I’m beginning to think sailing rather than painting, in fact, I think i’m done painting… oh no wait… not done.
I have an old ratty dodger whose frame no longer fits because the previous owner installed self tailing winches for the stays’l. To me, altho I’ve never sailed the boat, self tailers on the stays’l seems a bit overkill. I was thinking, that perhaps these self tailers would be way more useful on the mast for my main and jib (no roller furling). And in the process, I’d also get a usable dodger back, saving myself alot of $$ for now.
I’m not familiar with winches - maintenance or installation at all, but I think it would be a direct swap, a fairly simple project. Mast winches have Barient 8 on them. Stays’l winches don’t say what they are, but they look to be about the same size. I wonder what kind of issues I’d run into – different mounting holes?
Was just wondering if that seems like a good idea to other people. I know I’m jumping the gun a bit, having never even sailed my Channel Cutter… but the mind never stops thinking up new projects, and this one seemed sensible, but lies in uncharted waters for me.
Thoughts, things to consider? I’d be happy to hear any and all…
The only problems you may run into are misaligned holes, and galvanically seized stainless screws in the mast holding the Barient 8s in place. Take a glance through Calder’s section on winch maintenance/repair - they’re quite easy to deal with, as long as you make sure to keep the parts orderly. Your little 8’s are super simple, too. None of this 3-speed craziness!
Self-tailers on the stays’l are convenient, if only for quick cleating. You’ll find 95% of the time, that you don’t even use a winch handle for the stays’l as it’s small enough to man handle. Only in stiff wind, and you’ll be damn happy to have them if you ever get a spitfire jib up there!
I like the idea of saving money and using the “old” frame and dodger. IDUNA’s staysail winches are Murry single-speed bottom winches. We seldom need a handle to trim the staysail. Mounting hole alignment may be a challenge between the two winch pads.
The internal mechanism for a single-speed winch or two-speed winch is relatively simple. Use a camera to record the disassembling process to ensure you assemble the winch correctly if you are in doubt.
Regarding sailing the BCC, the purpose of a boat is to work on it. Sailing is frivolous. Keep sanding, painting and varnishing to improve your sailing skills.
Oh, the next time an individual says, “What a beautiful boat but it requires too much work.” tell them, that’s why there are very few beautiful boats anymore.
I think there is a difference in size between the winches, it seems from the comments above this doesn’t seem to matter if one can trim the staysail by hand, except in a storm sail situation. The mast are 8’s and the staysails are 16’s.
On adifferent tack Ben, cam we beg you to do a piece on new age communication for small boats, cuz you’re the man for it with all your web and design talent… go on give us a treat…
Ben,
We agree that self-tailers are not needed for the stays’l sheets. We think that a self-tailer for the main halyard is the only way to go. We use it to launch and retrieve our Fatty Knees dinghy from the cabin top, and the self-tailer makes it a one-person job unless the wind is over about 30k. It’s also handy when raising the main and when reefing.
Stewart, we’ve used HF pactor for email, hundreds and thousands of miles from civilization for many years. Check out the Primer on sailmail.com. If you want to persue this topic, let’s start another string.
Stewart, wish I really know the ins and outs of the best way to get online enroute… I can explain what I do for now in a seperate thread, but its not an ideal solution, it only works when anchored in a developed harbor and requires me to make 110v to run the router, but that only draws 1 amp. Its runnin’ this damn MacBook Pro that’s killin me!
BACK ON TOPIC:
Thanks for the info on the winches everyone. I will explore further, and keep on sanding!
