An Ounce of Prevention...

We're coming into the final phase of outfitting and preparation.  Our goal is to cast off no later than the end of March 2015.  Cheri retires December 31, 2014 and at this point has something like 150 days to go.  I'm going to keep working until the end of February, maybe into March.  It sounds like a long way off but the time is flying by and we still have a ton of stuff to do.

We're making lists.  This is not something I normally do but with so many projects going on we'd end up forgetting half of them.  We're concentrating on the smaller projects for now and leaving the pricey ones until later.  Right now the list has 20 current projects and 15 new ones.  The new ones include the single side-band radio (SSB), life raft and it's installation, water maker and a few others that we just won't be able to complete until after the first of the year.  The current projects include finishing the Monitor wind vane, building storage for the cockpit lockers and some cabinets for the aft cabin, varnishing the toe rail and some other stuff that we can knock off now with low out-of-pocket expense.

Last weekend I installed a new 110VAC outlet at the head of our bunk.  Cheri's been asking for that for about five years now so I thought that one should be at the top of the list.  Like everything else, that turned out to be an all day job.  Most of the work was under the bunk beneath two levels of storage.  By the time I got everything emptied out the boat looked like our old storage locker with stuff piled everywhere.  It took as much time to move stuff around as it did to run the wire and put in the new outlet.  Life on a boat.

My big project for this past weekend was to install a preventer for the boom.  When we depart next year the places we want to go will have us running before the wind (trade winds) for much of the time.  When you run before the wind the boom is pulled out to one side or the other to catch the wind.  In light winds the mainsail tends to flop around if there's any kind of wave action.  We'll most likely be running with the waves too so the boats motion will be rolley-poley and that boom will want to go all over the place.  If the boom swings too far aft the wind can catch the sail from the opposite side and force it all the way over to the other side of the boat.  This is called a gybe and when uncontrolled can be dangerous for the crew and possibly damage the boat.  A preventer attaches to the boom and gets run forward and tied down to keep it under pressure and stop any movement.  We have a line that we use for this now but it requires that you go up on deck to attach it or to make any adjustments.  It attaches to a point about halfway out the length of the boom and I've found that this can be a bad thing.  There can be tremendous pressure exerted on this preventer as the boat moves around.  Not only that, our mainsail is "loose-footed" and attaches at the mast and the end of the boom but not along the length of the boom.  As the sail flops around it puts pressure on the attachment points.  If the boom is "prevented" half way out it can cause the boom to snap in half.  This could very possibly ruin your day.  To "prevent" this I've come up with a better plan.  Actually I copied it from another guy's boat.

What I plan to do is attach our preventer about 6" in from the end of the boom.  I want a permanent set-up so we'll have a preventer attached on each side of the boom to use depending on which side the boom goes out to, port or starboard.  The preventer will be in two parts for each side of the boat.  Section "A" will be permanently mounted on the sides of the boom.  It'll attach to eye nuts at the back end and pull forward to a cleat at the front of the boom and store there when not in use.  Along each toe rail will be the other half of the preventer, section "B".  One end will have a snap shackle spliced into it which will attach to the eye at the end of section "A".  When not in use the snap shackle will attach to a storage ring on one of the life-line stanchions.  Section "B" runs through a block attached to the toe rail forward of the shrouds, up towards the bow.  From there it runs aft to a rope clutch, then into a turning block and up to a winch in the cockpit.

Sounds confusing but it'll work like this.....

• the boat comes to a new course to run before the wind and we adjust the main sheet to allow the boom to extend out over the starboard side (or the port side, depending on the winds direction).
• one of us will go up on deck and remove section "A" from the cleat on the boom and attach it to the snap shackle on section "B".
• back in the cockpit we'll take the other end of "B" and wrap it around the winch and snug it up to pull the boom forward and put it under tension.
• once the line is adjusted we'll close the line clutch to lock down the line and we'll be able to remove it from the winch so that can be used for other jobs.

There may be times when we'll sail for days without changing course and all adjustments can be made to the mainsail from the cockpit as needed.  This is absolutely gonna be the cat's meow.

So, the weekend went by and despite being pulled off-track by other "necessities" I managed to get started on the preventer.  Earlier in the week I had ordered the parts I needed on-line.  The eye nuts are available in polished form for $40 from Wichard but I opted to get rough castings from McMaster-Carr for $7.  Didn't have to think that one over for very long.  I also got a good price on the snap shackles and 6" cleats from another on-line source and all my parts arrived by Friday.  I made measurements for the line I'd need and had them made up at the West Marine in Annapolis.  Section "A" is 25' long and has an eye in each end.  One side is reinforced with a metal eye to reduce abrasion and is formed on the ring of the eye nut.  Section "B" is 50', has an eye formed on the ring of the snap shackle and the other end is left plain.  All ends are whipped.  I used 7/16" Sta-Set double-braid for both sections, two each since a duplicate preventer will be  mounted on each side of the boom.

With all my parts on hand I pulled the boom out over the finger pier and lashed it down to keep it from moving around.  I pulled the end cap off the boom and chose a spot to drill based on the flattest location with the fewest extrusions.  The holes I drilled are almost 6" in from the end and slightly more than half way up the side of the boom.  The end-profile of my boom is kinda square on the top half and tapered on the bottom so I chose a part that has parallel sides.  I ran the 3/8"-16 all thread through the holes and placed nuts, lock-washer and flat washers on each inside surface.  This is going to be a pressure point on the boom and I wanted to make sure there would be no flexing.  The all thread extends out each side enough to mount a lock washer and the eye nut.  Where it extends through the inside of the boom I plan to cover the threads with a section of 3/8" hose to prevent any chafing of the out haul line.  I don't think it'll ever come in contact with it but I'm doing it just in case.  Next weekend I'll mount the cleats on the forward part of the boom to complete section "A".

Section "B" will require a little more work.   I'll have to mount padeyes on the toe rail to hold the turning blocks.  I could hang them off the rings at the bottom of the stanchions but I'm not sure how bullet-proof those are.  Be a bummer to have one blow out while you're running before 20 knots of wind in 10' seas.  The padeyes and the line clutches will need backing plates and those will be mounted from the inside of the boat so this job will require two people.  I plan to fabricate the backing plates during the week and hopefully find enough time to complete this project the following weekend.

I'll make an effort to get some installation pictures and do another update next week.

One more thing.....our vegetable garden is awesome!  The tomatoes are incredibly delicious.  We planted two kinds, little cherry ones (sweet!) for salads and big heirloom ones (so much flavor!) for sandwiches.  We also had cucumbers and zucchini.  The zuchs were made into bread and Cheri came up with a recipe that includes curry and ginger.  Out of this world!  We also planted enough herbs to keep us going for a year.  We had a ton of mint for Mojitos!  This will be the last garden we do for a while and it's been a total success.  Lotsa fun.  Many thanks to Herrington Harbour North marina for letting us play in their dirt.