  • in reply to: Leak in Mk 1 wood GP #3943
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    Is it just me,  and am I being just a crotchety old man?

     

    A member is in a degree of trouble with his boat,  and asks advice:    “All advice gratefully received.”

     

    The problem may indeed have already been answered in a document in the Members’ Library,  but failing to realise that is an easy omission.   So advice is duly given,  later the same day,  and with a follow-up first thing the following morning.

     

    The best part of three days later we have not even an acknowledgement.   Not only do we not know whether the advice is helpful,  or appreciated;   we don’t even know whether the member concerned has bothered to read it!

     

    Hardly an encouragement to others to help!

     

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Leak in Mk 1 wood GP #3937
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    And a further thought.     You are not actually being precise in referring to the join between the case and the plywood;  the hog comes between the two.     At first I had tacitly assumed that you were referring to the join between case and hog,  but if you are in fact referring to the join between hog and ply then this has nothing whatever to do with the case.

     

    It may be that you first need to establish precisely where the water is coming in.

     

    If the join which has given up is the one between hog and ply is this failing at the forward end,  around the mast step?   If so,  this indicates a structural problem,  possibly arising from too much rig tension for the (original) design,  and the solution to that is the approved mast step conversion  –  as well as of course rebedding the ply to the hog.

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Leak in Mk 1 wood GP #3936
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    If you look at the Centreboard Case Refitting Procedure document in the Members’ Library you will find that before dealing with how to take the case out it discusses repair strategies leaving the case in situ;    see pages 2-4.    Depending on the condition of your boat you may find that this answers your problem;  at any rate it is worth a look.

    There is a reference there to the use of a top quality mastic;  this is called Lifecalk (yes,  that spelling;   it is an American product),  manufactured by Boatlife,  and I now understand that it is a polysulphide formulation (not a barium formulation,  as I thought when I wrote that paper).   Vastly better for this purpose than silicon sealant.

    Although this is an American product it is available in this country with a little online searching,  but I have recently been told that there is also a UK equivalent called Arbokol 1000.   I have no experience of the latter,  and I merely pass on the information on the basis that it might be worth checking out.

    Whatever mastic you use,  if that is your chosen way forward,  it seems that you need a marine grade polysulphide product,  and nothing else will do.

     

    Oliver

     

    in reply to: Forestay Failure #3681
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    Steve White wonders whether it was hit by flying debris in the general melee,  which is entirely possible although there was nothing obvious on the ground.

     

    And I stand corrected on the wind force;  I am told that the Coastguard recorded 86 mph,  which is well into force 12!

     

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Forestay Failure #3680
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    Oh dear,  formatting gobbledegook;  the website appears not to accept copy and paste,  although everything looks perfect in the typing window.    Let’s try again.

     

    All the real load is taken on the genoa halliard,  and the forestay is there only to keep the mast up while the boat is in the boat park;  right?

     

    Er,  …   …   OK,  it is also to support the mast in the event of needing to sail under main alone,  with no headsail hoisted.   But that situation is never going to arise with a fully furling headsail that is always left up (but furled when appropriate) whenever the boat is on the water.  Right?

     

    Well,  last night we got what the BBC news is describing today as hurricane force winds.  Actually I thought the forecast had been “only” force 10,  and I haven’t been conveniently able to check the actuality,  but force 10 is quite enough.

     

    I spent the morning at home repairing a fence that had blown down,  which is no great surprise in the circumstances.  Then I picked up a message from the sailing club to alert me to chaos in the boat park;  covers torn,  boats upside down,  and other damage.  I actually got away quite lightly;  A Capella was very well tied down to a pair of substantial ground anchors – although one of them has started to pull out of the ground,  but the forestay had snapped.   I regard it as pure luck that the mast was not damaged as a result;  I can only think that with the boom up and with a tie down strap over everything (and thus pulling downwards on the boom) the boom acted as a brace between mast and transom,  and thus gave sufficient support to save the mast.

     

    The forestay was in good condition, and the wire parted in mid span;  not at one of the terminations,  and not the lanyard at the bottom.

