After buying a car shed cover for our back yard to put the boat under, the rear mast support pole for holding up the rear end of the mast while on the trailer was a bit too tall, and its function was not very efficient. To solve this issue we cut off about a foot from the pole, and built our own mast mount at the top. It is made out of a anchor roller/mount usually found at the front of a boat to roll off the chain. This placed upside down with a V cut out of wood like the original piece allowed for easy rolling back of the mast for rigging, and easy cleanup of the mast when de-rigging. LIfting the mast off the mast mount hinge angled the mast at the rear enough to make it roll on the wheel, making it glide smoothly for trailering. I also mounted two I loops onto the wooden part, and tied a line to each side. When secured, I throw a line over the mast and tie it to the rear cleat, and do the same on the other side to provide a very simple mast securing system form trailering.
Stern facing side seen from behind the boat with the mast ready to be put up. Lift on the mast to angle it onto the roller for easier rigging.
Bow facing side as seen from on the boat with the mast down.
Shown with the lines thrown over where the mast would be and secured to hold on the mast while trailering
9.9hp Evenrude outboard:
After sailing once out of the Santa Cruz harbor, we decided our little electric trolling motor was not sufficient. The local lake near our house will not allow gas engines so we use the electric one there. We were in the market for an outboard and are very happy with our 9.9hp extended shaft outboard. The only modification we needed for it was a throttle lock screw. One summer while at Huntington Lake, I showed the mechanic the problem, where I had to hold the rotating throttle the whole time I wanted to use it, and he had the perfect part to fix it. ~$30 later including the part and labor, the throttle could be locked into any position and the issue was solved.
My 9.9hp extended shaft outboard
Photo showing throttle lock
New Electrical system:
About two or three years after having the boat, it was getting ridiculous to keep the fuses in good order, and when something blew at night while camping, for whatever reason, it was really a pain in the rear to fix. Maybe because it was DARK? The solution was not a cheap one, but ever since we've never had any problems with the electrical, and the batteries now have a built in charger, DC breakers, a battery meter, and meter for current DC amps. In addition to rewiring all the electrical, we also installed a CD player with speakers, and a running tap water for the sink. As for the electrical, we got a Blue Sea Systems DC power panel, a 3 battery bank voltage meter, and a 100amp amp meter. Two additional batteries were purchased. I put two in the front hatch under the V-birth, and one in the rear next to the gas tank. This I realize now was not the greatest idea, and I'll be moving it soon elsewhere. The rear battery is to directly hook up the trolling motor for Lexington Reservoir, where we are not allowed to use the outboard engine. In the rear under seat compartment with the battery is also a 2 battery bank charger. I just pull out the cord and plug it into an extension cord to charge the batteries. As for my power usage, Im sort of a power hog. When I go camping on the boat, the laptop comes too, along with my Verizon wireless internet. I use it on vacation not for work, but for posting pictures to flicker, blogging and what not. It also gives me the option to go sailing somewhere distant from home on a weekend when I'm on call for work. In addition to replacing all the electrical, We moved the breaker panel location to above the sink wall. This provides for easy access from where I usually sleep (starboard side bunk) and made room for a battery selection switch where the original fuse plate was located.
New electrical panel located above the sink.
Showing the panel above the sink, and other additions. Click on image to see notes on flickr.
One summer we were trying out sailing at Bass Lake and the port side outer shroud decided to snap. I noticed it right away, and luckily it was not a complete snap. A few of the individual metal strands had come undone. We took down the sails, lowered the mast at the dock, and proceeded to drive down to fresno to find some place that could make a new shroud. We found some place that could do it and it was not cheap, but they had the right tool to give the shroud buckle the type of pressure it needed to make a good cable. This fixed the weeks worth of sailing we still had in front of us and when the boat came home we replaced the shroud with one from the factory.
