Happiness is a Warm Spool Gun

[SV Maclas]

I love the companionway doors. Well done on the fabrication and design to all of your modifications. I wish I had your skills with aluminum work.

[Panope]

Dinghy Davit/Radar Mast

This item serves many functions: Dinghy Davit, Radar Mount, Deck Light Mount, VHF Antenna Mount, All around light mount. The entire apparatus rotates 180 degrees (with dingy in place) to shorten L.O.A.. Our marina charges by the 5 foot increment. By pivoting davit/dingy inboard, Panope just squeaks under 35 feet L.O.A.

Pic #1 Davit in the "normal position". Channel (curved) fits the starboard gunwale of a walker bay 8 dinghy.

Pic #2 Closeup of Channel that dingy gunwale fits into. Pins drop through holes in channel and corresponding holes in gunwale to secure.

Pic #3 Davit is prevented from rotating by These pins that drop though these ears and corresponding holes in aft rail.

Pic #4 Upper pivot bearing. Note UHMW insert inside tube.

Pic #5 Lower pivot bearing. All electrical wires pass from boat through this socket. A very small amount of rainwater will harmlessly enter lazarette and into bilge.

Pic #6 Davit with Dinghy in pivoted position.

This system works because a Walker Bay 8 dinghy is very light (71 lbs.) and tough. I would have a hard time designing a system capable of handling a RIB with outboard motor attached.

Steve

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Steelaway35

Beautiful pilot house!

I'm not sure which is more beautiful, the pilot house or the engine mounts.

Not sure why you painted the surface of the zinc mounts. Wouldn't you want to maximize the electrical contact between the zinc and the hull by not painting the area where the two connect?

[shorebird]

If you weren't an expert before, you are certainly getting there now. Really appreciate the pics and commentary, particularly explaining the rationale behind certain methods used. A few observations though, no auto-bilge pump? Why? And your choice of locating the wheel seems quite unorthodox, although you have every right to locate it inside your icebox if that is what you want. Fuel tank venting, do I understand you are venting through the fuel return line?

[Panope]

Originally Posted by Bash

I'm not sure which is more beautiful, the pilot house or the engine mounts.

Not sure why you painted the surface of the zinc mounts. Wouldn't you want to maximize the electrical contact between the zinc and the hull by not painting the area where the two connect?

Thanks, Bash

The zinc mounts are raw aluminum underneath the zincs. Paint stops at surface.

Steve

[Panope]

Originally Posted by shorebird

If you weren't an expert before, you are certainly getting there now. Really appreciate the pics and commentary, particularly explaining the rationale behind certain methods used. A few observations though, no auto-bilge pump? Why? And your choice of locating the wheel seems quite unorthodox, although you have every right to locate it inside your icebox if that is what you want. Fuel tank venting, do I understand you are venting through the fuel return line?

Thanks, Shorebird.

No auto bilge pump because the boat does not leak, Pumps are expensive, they require maintenance, they require electricity to be in the "on" position and they provide a false sense of security (I've got a bilge pump so lets wait till next year to replace that hose......).

Wheel position is very unorthodox. It works great when standing on aft deck with companion way doors open - wheel in left hand - engine control in right hand - perfect for docking. When seated on aft deck seats, one can reach wheel with on outstretched foot - works good in light air sailing. When seated inside pilot house, one reaches across if seated on starboard bench (pretty good), or reaches behind when seated on port bench (not as good). All in all, the wheel positioning was a huge compromise. I just could not bring myself to build two separate stations.

Yes. Fuel tanks vents and fuel returns through same fitting on tank. The lines (massively oversize) converge above tank so plenty of "air space" above the stream of fuel returning to tank. This decision was made to simplify tank construction.

Steve

[Panope]

Exhaust

Yanmar specifies 3" diameter exhaust plumbing for my engine (3JH3E) of 40 H.P. This seems ridiculously oversize, but I was a good boy and followed the spec.