     

    This was just with the bare mast up.

     

    When I started sailing GP14s,  in teh sixties,  it was normal for forestays to be of the same diameter as the shrouds.   Modern practice seems to be to use thinner wire for the forestay;   my quick measurements today give 2 mm diameter for the forestay and 3 mm for the shrouds.   Those measurements are reasonably accurate,  although I did bother to use the vernier scale for greater precision;  if they are exact then the forestay has just under half the cross sectional area – and thus just under half the strength – of the shrouds.

     

    I am not prepared to risk the mast,  so my replacement forestay will be 3 mm …

     

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Just aquired GP14 #3657
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    “if it is not cranked for a reason”

     

    The only real reason for a cranked tiller is cosmetic.   They used to be very popular,  as a luxury item,  in the days when tillers were almost invariably wood,  but I have the impression that they have fallen out of favour for modern boats,  particularly with the advent of tubular fixed tillers.

     

    If making a straight one,  do check that the end will be high enough to clear the side decks;   angle it slightly upwards by adjustments to the top and bottom surfaces at the stock end if necessary.

     

    Good luck.

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Just aquired GP14 #3645
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    I should have added that the classic woods for laminating the tiller are alternate layers of a dark coloured one and a light coloured one,  primarily for cosmetic reasons.    Pine and mahogany (sapele is perfectly satisfactory) are a popular choice,  and that is the combination used by Ben Dallimore (Boats & Tillers Scotland) who builds bespoke laminated tillers professionally.

     

    If you can source other light coloured woods such as hickory,  or sycamore,  they would be more exotic options.   But probably not ash,  because of its tendency to rot.

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Just aquired GP14 #3644
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    To add to Kev’s comments,  this is a Mk 1,  not a Series 1;    i.e. a GRP boat.      The mast step is not identical to that of the Series 1;   on at least  some of the early GRP boats there is a stainless steel plate bonded into the GRP,  to which the mast step is bolted.    Further information is available,  albeit with some searching,  in past posts on the GP14 Owners Online Community site,  or some of our GRP experts may well be able to advise.

    Regarding the tiller,  the current class rules leave virtually all aspects of the tiller optional.    If your tiller is straight,  and you wish to stay with a straight one,  then   –   as Kev says  –  there is no structural need for it to be laminated;  lamination is merely a nice cosmetic touch.   However if you want it cranked,  then laminating it is really the only way to make a satisfactory job,  as a sawn cranked one would almost inevitably result in grain running partially across the curved section,  at a point of maximum load.

    You don’t state whether your one is straight or cranked,  nor do you describe the nature of the crack.   If it is merely that the glue has failed and the laminations have separated you could do worse than take it apart and relaminate it.  Or even attempt to reglue in situ,  without taking it apart,  using a product such as WEST Epoxy Six10 Thickened Epoxy;  this is supplied in a cartridge which fits a standard cartridge gun,  mixes automatically in the extrusion nozzle,  and is capable of being injected into cracks as it emerges from the extrusion nozzle.

    http://www.westsystem.com/ss/six10-introduction/

    I am not yet familiar with this product myself,  but expect to be using it very shortly on one of my own projects.   However  I have used enough of the WEST epoxy products over many years to have full confidence in the brand.

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: The Sail Number Register #3600
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    “Who is best to contact currently then in relation to boat identification or history?”

     

    Julie Courteney,  at the Association Office,  in the first instance.    If the boat is currently registered with us Julie should have the file;  if not currently registered but has been in the past she can then pass on the enquiry to the Archivist,  who can check the older files.

     

    Oliver

     

     

    in reply to: The Sail Number Register #3597
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    I have no knowledge of why that is no longer on the new site,  but I would hazard a guess that all these things take time and labour to migrate them properly from the old site to the new one,  and the work is done by volunteers who also have other responsibilities within the Association,  as well as having home lives and responsibilities for their jobs and their families.   Not to mention having some time to sail their own boats.

