Following this great recounting of the race and subsequent discussion got me to thinking about venting issues. They’re on my list of to-do’s on my refit and dove-tail with some things I’ve been rolling around in my mind.
Given that all my external vents and hoses have been removed and are awaiting replacement, I’ve been thinking that I may do what Passport yachts does which is to vent the fresh-water tanks to the interior of the boat. This sounds like what David Risch may have done. The other critical vent is for the fuel tank which exits high on the starboard side, approximately at the forward end of the cockpit just under the toe-rail. I’m considering moving that vent to inside the starboard propane locker which is under the helmsman’s starboard seat. Not much of a distance aft from the original location. This would put it out of burying seas on port tack and it has the added benefit that if there are overflow issues it would let the fuel exit out the external through-hull at the base of propane locker rather than into a cabin space. As regards the solent stay for heavy weather, I discussed this at length with a buddy who worked for Forespar and his suggestion was to have a storm sail built with an integral stay that would attach to the toe-rail and hoist on the second jib halyard. Granted, this is a storm comfort/survival setup as opposed to a racing (pointing…) option. I don’t race my boat so not a concern. Food for thought and opinions welcome given that I’m in ongoing rebuild mode. Best, Dave Godwin 1982 C&C 37 - Ronin Reedville - Chesapeake Bay Ronin’s Overdue Refit <http://roninrebuild.blogspot.com/> > On Oct 28, 2015, at 11:05 AM, David via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote: > > David, > > I have done numerous Bermuda races aboard Corsair. Some suggestions; > > (2) When a wave fills the cockpit and it gets flooded (and it did repeatedly) > the engine instruments are going to get wet. This is not good as the > switches will (and did) fail, I am considering relocation or creating a > waterproof cover. > > Same problem. Covered it with the plastic used on cars to protect the paint > on the nose. Conforms to the panel pretty well. Not perfect but keeps the > most of the water out of the electrics. Can still hear alarm too. > > (4) The fuel tank vent on my boat is high up on the starboard side but by > the time I got to Bermuda, the tank had a quart of water in it (which I > siphoned out). Good filters (a racor) helped but I need to relocate the vent > -- the question is where? It may not be wise but on the return trip I > wrapped the vent with tape (which, if I had run the engine I would have > removed) A better solution is needed. > > I vent water tanks internally when going offshore. After fueling perhaps > vent it internally as high under decks as possible with a valve to close when > engine off to avoid extreme weather spillage. > > (5) Reefing has to be quick and easy -- I spent far too much time screwing > up enough courage to go to the mast to reef and shake-out. My current > reefing system (probably original to the boat) has a winch on the boom which > makes the first reef fine but I used all three reef points and releasing the > last reef before pulling in the next in 35-40 kn of breeze is a nightmare. > I need to work on leading the lines to the cockpit. > > A cam cleat just forward of winch to relieve the reef line under load may > help. > > (6) A removable inner forestay and a blade foresail might be nice. My new > furling 130 spent a lot of time furled 50% and that really has screwed up the > shape of my formerly new and now blown out 130. > > I installed a solent stay for storm jib and the #4. Best thing I ever did. > Contact me off-line if you need details > > > (11) Getting a decent weather (GRIB) file occasionally would have been really > helpful. I suppose I need to figure out how to do a SSB or Sat phone modem. > > I rent a SatPhone from satelitephonestore.com who explained how to download > the small Grib files from Passage Weather to a laptop. Easy and effective. > > Hope that helps. > > David F. Risch > 1981 40-2 > (401) 419-4650 (cell) > > > Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2015 22:08:46 +0000 > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Subject: Re: Stus-List Bermuda1-2 lessons learned > From: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > CC: cscheaf...@comcast.net > > David, > Congratulations for making the race to Bermuda. That's a great achievement. > Thanks for sharing what went wrong. A thorough debrief should include "what > went right". Please share those nuggets of wisdom too? > > > Chuck > Resolute > 1990 C&C 34R > Broad Creek, Magothy River, Md > > From: "David Paine via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Cc: "David Paine" <paineda...