Rudder THEN tiller
San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz:
One weekend I went with my father to sail in the bay, and with really strong winds, and a shorter than desired rudder, I bent the factory tiller at the base. The aluminum tube just buckled and it was no more. We had to pull up the rudder and use the outboard to steer us back into port. Our boat guy sold us a very nice laminated wood tiller to replace the factory aluminum tube. It is a lot stronger and looks much nicer, but requires more maintenance as its another piece of wood on the boat. The very next weekend we went sailing out of Emeryville again, and at about the same place in the bay, the through hull rudder just broke off. Another weekend of driving back to port with the outboard engine. We called to get the replacement part, but it was going to take longer than we wanted. My Dad used to be in the machine shop business and had a friend who owed a favor. We gave him the broken part and he made a brand new one from scratch out of stainless steel in just a few days. We now have the factory part as a backup and a nice custom stainless steel through hull rudder plate that has not given us any problems.
Broken rear window on Expedition
One weekend we decided to go sailing in the bay out of Emeryville. We got all ready, drove up there, and put the boat in the water. Without even thinking about it, we backed the boat into the water, and tried to pull it off the trailer. What we didnt know at the time was that the line that secures the swing centerboard had not been tightened from our previous trip, and the board caught on the trailer when we pulled it out from the launch ramp. The center board snaged on the trailer's axel and pushed it into the car. The rear window on the expedition was open for better communication and the front navigation light ligned up with it perfectly. The boat ran into the open window in the rear, shattered, and fell into the water on the launch ramp. Sailing trip canceled.
Foot stoppers, wooden handrails, spinnaker rig and harken traveler:
We drove the boat back up to Sausalito where we purchased it, and our guy built us a new mast. While he had it he also did some other upgrades that we've really enjoyed. For starters, he added new wooden toe rails on the front and the rear half of the cockpit. He also put on wooden handrails on the upper part of the deck forward of the mast. These are quite useful while climbing forward on the boat while heeling. We also had to replace the roller furler for the jib as the factory one was damaged in the mast accident. We ended up with an upgraded harken furler that made it much easier to raise and lower sails. While the boat was in Sausalito we also had it rigged for an asymmetrical spinnaker.
Breaking a mast is never fun. Luckily nobody got hurt on this one. We were sailing in the SF Bay out of Emeryville, and again, in the middle of the bay between Alcatraz and treasure island we were under very heavy wind. One of the shrouds snapped and the mast buckled at the spreaders. Both sails went into the water along with the mast and were quite difficult to recover. On the plus side, the Coast Guard was on our tail and onsite of the accident within 3 minutes without a call. They must have people scouting the bay with binoculars looking for this stuff all the time. A lot of people also offered their assistance. Unfortunately I have no pictures of this event.
Pop-Top enclosure:
It took a few years before we decided to buy the pop top enclosure for camping. It was no longer offered from the factory when I needed it, so my boat guy knew the company that made them for Schock, and ordered it directly. The new cover arrived a week or two later, I don't really remember now, and I installed it in my back yard. It didn't fit exactly how I imagined it would, but the darn thing works and thats all that matters. I don't really know what I would do now without it. The cover creates so much more room inside to store mostly our baggage while sleeping.
For the duration of our boat ownership, we've always had troubles with the trailer. Usually it was the lights not working or the 3rd retractable wheel was rusted up and would not raise and lower anymore. I believe we are on our 4th or 5th front wheel, they tend to last 2 seasons for me before I decide it needs to be replaced before it breaks again. This last year, actually it was the first sail of the season at Lexington, I went with my friend Genoa, and we had a great, foul weather sail. It was a bit rainy but the wind was wonderful. We got very cold at times but the sail was quite worth it. When we were all soaked and done sailing, I backed the trailer up to pull the boat out, attached the winch hook to the front and started cranking. The ladder/steps which holds up the winch broke the main steel shaft with the trailer ball socket on it completely off. I was able to put the boat back in the water, tie it to the dock, and the trailer barely made it up the hill before the front end completely broke off. It would have killed somebody if this had happened of the freeway and this really freaked me out. After taking the trailer back up to the parking lot, I called the rangers and they came to help me secure the boat on the lake. It took a week and a half to get the trailer rebuilt so we could pull the boat off the lake. The thing is, this lake does not allow overnight berthing. I had to throw out the anchor, and tie the bow to a tree. The water level of this lake at the time was about 25' vertical feet form full, and the launch ramp was barely in the water, hence it being the first sail of the season. For a week and a half, I had to go to the boat every day, to pull in the bow line and re-tie it so i could access the boat from the shore. In the week and a half, I'd say the lake level rose at least 20' and by the time I could pull the boat out, the base of the tree I attached my bowline to was under water. I must give out major props to the Santa Clara county rangers for this one as they were a major help. In addition to being very understanding of what happened, they helped me tie up the boat, and they checked on it every day it was on the water. I now know some of them by name and I always get to talk with them when I go up to the lake.
