It All Adds Up!

It always amazing to me just how the combined weights of the little things add up! It was about a year ago that I last weighed all the individual components as they were then. Weighing them again now I'm finding that much like many of us as we celebrate Christmas, they've all put on weight! The completely rigged Shan Skailyn is 35.9 kgs heavier than what Gary Dierking specifies in his book. I'm not sure how I feel about that. As I ask where the weight comes from, it's not peanut butter truffles and candy canes, though that may be what did it to me. A great deal of it comes from the accumulated weight of contingencies and other little accoutrements deemed necessary, along with the fact that many of those were made from the only kinds of wood available to me, the heavier, more dense stuff. Wherever I could, I went with the lightest material I could find. But I think now I'm seeing just how much all that adds up. And of course those stainless steel crossbeam hinges didn't help, though the additional weight is a small expense to pay for the added benefit. Over time, as I find the urge to replace certain parts, I'll definitely be doing what I can to get materials that are lighter weight. I can see remaking the leeboard, stub mast, and maybe even ditching the steering oar (or remaking it if I find myself using it enough. And then there are some little pieces that would be easy enough to remake using lighter material with little consequence to my time. For now, for me, it matters not. I'm super pleased with my boat and can't wait to get it out and sail it! Just a couple months till the maiden voyage!

Fore hull section 23.0 kgs (50.7 lbs)
Mid hull section 23.7 kgs (52.2 lbs)
Aft hull section 23.5 kgs (51.8 lbs)
Aft iako 9.8 kgs (21.6 lbs)
Fore iako 9.8 kgs (21.6 lbs)
Ama 14.2 kgs (31.3 lbs)
Sail + spars + rigging 15.0 kgs (33.0 lbs)
Stub mast 5.5 kgs (12.1 lbs)
Steering oar 3.6 kgs (7.9 lbs)
Rudder + tiller + hardware 3.6 kgs (7.9 lbs)
Leeboard + hardware 6.5 kgs (14.3 lbs)
Motor mount 3.0 kgs (6.6 lbs)
2 seats + support pola 7.5 kgs (16.5 lbs)
2 seats + support pola 7 kgs (15.4 lbs)
2 small polas 5.2 kgs (11.5 lbs)
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TOTAL WEIGHT (fully rigged) 160.9 kgs (354.7 lbs)

I'm not sure how Shan Skailyn's weight holds up to others' builds. Anyone care to comment? What kinds of total rigged weights are we seeing out there?

Dig the Rig

As I've looked around online (when I'm out in town obviously) I've struggled to find good details of different folks' reefing solutions. So here is my potentially lame attempt to put it all together. Not that Shan Skailyn's rig is the best example or anything. But wherever it fits on the scale of good-bad, here are pictures of the details. I would just post all the pix separate, but our limited email system cannot handle that many attachments. So I'm combining in one larger picture. You'll have to forgive my possible skewing of terminology. In many cases I'm just being descriptive without actually knowing what everything is called.

Behold the Fold

This weekend was the first time I've been able to assemble Shan Skailyn since I installed its hefty iako hinges some time ago. Works like a charm! That'll come in super handy.

Thought I'd throw in a picture of my 'land crew'; youngsters from the area who were all too pleased to help with the assembly process. Note the reefed sail. I've got the sail and rigging completely done now. The whole thing can be reefed in just a few minutes with relative ease. Same for the reverse.

This composite photo is my attempt to overcome the difficulties of sending pictures over email. Our HF radio system doesn't handle multiple pictures well. So maybe it'll handle this better.

Reefy Reeferson!

I'm feeling pretty stoked after the work I was able to get done yesterday (sat). Finally managed to get the sail to a point where it can be reefed out on the water! The solution was in the use of parrel beads at key points as well as the installation of a sheave for a clew outhaul. Altogether I can now reef with the entire rig remaining upright. Still takes a little finessing, but it does work. I think I'll throw in a couple more parrels add some ease to the procedure and call it good. As it stands right now, I have to release clew outhaul, release the halyard (for the head of the sail... what's that called anyway?), take up the weight of the boom and 'jiggle' the sail down the mast, which takes a few minutes to get all the mast hoops to work down and over the bamboo joints. Once that's done, I can attach the reefing hook at the tack, which is actually just a stainless carabiner, tighten up the reefing line that pulls the new clew down into place, and tighten up the main clew. Then just tie up the cringles or whatever those little rope thingies are supposed to be called, and we're good to go. Probably sounds more complicated than it needs to be, but I figure for a setup using more traditional materials it's probably about as good as it's gonna get. I'm quite pleased with it. Though it has yet to be tested in a real situation.

