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Towing C25 with 1996 Silverado

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islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3992 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2014 : 05:13:19

I guess if you are OK with having to go to the mast everytime to raise or lower the main well what can I say...For me at 63 its all lines led to the cockpit and a roller furler is the way to go. Just safer and easier especially when the weather gets nasty or out single sailing. Is that being lazy? No, Just a little more up to date. Why make things harder on yourself. I'm in envy of the guys with in-mast furling systems for the main.

Edited by - islander on 09/29/2014 05:16:57

capelyddol
1st Mate

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USA
62 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2014 : 09:43:52

Scott
You youngsters should be able to do handstands on the foredeck in a Force 8 while reefing the mains'l. Now, old codgers of 68 - like me - we need all those mod-cons!

(found out how to do the smilies!)

On a serious note: I have the address of the previous owner from the bill of sale and I've snail-mailed him asking for further info on the sails. He's the only one who'll know for sure what 'LW" means, or even if that sail belongs to the boat. Of course, he may choose not to respond, but if I know yachtsmen he'll be only to happy to supply the information. If he does, I'll post his response here.

And, yes, I agree with Scott entirely. The older you get the more important safety becomes. Having the means to raise and lower sails without prancing all over the deck to do so has to be, at the very least, common sense.

Edited by - on

dasreboot
Admiral

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803 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2014 : 10:30:48

quote:
Originally posted by capelyddol

islander
Explain yourself, my good man! Virtually every boat I sailed in my formative years had a rope luff mainsail running up a groove in a wooden mast.

LUXURY! mine had mast hoops!

Edited by - on

capelyddol
1st Mate

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USA
62 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2014 : 10:50:38

Ah, yes, I remember them well. In the winter we'd take them off and play a form of 'horseshoes' with them down the local pub.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9013 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2014 : 12:55:04

quote:
Originally posted by capelyddol

...Virtually every boat I sailed in my formative years had a rope luff mainsail running up a groove in a wooden mast. Are you guys getting a little lazy, always leaving your sail on the boom? Or, is there another more scientific reason for using slugs?

I strongly suspect you knew the answer... A bolt rope is fine if you don't mind having a boatfull of mainsail trying to turn into a reverse spinnaker (or sea anchor) after you've pulled it down in a blow, and if you're OK with going to the cabintop to feed the rope into the slot or haul the sail down. But you can have slugs added to the sail.

The shorter luff might serve you well by raising the boom, as I said. Your PO may have gotten the "LW" sail for that purpose. And the shape of that sail cover does suggest a rolled-up rather than flaked sail. I've done both on various boats...

I was younger than you when we had the C-25 (but older than you now)--I led the main halyard and dousing line (for the last 25% of the drop) back to the cockpit, and we had a 130 on a roller furler. We often sailed on the latter alone. "Pull one string and we're sailing--pull another and we're not." Didn't even uncover the main.

Cabintop acrobatics are for 30-somethings and racing fanatics!

Edited by - on

capelyddol
1st Mate

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USA
62 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2014 : 20:27:32

Dave
Yes, I'd definitely fit slugs if I keep that mainsail. It'll mean a new sail cover. I was looking at your old C-25 and my cover wouldn't go that far up the mast. I'm hoping the PO can shed some light on the matter.

"Cabintop acrobatics are for 30-somethings and racing fanatics!" - I couldn't agree more!

Edited by - on

capelyddol
1st Mate

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USA
62 Posts

Response Posted - 10/22/2014 : 19:22:13

Just for the record I did receive a response from the PO regarding the strange mainsail. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to throw light on the perplexing 'LW 1' figures. Apparently they were the sails that came with the boat when he bought it. He was able to tell me he thought it had had two owners prior to him, but said it'd been out the water for sometime, because he'd had little time to sail it. As the Minnesota license sticker last expired in 2003, I'm thinking his 'sometime' was likely ten or eleven years.

