Interior refit 1970's kit sailboat questions

[Spot]

The main is back from the loft, 22 inches off the bottom and fresh boltrope on the foot and pressed rings in the revised tack and clew. As much as it pains me not to have DIY'd it, the project is done and the results are better and sooner than if I had messed with it myself. The day the boat was rigged (best solo mast raising to date) and sail was hoisted was glorious, we are now back to spring cold-wet-snow for the next few days. Cover is back on and cushion sewing still awaits...

[Spot]

Weather has been unseasonably cold and rainy and then all the sudden instant summer for a couple days with storms and now it is back to a pleasant spring weather pattern. So I spent part of the nicest day of the year in the basement sewing the last cushion... I had stuff set out, had a pattern made, had foam cut and it still took 4-5 hours.

The result is good, and it was well worth my time to cut down the 1/2" (13mm) self-stick basting tape to 1/4" (6.4mm) to work with my 3/8" (9.5mm) seam allowance...no pins were used to make this cover. There was a moment of realization followed by a hour of rework to fix the math error on the zipper placket causing it to be off center by 2 inches and rounding a cushion corner which I could not leave be The resulting 'spare parts' can be seen next to the completed cushion in the pic.

The time does includes a few minutes locating the zipper bag and stringing a better work light and hooking up the speakers for streaming radio and 'hoovering' afterwards to pick up my mess and some left others who used the area for arts and crafts without 'hoovering'. I also spent most of the morning in the garage doing some other things related to the galley rebuild so it was not an all 'play inside' day either.

[GILow]

“Others” are just so messy hey!?

Nice to see action again. What did you use the hot knife for? I feel there may be a trick I could learn here.

[Spot]

Originally Posted by GILow

“Others” are just so messy hey!?

Nice to see action again. What did you use the hot knife for? I feel there may be a trick I could learn here.

Thanks Matt. The hot knife cuts and fuses the edges of the polyester or other synthetic fabric. It has a little shoe on it so it doesn't need a glass plate below it for most jobs. If the cut or cut-off piece is narrow (under 1" / 2.5cm or so fabric both side of blade) the shoe become a liability and one is better off on a metal or glass plate. It take a couple seconds to warm up after holding in the trigger and then just melts its way through the fabric.

PS I suppose 'messy' can be said about me too LOL, no 'hoovering' after woodworking lately. It is starting to affect my sand for foundry work so I'll have to break down and clean up my areas as well.

[Bill Seal]

I just use a Harbor Freight wood burner to cut Sunbrella, cut it on a 1' x 2' cheap Home Depot ceramic tile.

[Spot]

Originally Posted by Bill Seal

I just use a Harbor Freight wood burner to cut Sunbrella, cut it on a 1' x 2' cheap Home Depot ceramic tile.

Nothing wrong with that Bill. I have cut rip-stop nylon with a ground down soldering iron on a piece of scrap metal. I was unsuccessful at making a homemade hot knife blade for a soldering gun. For doing a boat's worth of cushions-foam and covers- I treated myself to a new hot knife and a 2$ secondhand store electric knife for cutting foam.

[Spot]

I had the boat out this weekend. The fresh recut main worked well and motor started and ran well too. The mast gates need some rework and the uphaul for the rudder blade did not work. It felt good to sail. The boat got a wash today with a pressure washer and the leftover dish soap, water, and peppermint extract mixture I used to get rid of wasps onboard.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Spot

I had the boat out this weekend. The fresh recut main worked well and motor started and ran well too. The mast gates need some rework and the uphaul for the rudder blade did not work. It felt good to sail. The boat got a wash today with a pressure washer and the leftover dish soap, water, and peppermint extract mixture I used to get rid of wasps onboard.

Ah… minty freshness in a boat is so nice.

[Spot]

Originally Posted by GILow

Ah… minty freshness in a boat is so nice.

True, true...except now I have to wear my sunglasses lest I be blinded and wipe my dirty feet lest I sully the decks.