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Trailer parked at Lexington for 1 night before rigging it onto the back of the truck to get it fixed.
The whole front end of the trailer broke off, and here it is, completely destroyed by rust.
A bit further back, the rust was also really bad.
This is where the boat lived for 2 weeks. Waterline was at the tree line by the time the trailer was done.
After the front end of our trailer broke off, we decided ti was time to make sure the rest of the trailer was in tip top shape before launching much more. While the boat was in the water at Huntington Lake for the summer of 2005, I took the trailer back home instead of leaving it at the lake. This could have led to a bad situation if anything happened to the boat while it was there since the trailer was 200 miles away, but luckily nothing of this sort was an issue. While it was at home, I got the whole trailer sandblasted and painted. Before doing that, I also had support beams welded to the wooden runner bars for added strength. I replaced the wooden runners and carpet with new ones. The new ones were made of pressure treated boards, and I counter sunk stainless steel bolts with washers into them, filled the top side with epoxy to make it smooth before adding the carpet. I put on two layers of carpet. The first layer was the size of the top of the board exactly and the second one wrapped around the whole thing. Because the boat was also sand blasted and painted, I had to rewire all of the electrical on the trailer as well.
Counter Sunk screws on new pressure treated boards
New runners installed but not yet covered with carpet.
Napped stainless stell bolt while trying to tighten and twist the runners.
Added T bars for better runner support.
Broken Mast #2: Lexington Telephone wires
_ of 2006 was a great year for my local lake. The water filled up quickly with all of the rain, but unfortunately, the water raised so quickly that the rangers never got a chance to fix the dock problems from the year before. The lake was completely full and spilling more than a foot, but the launch ramp was closed. I checked on it about once a week so I could be the first to go sailing that year and one day, while I was working on boat projects with Matt, we went up to check on the dock. To our luck, the dock had opened up that day and we were able to go sailing. We headed back to my house to get the boat ready to go on the water. We had to put the sails back on it, all the needed lines, and put some air in the trailer tires. When all was said and done we had about 2 hours of daylight left to go sailing. The purpose of this sail was to see if previous projects to fix a leak in the floor were successful, and they were. When we were all done, I pulled the boat out as I usually do, pulled it into the parking lot, and noticed a swinging phone line overhead in front of me. I stopped instantly and got out to find that my mast had already been taken down by the line. The mast kinked at the spreaders and fell forward due to the length of the roller furler on the front as you can see in pictures #1 and #5. Picture #2 shows the hinge plate that got ruined in the process, and #8 shows the cracked deck under the hingeplate. Going underneith, picture #7 shows a small crack in the compression post also caused by this accident. The telephone wires in question are seen in #4, and are not even in use. The little loop at the end shows that this was just excess cable that they strung up so they wouldnt have to cut it. I think this telephone cable must have come loose in one of the storms we had because Ive driven under it many times without any issues, and nothing on my boat or rig has changed to make the mast higher.
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Broken Mast as seen with my camera phone just after the accident
Bent hingeplate will need to be replaced
another angle from the stern of the boat
Cable that I hit
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View from the Bow
Hinge plate zoomed out a bit
Cracked Compression Post
Micro cracks on the deck originating from the hingeplate bolts
New tinted windows from Tap Plastics:
In the process of cleaning and fixing up the boat while the floor and mast were being worked on, I decided to replace the tinted windows since the current ones were very scratched and cracked near the screw holes. I found that Tap Plastics had the exact same tint and thinkness of UV Resistant acrilic and I had exact replica's of the windows made. The whole process cost about $250. I could have saved a little by drilling and counter syncing my own screw holes, but with so many other projects going on I let them do it for me.
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