Recent content by AleksT

I would get another rigger to look at your mast before you get a replacement. And loosening everything a little (including backstay and forestay) is a good starting point.

Oh yes being 6 feet tall most upper lifelines are about knee level to me. Just about the right height to flip me over and have my head smack against the hull before I fall into the water

First I must say that I agree with the rant, stanchoins should not be used as "boat handles". But here is a mini rant: I have to say that if the stanchions are supposed to stop my 185 lbs moving at them at some sort decent velocity imparting thousands of pounds of load on the bolts, I would...

On a 30' boat that should be fine. On my 27 I use 3/8 for almost everything.

The boat that I race on regularly has had tacktic instruments for some years (5 or 6 I believe). They work great. The backlit displays work all night long and even on a cloudy day they recharge very quickly (5 to 10 min). You do not have to mount the displays permanently, We attach them with...

What a wonderful idea. Also since everything was striped off and replaced. maybe it is worth setting up a hose on deck and see if you see any leaks forming. Any one of those fittings or thru bolts may not have gotten enough sealer/caulk. On my e 27 I had a mysterious leak. I would find...

The code 0 will not get you the upwind performance that you seem to be expecting. As PDX said they are more set up for reaching. This also means that you will be reaching more when you are trying to go downwind. It will be easier to set up but you will be gybing a lot more. What about having...

Here is what I did to glue in a riser into my dinghy that I am building. The riser is a 3/4 by 1/2 in. 7 foot long piece that the thwarts sit on. The process was very similar to Loren's description. First of all I used regular west systems epoxy with the fast hardner which at the time and...

supposedly they are coming out with a 9.9 hp at the end of this year

A core to core eyesplice. Either Samson or New England Ropes calls it a Class 2 eyesplice, forget which one. Same splice though.

If you are considering Dynema, look at either Warpspeed or Endura. They have dynema cores with an outer cover that will protect the core from both UV damage and chafe as they go through the stanchions. I have not tried them yet but have considered changing over on my boat. I did some...

One common path for water getting inside a mast is following the electrical cables. (radar, various lights, mast head wind instruments). Spreader and steaming lights are prime culprits. Check to make sure all the places where wire exits the mast are well caulked. Water will flow down the...

The sail in front going to the masthead would be the jib. The 3/4 fractional would be an inner staysail. Or more commonly now just called a staysail. (even though any sail on a stay could technically called a staysail) In some older large designs there were three or even four headsails. The...

Bronze is a good material for a bushing. You will need to cut the bushing in length to fit inside the toggle at the end of the rigging. The toggle itself will keep the bushing in place. Drilling out a chainplate will in most cases remove any distorted metal leaving the non stressed metal...

While I don't know a product that will suit your needs, I have to make a comment. I am someone who does have good night vision. Nothing is worse than sailing at night and having white light shine in your eyes. If I am on watch at night and someone (usually accidentally) turns on the white...