    However that web page did have three limitations (three at least):

    • A great many boats were not listed,  because their owners did not list them,  so it was at best a very incomplete record
    • A number of boats,  predominantly those in Sri Lanka,  were entered with purely local sail numbers not only gave the impression that they were very early vintage boats (from about 1951) when they were actually fairly new boats,  but which duplicated existing genuine sail numbers of genuine vintage boats  –  and sometimes precluded the genuine holders of those numbers from registering their boats.  This is not just conjecture;   to my certain knowledge it did on occasion cause genuine confusion,  and it did on occasion prevent owners of very early boats (with sail numbers in either single or double digits) registering them.
    • The information was incomplete;  it did not provide a means by which one could contact a fellow member (via the boat).

    On the plus side,  the opportunity for a photo and for a history of the boat was excellent.

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: The Sail Number Register #3585
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    Oops:  I had forgotten that although this website does recognise some text enhancements it does not recognise underlining,  and the result is a gobbledegook of formatting commands that interfere with the text.

    Last line should have read “But that means that some volunteer has to be found who is willing to do the work. Any offers?”

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: The Sail Number Register #3584
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    For the first few decades of our history we published a full register of boats and owners,  including names and addresses,  in the annual Handbook;   certainly most if not all of this information was still there in 1988,  for which year I happen to have a Handbook still in my possession.

    More recently the feeling has been that we are no longer allowed to publish this information because of data protection legislation.

    But surely it should not be beyond the wit of man to devise a system by which the information could be published (in the Members Only area of the website) in the case of those members who were happy for publication to their fellow members,  while also giving all members the opportunity to individually opt out.   Perhaps even partially opt out,  i.e. individually decide just how much to publish (perhaps sail number and boat name,  query owner,  query club,  query address,  query phone number,  query email address).    And with an online system there should be the technical capability to update it at any stage,  as a member’s circumstances (and indeed wishes) change.

    But that means that some <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>volunteer</span> has to be found who is willing to do the work.     Any offers?

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Advice for first time buyer #3365
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    Sorry;  the system seems to have garbled that post with intrusive gobbledegook which I can only guess is a set of formatting commands for underlining,  which the website does not seem to recognise.     Trying again, with emphases in bold rather than by underlining:

    With all due respect to Mike’s undoubted expertise, we seem to have a confusion of nomenclature here.  Marks 1, 2, 3, etc. (through to Mk IVa) are all very early (arguably vintage) GRP boats;    Series 1, and 2, are the wooden boats.    As vintage boats, although the hulls of Mk. 1, 2, 3 should theoretically be just as competitive as any others, in practice I don’t think any of us would put any money on it!!

    My understanding is that more modern plastic boats are generally referred to by the builders/moulders, e.g. Holt/Speed, Speed, Winder, Boon.

    Similarly the modern wooden boats, almost invariably series 2, are often further identified by the builder, and in the case of the Duffin boats some of them are sometimes known by the strictly unofficial designation Series IIa.

    Oliver

    in reply to: Advice for first time buyer #3364
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    With all due respect to Mike’s undoubted expertise,  we seem to have a confusion of nomenclature here.   <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Marks</span> 1, 2, 3, etc. (through to Mk IVa) are all very early (arguably vintage) GRP boats;  <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Series</span> 1, and 2,  are the wooden boats.  As vintage boats, although the hulls of  Mk. 1, 2, 3 <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>should</span> theoretically be just as competitive as any others,  in practice I don’t think any of us would put any money on it!!

    My understanding is that more modern plastic boats are generally referred to by the builders/moulders,  e.g. Holt/Speed,  Speed,  Winder, Boon.

    Similarly the modern wooden boats,  almost invariably series 2, are often further identified by the builder,  and in the case of the Duffin boats some  of them are sometimes known by the strictly unofficial designation Series IIa.

     

    Oliver

    in reply to: Last Day at the Office for Sue!!! #3234
    Oliver Shaw
    Moderator

    Many thanks to Sue for all her unfailing and willing help over the years.    Enjoy the retirement!

     

    Oliver

Viewing 15 posts - 691 through 705 (of 708 total)