A couple pictures from the sail. Got to the launch about 2:30 Saturday arvo and it was full of boats and trailers and 4 deep to get at the 2 ramps. By the time I was rigged (4-ish) the lot was half empty and I had no wait to launch. A couple of people from the Pepin Messabout were landing their home-builts so I'd break from rigging, converse, and then go back, no wonder it longer. I got out into the pool north of Lake City and about had it to myself. I regretted not having a tiller 'tamer' or clutch or something to give me a few seconds leave to fiddle with halyards without heaving to.

The group on shore was about to have supper so I beached and joined them for a couple hours to cook a bratwurst on the campfire and talk story. I decided to head back and the skipper of Arcebus offered to follow me back in his boat and help me land my boat on the trailer. That was an offer I 'could not refuse'...

A quick motor back under the setting sun and no waiting at the ramp. Got the boat on in two tries (need a better underwater guidance mechanism) and said farewell. I de-rigged in way less time that I rigged and made the hour's drive home.

Including a picture of Arcebus from a Duckworks article and some of my own. The pre-minty dirt and lichen are clearly visible...Those boats with two mast- I just don't know what I am mizzen...

[GILow]

Ahhh… back on the water at last! Makes it all worthwhile. I’ve got cabin fever here, have been pinned down by winds for nearly a week and I just want to get back out there.

Regarding the tiller tamer… I assume you’ve had a play with sheet to tiller self steering? If not, well worth it. All you need is a bit of shock cord (bungee) and an old spare block or two. I used the setup on my 20 footer for a long time. It wasn’t good enough to sail unattended but it did give me plenty of time to go forward, or make a cup of tea/soup etc.

[GILow]

Regarding getting the boat back on the trailer…

I struggled with my Austral 20 until one of the old salts at the marina came down and gently corrected me. He noted that I was trying to “float” the boat onto the trailer. No, no, no, he said. He made me pull the trailer out of the water then back the trailer in until just the very first roller at the back was close to the water level. Not even submerged, just close. Then he instructed me to hitch the winch on to the bow loop and pull the bow of the boat up to the roller. Add tension on the winch until the boat pulled straight and then crank away.

He would know, his wife was state Austral 20 champion for years.

I did it that way ever since and never had the slightest trouble retrieving the boat. (I did buy a two speed winch though, the boat weighed 1.3 tons (metric) and it was hard work cranking her out of the water.)

[Spot]

Originally Posted by GILow

Regarding the tiller tamer…

I will need to try that, thanks Matt.

Originally Posted by GILow

Regarding getting the boat back on the trailer…

The trailer is roller-free. There are two 2.5 meter long carpeted bunks that hold up the hull so the half meter of external iron swing and stub keel can clear the trailer. There is a sort of a weak sheet metal piece that is supposed to help center the stub keel and a piece of electric garage door hardware acting as a kicker on one side of the swing keel. Neither of these really align the boat nor can take the forces created by a poor landing. I think I need to take some pipe and make a funnel looking arrangement so the keel ends up +/- a few cm's each time.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Spot

I will need to try that, thanks Matt.


The trailer is roller-free. There are two 2.5 meter long carpeted bunks that hold up the hull so the half meter of external iron swing and stub keel can clear the trailer. There is a sort of a weak sheet metal piece that is supposed to help center the stub keel and a piece of electric garage door hardware acting as a kicker on one side of the swing keel. Neither of these really align the boat nor can take the forces created by a poor landing. I think I need to take some pipe and make a funnel looking arrangement so the keel ends up +/- a few cm's each time.

Do you have some pictures of the boat’s keel and underwater profile?

[Spot]

Originally Posted by GILow

Do you have some pictures of the boat’s keel and underwater profile?

Page 2 has the sales brochure as a PDF file and it is under Luger Southwind 21 on sailboatdata.com. Here is a side view:

[Spot]

I started a 'sidebar' thread to address some damp framing repair issues:

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3653519

In retrospect I should have tackled this repair first but I 'did not know what I did not know' and am now better acquainted with the boat.

Hoping to complete the framing repair and have more days on the water this summer. I officially took time off work to join a flotilla of 17 boats for a week 'up north' so the clock is ticking...