Adrift at Sea —Dan’s blog on dankim.com

I have a lot of upcoming work for the Pretty Gee. I am planning on installing shroud covers, to help prevent the genoa sheets from snagging on the shrouds. I also have two flag halyards and the radar reflector mount to setup. I also plan on adding halyard catchers to the shrouds, to help prevent the halyards from slapping against the mast. I’ve also gotten the two Nicro solar-powered ventilators out to the boat, and am looking for the right places to install them. I have started planning the ground tackle system for the Pretty Gee. The last set of projects are all safety related: padeyes and jacklines, boom brake, and the bridle for the series drogue. I also have to re-work the solar panel mounts, to bring them up to spec, and to machine and install a new mounting plate for the masthead light. I hope to have most of this work done by June, but I doubt I’ll be finished by then.

Shroud Covers

The idea I have for the shroud covers is quite simple. Next time I drop the mast, I plan on disconnecting the shrouds and then placing two pieces of 1.5” PVC pipe over them. The upper pipe will act as a roller, and is about two feet long. The lower piece, will be attached to the chainplate, with some 4200 sealant, and will act as a bearing surface for the upper piece of pipe, and help ensure the sheets have nothing to catch on. The lower piece will have drain holes drilled in the base, to help prevent water from collecting inside the pipe.

Mast Work

While the mast is down, I plan on mounting port and starboard flag halyards. The starboard one will be used for courtesy flags, and the port one for the dayshapes. I am also planning on mounting the radar reflector to the mast. I’m also going to add small fish-fin-shaped blocks to the spreaders, one forward and one aft on each side, to catch the halyards, and hold them away from the mast. The slapping of the halyards against the mast is enough to drive you crazy.

Solar Powered Ventilators

I have two Nicro solar-powered 4” ventilators to install. One will be an intake fan, and the other will vent air from the boat. The original idea I had for them was to mount one in each hatch, but I have decided that isn’t the optimal solution for the boat. Right now, it looks as if I will be mounting one just forward of the mast, a bit to starboard. This will be the ventilation fan. The other fan looks like it can be mounted either right next to the companionway sliding hatch, on the port side, under the dodger. This would be the intake fan. Both of the Nicro vents screw into a 4” stainless steel deck ring, which can also take a stainless steel deck plate, to secure the boat in case of severe weather conditions.

Ground Tackle System

The ground tackle system consists of a new mooring bitt, a bow roller, a chain pipe, a manual vertical windlass, and a chain tensioner. Due to the design of the Pretty Gee’s bow, the bow roller will have to be off-center. I’m hoping to get a new mounting plate made for the bow roller that is about a foot longer than the existing one, to give me a better base to mount the roller. It has to be very sturdy to take the anchoring forces, as well as to support the 33 lb. Rocna anchor I am planning on using as my primary anchor. I also have to setup some sort of anchoring system for the current 13 lb. Danforth, to use off the stern of the boat, as well as figure a neat way of stowing the kedge anchor in the cockpit of the boat.

Safety Gear

Of the three safety projects, the easiest should be the boom brake. There are already a few padeyes on the boom that I can use to attach the Dutchman Boom Brake to the boom. I am planning on running the line from the starboard chainplate up to the boom brake and then down to a Harken Ratchet block on the port chainplate and then back to a Spinlock line clutch, mounted on the cabintop, near the port genoa winch. I’m still looking at the appropriate locations for the jackline padeyes. I believe that there should be one on each side, and that they should be mounted in such a way that you can clip into the jacklines as you come into the cockpit from below. I also don’t want the jacklines to come so far back that falling overboard astern is an issue. Right now, it looks like mounting the padeyes to the cockpit coaming or the steps are my best option. As for the series drogue bridle, I think I’m going to mount them to the stern cleats. I plan on having the series drogue in a bag, ready to deploy in bad weather, with the bridle already attached to the stern cleats.

Solar Panel Mounts

I’ve gotten two fast pins for the lower stanchion mounts on the aft solar panel rails. The real problem with working on the solar panels, is that I have to be able to do it with the amas open. This would probably be a lot simpler to do on the hard, but I’m reluctant to pull the Pretty Gee out of the water right now. We’ll see how it goes.

Masthead Light

Another repair to the electrical upgrades is replacing the sorry excuse of a bracket that was used with something more refined and better designed. I plan on machining a new bracket out of aluminum, and replacing the current bracket.

Unfortunately, I probably won’t be getting much of a chance to work on the boat or sail her this week, as I have guests coming in from out of town for the rest of the week.   Next week, I’ll be sailing out of Boston Harbor most of the week, so I probably won’t get back out on the Pretty Gee until next weekend.