@gmail.com> > Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2015 2:50:37 PM > Subject: Stus-List Bermuda1-2 lessons learned > > Hi All, > > As I mentioned last spring as part of a question about life rafts, I had > planned to sail my C&C33-1 solo to Bermuda and back (double handed) in the > Bermuda1-2 race. I did, It was fun, it was terrifying, it was expensive to > prepare for, and it was frustrating as I did not do well (dfl) in my class in > part because of the high winds and seas near the gulf stream probably favored > the HR49 and other heavyweights in my class but mostly because I was > climbing a steep learning curve. Of course, a C&C35-1 won the return and > did well on the way there so (in my case) it's the sailor not the boat. In > preparation for the next one, I need to resolve a few issues with the boat > and a lot with the skipper. I was putting together a list that I thought I > would share. > > (1) The autopilot has to be more than bullet proof. I thought my below > deck pilot was, but I was wrong, and as a result I found myself upside down > in the cockpit locker and crawling deep underneath the cockpit floor in > horrible conditions to tighten bolts that allowed the tiller arm to slip (no > woodruff key or slot to put it in). I lost a lot of time bobbing around with > the sails down repairing the autopilot or sleeping. The fix for this one is > obvious but will require dismantling the quadrant and figuring out how to > bolt the tiller arm to it. Other issues with the autopilot were completely > my own fault as I made changes to the electronics but did not have time to > proof test the changes. > > (2) When a wave fills the cockpit and it gets flooded (and it did repeatedly) > the engine instruments are going to get wet. This is not good as the > switches will (and did) fail, I am considering relocation or creating a > waterproof cover. > > (3) Following seas WILL drive water up the tailpipe and into the engine. As > a result, I sailed into St Georges harbor and up to the customs dock then I > spent a day in Bermuda sucking water out of the engine and drying it out > enough to get it started. For the return trip, I put a plug in the exhaust > pipe but the plug was washed out in the "washing machine like conditions" and > ... we got to sail the boat into the Newport Yacht Club dock at 3:00 am on no > sleep. Then spend another day pumping oily water out of the engine. Yeah, > slow learner. > > (4) The fuel tank vent on my boat is high up on the starboard side but by > the time I got to Bermuda, the tank had a quart of water in it (which I > siphoned out). Good filters (a racor) helped but I need to relocate the vent > -- the question is where? It may not be wise but on the return trip I > wrapped the vent with tape (which, if I had run the engine I would have > removed) A better solution is needed. > > (5) Reefing has to be quick and easy -- I spent far too much time screwing > up enough courage to go to the mast to reef and shake-out. My current > reefing system (probably original to the boat) has a winch on the boom which > makes the first reef fine but I used all three reef points and releasing the > last reef before pulling in the next in 35-40 kn of breeze is a nightmare. > I need to work on leading the lines to the cockpit. > > (6) A removable inner forestay and a blade foresail might be nice. My new > furling 130 spent a lot of time furled 50% and that really has screwed up the > shape of my formerly new and now blown out 130. > > (7) The boat was reasonably dry inside (a result of hours of rebedding > hardware) but somehow the mast collar leaked like a sieve. The boot looks > perfect so it has to be the where the Al collar (mast partners) meets the > deck -- who would have thought that the one place I didn't rebed would be a > problem! > > (8) Hoisting a radar reflect on a flag halyard to the spreaders seems like a > good idea until the line breaks and you lose both. > > (9) The one turnbuckle that I did not wire was the port diamond stay. Turns > out the mast will stay up without this - whew! It is extremely unnerving to > see a piece of wire swinging around at night in a blow. Wire everything. And > use lock tight on critical bolts -- my solar panel broke loose as a result of > a bolt getting unscrewed. > > (10) Fighting with a 10 foot long spinnaker pole to fly the spin gets really > old. Luckily the wind only died down enough to fly the spinnaker at the end > of the race but if the conditions had been more benign, I would have had to > fly the spinnaker much more. An assymetrical with a short prod would be > nice (but probably outside my ability to rationalize the spending). > > (11) Getting a decent weather (GRIB) file occasionally would have been really > helpful. I suppose I need to figure out how to do a SSB or Sat phone modem. > > Tons more lessons learned but that's enough for now. > > Best, > > David > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Email address: > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom > of page at: > http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com > > > > _______________________________________________ Email address: > CnC-List@cnc-list.com To change your list preferences, including > unsubscribing -- go to the bottom of page at: > http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com > _______________________________________________ > > Email address: > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom > of page at: > http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com >
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