Just FYI, this system reefs 25" of the foot of the sail, which is very nearly, if not a perfect, 1/3 of the total sail area, or about 27.7 square feet.

One thing I've noticed is that finding good pictures of all the details of a system's rigging have been hard to find (when I actually have access to internet in town, that is). If I can scrounge up the time, I'm hoping to put together some pictures of details of the rigging.

Reefing Conundrum

My focus this weekend was on getting a good start on modifying the boom and sail so that I can reef the thing. I ran into problems with my original reefing plan, where the luff edge did not want to slide down the bamboo mast. Adding to the complications is the attachment of a halyard about 1/3 of the way up the mast, past which one of the mast hoops has to go down. I've since come to realize there are a few key points that keep this sail from lowering. One is the brailing line attachment point up on the luff spar. The pulley is integrated into the mast hoop via a quick eye in the rope. The pull of the weight of the boom is just enough to make for a lot of friction as the hoop tries to pass over the joint in the bamboo (BTW the joint is called 'gwudukngu' here in the Mibu language. Same word is used for elbow. Bamboo is called 'kekngu', the bamboo joint is called 'kekngu gwudukngu'.) OK, back from our rabbit trail. The other biggie is the clew attachment. Right now the clew is attached via static connection. Because of the angles in the sail, when the luff is lowered down the mast, the clew needs to pull in toward the mast. So I had to modify the end of the boom to incorporate a sheave. Now I have a clew outhaul... well almost. I wasn't able to get it completely done. When I am done though, I'll uncleat the clew outhaul, let it loose a bit, then lower the sail to its reefing points and tighten up the clew again. Note in the picture that I've simply added an extension on to my original bamboo plug into which I was able to make a slot for the sheave. I tenoned the new piece into the original, then drilled out and doweled through the whole thing, locking it into place for what I hope will be a really strong joint.

Because of the other friction problems, I've decided that a few spots need parrels. I looked high and low when I was in town last and could not find any suitable beads for the job. So I made my own out of some very dense, strong wood called 'kwila' which from what I understand is ironwood. So far, it looks like parrel beads at the head, the clew, and at the brailing line attachment point on the luff, will all serve their purpose well. Hoping I don't need any more than that to make it work.

I stewed and stewed about just how to go about making these parrel beads. Then it hit me! A small hole saw in the end grain of a piece of timber, then cross cut with the table saw. Then thread each one on a long bolt and work the things into shape with the orbital sander. Worked out pretty nice. I used similar methods to make my sheave as well.

No, I'm not into some kind of all natural funk or anything like that. Remember, I live in the middle of the jungle. No home depot, no Lowe's, no nothing. I would just order whatever I find lacking next time I'm out in town, except since it usually takes several months for me to get things I've ordered, and since the maiden voyage is coming up soon, in March, I have to make do with what I have. The added benefit is that I'm saving money this way too. Those parrel beads are expensive to buy online!

Will post pix of the finished assembly when everything is finished, which by the looks of it, may be a couple weeks. Got a lot going on that is limiting time spent on extracurricular activities.

Anchoring the Anchor

Wouldn't it be nice if I had internet access and could just include all the pictures and their descriptions in just one nice post? One can only dream. But as it is, I'll try to find contentment in posting all this over my limited HF radio connection.

So, the anchor. Yeah, really interesting right? As such I'll keep it short. I bought an anchor when I was out in town last. I didn't like the idea of the thing sliding around and not having a place of it's own in the boat; something solid would be needed that would keep it from falling out in the event of a capsize, or otherwise banging around making a bunch of racket, or worse, doing damage to the plywood hull. So I whipped up this little contraption which seems like it'll work out nicely. It keeps the anchor nicely stowed, out of the way, where the stub mast is stepped, under the seat there. The bottom end of the anchor, where the chain attaches, is held in place by a rare earth magnet, extracted from an old hard drive. I use those magnets for tons of things! Glad I found a spot for one on Shan Skailyn.

Railyn On Skailyn

Last Saturday I worked on some lashing rails. They're meant to be mounted on the inside of the gunwale in the fore and aft sections of Shan Skailyn. The idea is to have some handy spots to lash and tie things to. They're all done now, though unfortunately, I've come to realize I don't have any proper size screws to mount them! I just ordered some and thankfully the helicopter is scheduled to bring some food in to us (remember, we live in the middle of the jungle here) in just a couple weeks, so I won't have to wait too long.

In front of the rails in the picture, are two odd looking pieces I made up as a way to mount my anchor, which I bought a couple months ago when we were out in town last. More on that in the next post. Gonna have to catch you up on a series of smaller details in the next few posts.