I did not find a reasonably priced, marine grade shut off valve for the exhaust outlet. I did route the exhaust "loop" as high as possible (to underside of aft-deck). I also created an exhaust "flapper" valve at transom outlet (outlet about 1.5 feet bellow top of loop). Flap is made of Starboard (left over from other project). Flap counter weight is Lead. Flap Hinge holes are lined with plastic spacers, are over size, and very loose. It should not jam. My hope is that a following sea will not get past this valve when sailing. I use a Fairly large Vetus Water lift muffler that has a drain valve at bottom. If I feel that following seas are filling my exhaust, I will open drain to bilge. Keep in mind that I have no plans for "offshore passage making" - its the inside passage that I am aiming for.

Steve

[Panope]

Battery Boxes

If there is anyone out there who still thinks that I am not crazy.............

The last major mechanical component to be fitted in the engine/mechanical area were the battery boxes. I had allowed what I thought was enough room under the pilot house sole to mount two group 31 battery boxes. The reality was I needed another inch of height (why is it that we always need another inch?). I fiddled around for about year doing other tasks while trying to find a solution to the battery box problem.

Eventually I got sick of thinking about it and cut two holes in the hull (well below waterline) to provide the necessary clearance. Blisters were then welded over the holes to create a new hull skin. This area of the hull is far aft and fairly well protected from damage by the nearby keel.

Pic #1 Pyramid shaped "blister" with zinc anode mount just ahead.

Pic #2 House battery boxes (group 31). Not visible are the outboard, lower corners protruding beyond hull and into the blisters 1 inch.

Pic #3 Start battery box mount.

Pic #4 Start battery in place.

Steve

[Panope]

Electrical System

Pic #1 Battery switches. Three on/off switches arranged to allow isolation of House and Start - Loads and Sources. One on/off switch (lower) disconnects Negative bus from engine block (eliminates current leakage into hull).

Pic #2 Electrical Panel. Obviously, this is a simple system. At this point I am not using the circuits marked "bilge pump" and "accessory".

Pic #3 wiring behind Electrical Panel.

Pic #4 Solar Panel is a Grape Solar 100 watt. Panel secured with 1/4 inch Amsteel (no stretch) and is allowed to slide athwart ships to evade boom shadow. "Feet" are made of Starboard (slippery). Electrical wires have lots of slack - this slack is taken up by bungee cords that are hidden under the panel.

Steve

[hpeer]

Well, in our boat they had put the batteries in an old holding tank. Yeah, they really didn't sit flat, or have hold downs, but what the heck.

That has since been rectified.

I also took out the inverter/charger when I realized that not only didit not work, but I had NO 120vac gizmos. I got a cheap auto type inverter, and a charger, and freed up a locker.

[Panope]

Furnace.

Original to the boat was a heavy, homemade wood burning stove that worked good - maybe to good for summertime use.

I removed the wood burner and installed a Dickenson Newport diesel Furnace in its place. The Newport has worked perfect for me so far. I have used it during many winter windstorms (on the hard) while working on boat. So far I have not used any Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel.

Fuel will just barely flow under gravity from main tanks to Furnace. However, fuel flow is easily interrupted when fuel level is low. I therefore added a small (1.25 gal.) day tank (Sears Lawnmower Tank).

Pic #1 Just to the right of furnace is the fuel shutoff valve. Upper right is the day tank. Lower right is an outboard motor "squeeze bulb" that is used to fill day tank (takes a minute or two). Not visible to the right of the squeeze bulb is a second shutoff valve that prevents the engine driven fuel pump from drawing fuel "backwards" from the day tank.

Pic #2 Engine and Furnace share one Racor filter - hence the need for the second fuel shutoff described above.

Pic #3 New Chimney flange "wedge" with integral cage. Ring on top of cage allows for use of a longer chimney pipe if necessary. Not yet welded to house top.

Pic #4 Old Chimney flange "wedge" made of teak with mortar to protect from heat. This, by the way was the last piece of wood left on Panope's exterior.

Steve

[Panope]

Hand rails

Panope originally had stanchions of solid aluminum rod that inserted into sockets welded to the inside of the gunwale. Wire lifelines were strung between stanchions in the typical fashion. All of this was discarded.

New hand rails were fabricated from 1 inch schedule 80 6061 aluminum. Intermediate rail is a 5/8 inch solid rod.

Pic #1 Handrail under construction.

Pic #2,3 Aft seat built into handrail. Seating surface material is Starboard.

Pic #4,5 Life ring, mount. One each side.

Pic #6 Gate. One each side

Pic #7 Finished handrail. Will not be painted.