I would have liked to know more of the boat's history, but he told me all he knew, which unfortunately wasn't much. I'd hoped to get the mast rigged and check out the sails at home while the boat was on the trailer (picking a calm day!), but the weather's closing in so it's a case of sheeting with a tarp and waiting out the long winter till spring. Darn!

Also, she's leaking like a sieve topsides. I've already acquired a window seal kit, but many of the fittings are letting water in through the deckhead bolts. Can someone advise the best sealant to use in that situation?

Edited by - capelyddol on 10/22/2014 19:32:22

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9013 Posts

Response Posted - 10/22/2014 : 20:57:24

There are many threads here on the proper way to mount and bed deck hardware--too bad the Search function is turned off. (The Google search to the left can probably find them if you look for "overdrill" and "epoxy", but it'll be a disorganized mess of posts.

Leaks through the deck over long periods of time will soak and then rot the plywood core between the deck and liner. To summarize the recommended "gold standard" solution:

1. Remove the hardware and re-drill the holes about double the original diameters.

2. Give the core some time to dry out, maybe taping over the tops so rain or dew doesn't thwart the process.

3. Use a bent nail in the drill to carve out some of the plywood between the fiberglass deck and liner, about 1/4" all the way around. (It's probably pretty soft.)

4. Tape the holes from inside the boat with something strong (like Gorilla tape), and then inject slow-curing, penetrating epoxy (thin stuff) from the top, and let it soak into the wood.

5. Refill the holes completely with regular epoxy thickened like soft peanut butter, using chopped glass fibers (that you can buy with the epoxy), and let it set up thoroughly.

6. Remove the tape and drill holes the original diameter through the hardened epoxy, using the hardware to help reposition the holes. The epoxy protects the wood core and acts as a "compression tube" between the deck and liner.

Now you're ready to re-mount the hardware as follows:

7. Using a polysulfide caulk like Boatlife Life Caulk (for metal, and Life Seal for plastic), mount the hardware and tighten lightly until caulk starts to squeeze out, but not so so tight as to squeeze it all out. Don't try to "clean up" the excess. DO NOT use straight polyurethane adhesive like 3-M 5200!

8. Let the caulk set for a day or more, and then tighten the nuts from below while holding the bolts stationary from above, to compress the "gasket" made by the caulk without breaking its seal around the bolts, and then trim the excess with a blade--it'll come off easily.

You'll probably hear some recommendations for butyl tape... I have reservations, but not based on personal experience.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 10/22/2014 21:30:34

capelyddol
1st Mate

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USA
62 Posts

Response Posted - 10/26/2014 : 20:16:23

Dave
Many thanks for taking the trouble to describe the 'gold standard' solution to fixing my topside leaks. For a novice fiberglass boater like me it was good and easy to understand. Unfortunately, I've had no experience of repairing fiberglass boats. All my previous were either wooden or steel, so phrases like 'slow-curing, penetrating epoxy', and 'regular epoxy' leave me head scratching, as I'm not sure where to find these items. Google searches can be very confusing. Are there any trade names you can suggest? I note you've suggested specific sealant products, readily available, can you be more specific with the epoxy? Bear in mind you're educating a five year old where fiberglass boats are concerned. Just to give you an idea of my naivety on the subject, I recently purchased a fiberglass car repair kit to repair a minor fracture on the interior of the boat. The mat supplied was so loose and coarse it came apart as I was cutting it. My attempt at repair resulted in a mess that took hours of sanding to produce something even vaguely respectable. I'm sure there's better products on the market, but finding them among the bewildering array available on the internet is like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack, when you've no idea what a needle looks like! Sadly, despite Marquette being a major port on Lake Superior it lacks a decent yacht chandlers. The only retail store of that type is stuffed to the eaves full of Mercury outboards, but little else of use to the do-it-yourself boater. Consequently, local advice is hard to come by. Thanks again.

Edited by - on

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