Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

[Roy M]

Yesterday was a very good day. Got the bow pulpit back on, the bow roller and skene chocks completed, and got almost the entire port side lifeline stanchions mounted, as well as the bow net tangs, port and starboard. I was tired by the end of the day and mounted the port bownet upside down, so that's the first piece of business this morning. It feels very good to finally be putting gear back aboard for the last time. Have faith, I will be posting pics soon.

[Roy M]

Well, things didn't go as smoothly as planned with the bow nets. I hadn't drunk enough cups of coffee to get the brain cells firing in order, so I took a break to drink some more, and to do some research. My first mistake was pretty elemental. I had forgotten some basic concepts of geometry: an acute angle doesn't match an obtuse one. Being obtuse, myself, doesn't help, but eventually I realized that I had to flip the net endwise. Problem number two was revealed by a short telephone conversation with the nice folks at Sunrise Yacht Products, builders of this beautiful bow net unit. I had slipped the bow net loops onto the leading edge vinyl covered stainless cable, then secured and tightened the cable taut as a drum. Bad idea because it makes it absolutely impossible to lace the remaining three sides. I loosened the cable to about six inches of catenary curve, then temporarily fastened the sides to the boat's net rail with short pieces of line. Now, it looked like it's supposed to. Then the issue was what to use for lashing, and how much it would need, and how, actually to do it. Sunrise provides most of that info in its wonderful website, including a calculator to deducing the lengths of line needed for lashing, in what ever style you wish. They have really thunk this through.

Now, for the issue of what to use. Sunrise, being in the land of tropical sunlight intensity, knows all about the power of ultraviolet light and how it destroys stuff. Their suggestion was to use whatever would last at least five years before showing signs of sufficient decay that it threatens the net support. I weighed the features of several line chemysterys (sic) to see what compromise would meet the solution. Polyester is cheap but isn't as strong as the high tensile strength miracle fibers, but it holds up better to UV than straight Vectran, Dyneema and the rest of the family. In the end, with the help of the West Marine rigging shop in San Diego, I picked a new product, New England Ropes Spyderline Micro Dyneema Braid. It's got a Dyneema SK-75 core with a braided polyester sheath. It's only 2.8 mm (a fat 1/8 inch, more than parachute cord) has virtually no stretch, and a breaking strength of 1250 pounds. The cover was basically black with cool red and gold flecks, so it blends well with the black nets (better UV stability for both). And it comes in 75 foot spools, so I got a couple. The cost was cheaper than shown in the WM catalog, so it's not a major issue. It's supple enough to lace and tighten, and holds knots well.

I use a slightly different lacing pattern than Sunrise suggests, but even they admit that there are no hard and fast rules. I'll send some pics later today showing the details and general procedure, because if I ever get off my ass and away from this computer, I have one more net to apply, with the advantage of having worked out the details yesterday. I have to say, these nets may be costly, but I feel I got my money's worth, both in the product quality, but in the support, as well. Okay, enough coffee and computer time. Back to the boat.

[Roy M]

Okay, here are some pics of the bow net installation: first step, hang the net on a loose leading edge cable (top left). Then gather the net up and loosely tie in place at the right approximate dimension so that holes can line up with pinrail openings. Third pic, lace up three sides, take up slack, finally tension cable. I will take some more shots tomorrow, as I realize I didn't show much closeup detail.

[rossad]

Roy
I see you nets are not to the bow but back a bit. Or nor from the bow of the Arma
Is there any reason for that? or is it they simply look better from these points.
Are they used for any special purpose eg dousing the spinnaker

[Roy M]

I prefer to keep the area of the nets small enough for two people to nap together, and stiff enough to walk on with total security. It also keeps the bows light if facing heavy seas or square waves. That's another reason I chose the open web design rather than the more closed options. As for dousing sails, it has always seemed more than enough to do the job. I think it also just looks better when it's this size.

[rossad]

Thanks Roy i think your right about the nets
My boat lives on a mooring about 100 metres from the kayaking company i run at Waiheke island. Decided to take it out the other day and put a new anode on the shaft. I dont go far these days maybe just one or 2 km outside the bay. Just to run the motor and get out on the water. Its time i do some work on this trimaran. Paint the decks and hulls. Gosh after 8 years with the boat i knew one day it would have to be... not looking forward to it.
a nice little gathering of Warrens came into the bay.

[Roy M]

Those Wharrams have really established a community in the South Pacific, haven't they? Personally, I've never been much attracted by them, but they are so simple to build and pleasing to sail in placid waters. And, like any boat, if built well, appear to hold up to the ravages of the open sea. There are very few in Southern California, probably because of the lack of inexpensive slips or moorings, which also explains the general lack of multihulls as well.

[rossad]

Yes Wharrams I think 50 or 60 are in New Zealand where only 6 or 7 Searunners could be found. There seems to be a bigger cult for Wharrams here. they are great in warmer climates thats for sure. I know of one that was built way down south a place called Invercargill ... a Wharram was built called Catnap. A sad story as the owner fell sick and died shortly after seeing his boat launched. A friend of mine helped the finish for launch so that the (builder owner) would see her floating.
The main difference for me is with the Wharram.... the sailing capability compared to the Searunner doesnt compare to windward.
Both of them seem very seaworthy.

anyway talking about painting. Not wanting to add weight but not wanting to sand off the old paint which seems pretty good ... most all edges around the boat are starting to show ware and some edging splitting the glass needing to be reglassed I would say.