Pic #8 The reason for the extra safe handrail system.

Steve

[Panope]

Trailer

I hired a boat mover to bring Panope to the house that I owned (at the time) in 2000. After a few years into the project I decided to build a trailer. Trailer was fabricated in place under the boat (in the mud).

A friend of mine who works in the heavy equipment world found a "lowboy" trailer axle complete with wheels and tires - for free. I welded a large amount of bracing around and under this axle to carry the weight of Panope (14K lbs.+). Her keel sits right on top of the axle (endorsement for metal boats: Boat as been sitting like this for 8 years with no sagging).

The trailer tongue was made from Panope's old fore mast and the Vertical "V" brace's at the bow was made from her old gaffs (she was a schooner).

The trailer does not have any suspension or springs. I have experimented with different tire pressures and the maximum speed that I have been able to achieve without fear of "bouncing" or "hoping" is about 25 miles an hour.

Steve

[Panope]

Bow Anchor Gear

Panope originally had a large bowsprit protruding from her gunwales. The aft end of the sprit was seated in a socket welded to a heavy, double samson post arrangement that took up a lot of space on her fore deck. All this was discarded.

The original Simpson Lawrence manual windlass was remounted on center line and aft of the previous position to eliminate "chain pile" problems

A new bow roller was fabricated in place of the old bowsprit - on center line.

A new Hawse pipe for a substantial #2 anchor (Forfjord) was created for the following reasons: 1- I needed to add weight forward. 2- Most of the commercial fishermen of Alaska (where I am going) use Forfjord anchors. 3- (and this may be a CF first in anchor rationale) I thought a Forfjord anchor in a hawse pipe on Panope's bow would LOOK REALLY COOL

Pic #1 The hole in the gunwale from previous bowsprit was closed in with aluminum plate. Heavy (3/8 inch) cheeks were welded into gunwale to accept an aluminum anchor roller with a 1 inch SS shaft.

Pic #2 65lb. Forfjord anchor in new hawse pipe. The "guard plate" behind anchor is a single sheet of 1/4 aluminum welded to hull and not painted. The lines are saw kerfs placed to simulate the classic wooden strips that are common on wooden craft.

Pic #3 Hawse Pipe "doughnut" was hogged out from a 1.25 inch thick aluminum plate. I used every tool that I own to accomplish this task - grinders, saws, router, drills, chisels, hammers, files, sandpaper, etc. It was a most enjoyable day.

Pic #4 Fore deck. A compact but very heavy bollard was fabricated just to the left of bow anchor.

Pic #5 Top of hawse pipe. Top of Forfjord anchor just visible. Horizontal pin is all that keeps the anchor aboard.

Steve

[Panope]

Sailing Rig

I know that most folks on this forum demand modern, marconi sailing rigs of high performance for their yachts. I completely respect this decision and if I had previous exposure to that type of sailing or racing, I too would be chasing every knot to be gained.

As it is, my sailing background is mostly with traditionally rigged, lower performance vessels and I tend to focus on the attributes of that type.

My reasons for choosing a traditional rig boil down to these two: They look cool and they use simple, cheap homemade components.

Panope only has three pieces of standing rigging - 2 shrouds and 1 fore stay. No spreaders, no backstay.

The Jib is hanked on and the Mains'l is laced. No sail tracks. No Roller furling

The Jib sheet leads are simply tied to the handrail or house top. No Sheet tracks.

Mechanical advantage for handling sails is achieved through the use of blocks and tackle. No winches are present (I do have a manual anchor windlass).

Spars are homemade from schedule 80 pipe with simple welded on tangs. Very heavy wall and robust. No fancy extrusions or special fittings.

Pic #1 Mains'l lacing is the "forth and back" type. Easy to rig correct tension. Never jams. All lines are "spun Dacron" three strand - traditional look and very soft on the hands. Yes, spun Dacron does stretch a bit.

Pic #2 Hanging from boom is the "2nd reef" clew line (not yet trimmed). I may in the future have a small tackle available to help with tension.

Pic #3 Sails were made by Port Townsend Sails (Carrol Hasse). Yes, they are very expensive. They are beautifully made and very robust. I treat them (the sails) like family members and I intend for them to last for the rest of my life.

Steve