[clemon]

Hello All,

Does anyone know if its possible go drop the swing keel out the bottom of a Searunner 34? It looks like it would work, but rumor has it that it goes out the top only. I've seen one reference that indicated that the binnacle but not the mast needed to be removed to get it out the top.
Anyone tried either method successfully?

[Roy M]

Rossad, I think of old paint, AS LONG AS IT'S LINEAR POLYURETHANE, as base coat. As long as it's stable, you don't even have to prime it, unless you are looking for a showroom shine. I'm far from being finished with my painting. I have patched some checking cracks in the cabinside, and my window rims are masked for painting. Then, I'm going to build a "turtle", the hatch "roof" over the aft sliding hatch. In heavy storms, I find that water is driven horizontally along the hatch slides from the aft end of the hatch and drips at the corner over my aft cabin bunk. The drip on the port side falls on the floor, but it's still an irritation that I'm going to eliminate this go around. Then, before I paint the cockpit, I'm going to paint the cabintop trim, drill new holes for the new deck hardware, and mount the various new bits (genoa track, turning blocks, genoa sheet winches, traveller and its related control blocks, and other little details). I need to get these done so I can finish installing the insulation and headliners. So many details. Overhauling a boat can be a trying experience. I rarely get a project done in three simple, direct steps. Usually, it's two steps forward, one step back, the rest, it's two steps back, one step forward. I have to adopt a zen-like attitude of enjoying the process, otherwise it would be like a dripping water torture. It does feel good, though, when I get something finished, knowing it will probably be for the last time in my life.

clemon, Mark Johnson can probably answer your question about the centerboard. Why don't you send him a private message?

[PatnKarl]

Originally Posted by clemon

Hello All,

Does anyone know if its possible go drop the swing keel out the bottom of a Searunner 34? It looks like it would work, but rumor has it that it goes out the top only. I've seen one reference that indicated that the binnacle but not the mast needed to be removed to get it out the top.
Anyone tried either method successfully?

The previous owner of Ishmael, a Searunner 37, was crossing the South Pacific and struck something with the CB damaging the leading edge. He dropped the board at sea, repaired it and reinstalled it, all in the open ocean.
He lowered the board and attached dive weights (had scuba gear) to ensure that it would not float when the pin was pulled. It was supported by the down/up haul lines. The pin was quickly pulled and the caps replaced. Some water entered the bilge but it was not excessive. They manhandled the board onto the deck using the boom and block&tackle. After making the repair, they reversed the process. I am not sure how they found that pin hole to get the pin back in. I can only guess that they used some sort of guide to get the board in location quickly for pin re insertion and recapping.
there were four aboard and I guess that all four were involved; two on the caps and pin, one in the water, and one on the lines.
It sounds remarkable but they did it.
I have removed the board both out the top and bottom, the latter while the boat was being lifted out of the water for the winter. Reversed it and put the board back from beneath in the spring. Pulling it out the cockpit was easier, just lifting it with the down/up haul lines until we could get a dowel through the pin hole giving us a better grip on the unwieldy thing. The mast step and was removed to facilitate this effort.
Hope this helps.
Karl

[Boatguy30]

Ross, I owned the SR 34 started in 1978 in Dunedin and launched in Christchurch in 2001. Same owner builder. The hulls were mostly built by a professional builder out of Kauri marine ply when the owner had the funds. The owner finished the decks and cockpit in pine ply and those rotted more quickly than those "leaky" homes. The boat is currently up the north end of the Gulf there and just did a 2 week cruise around the N Island mid refit.

My Vardo cat has been an immense success. We are home bound from a 4 month cruise and the boat has surpassed all expectations. Top speed to date is 16.5 knots (this is a 34 foot cat) loaded displacement 12,000 lbs. more payload and displacement than a SR 40.

We did a bit of real racing in Georgetown and beats all cats under 46' elasped and corrected excepting a Crowther 42 that beat us by about 10 minutes elasped on an 18 mile race. There were was a SR 37 and 34 in Geogetown amongst the 350 boat cruising fleet, but nether raced in the regatta.

Overall super pleased with my SR experiences and was a great stepping stone to what appears to be the ultimate small cruising cat!

[clemon]

Sounds like out the bottom is a bit easier.

[blewett_john]

I took the centerboard of my 37 out the top. It was a miserable job. Pictures are at the link below:

https://buildingmytrimaran.shutterfly.com/pictures/1114

My new centerboard is only 31 pounds vs. the estimated 350 pounds that came out.

[Boatguy30]

Taking it out should be pretty easy if the boat is blocked high enough. There's a small chance repairs to the mini keel over the years may prevent removal if the slot is smaller than the larger unfaired top of the board. Of course if the mast is down, out the top is easier and cheaper as no need to have the boat lifted. Be very careful if trying to shift the mast step with the mast up!