Mast and Boom Assembly

Here are some pictures of Shan Skailyn's stub mast and luff spar all assembled last weekend. As you can see, I still have some loose ends to tie up. Some of it depends on whatever reefing system I settle on. My original plan to reef by lowering the sail has proven to be problematic. Not impossible, just requiring more gear than I have at the moment.

Note the two cleats on either side of the stub mast. The one on the right in the picture is for the halyard, so I can quickly release in case things feel out of control (necessary for this unexperienced wanna-be sailor). The other cleat is for the rope that keeps the luff spar tensioned in it's universal joint.

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Stub mast retainer

(Gonna try to post this again. Yesterday's post got screwed up by our funky email system)

Slowly putting together pictures of little tidbits I've done on Shan Skailyn here and there.

This is the mechanism I made to keep the stub mast in place in case of capsize. It's just a little stainless steel tongue. Only way to remove the stub mast is by depressing the tongue prior to sliding out of the step. The other picture is the deck level mast steps. One for the stub mast (with leather collar just to keep the mast from knocking around) and below it, the universal joint (where the luff spar will sit). Everything seems to fit and hold really well.

Keep on priming

Just another weekend of applying primer coat after primer coat after primer coat. You forget how much work painting is! Painting, anxiously waiting and checking for it to dry, then sanding, and going through the whole process again... and again.
As of now, I've got 4 good coats of primer on the aft section of the hull with only 3 so far on the fore and mid sections. I'm debating whether or not 3 coats of primer is enough. First off, I'm tired of applying the stuff. Second, 3 heavy coats seems like it might just be enough. Especially considering that I've got at least 2 gloss top coat that will be going on later. BUT since this is just lowly acrylic house paint, I do want to make sure I'm applying the necessary amount to hold up a good long time. Is three coats of primer and 2 coats of gloss top coat enough for a boat that will always be out of the water when not in use?

Small Details

Here are the pix of the leeboard brackets. Note the plural. And note the fact that these are not per Gary's book. In talking with Gary over email he recommended trying a mere timber stiffener rather than the bracket he shows plans for in his book. The timber stiffener starts at the gunwale and goes all the way down to the chine. Each piece is glued and screwed with 8 screws. It was simpler and made lots of sense. I also wanted the option to shift the CLR of the hull a bit as I gain a feel for how Shan Skailyn tacks. So Gary also recommended putting two leeboard locations about 300mm apart. With the swing of the leeboard, there's actually quite a bit of shifting of the CLR that can now happen. You might notice that above each bolt hole I plugged another hole. I was over eager to drill! I decided later (again, due to Gary's recommendations) that the leeboard needed to be a few inches lower. Easy fix.
Then in the other picture you'll see the finished mast step. Nothing fancy there. Just a single piece of wood with a square cutout to fit the base of the stub mast. The really nasty dark stuff on the inside of the hull with the mast step is much worse than it looks. Just a result of doctoring up an overly dark photo. The stub mast is another thing that's been slowly coming along. Nothing worth taking pictures of yet. Actually I wish I'd taken a picture of the original piece of timber for before and after comparison pix. Oh well. Er, wait a minute, I think I did some time ago.

Beginnings of iakos and ama

Lots of little details that need working on lately. Most of my efforts last weekend went into the ama and the iakos. Along with those, I've also been working on the solid wood stub mast as well as it's mast step (the step with the square hole). Next to that you'll see the mast step for the luff spar (the step with the round dish carved into it. Saw the idea for that one mentioned somewhere by Gary on his website. This seems like a reasonably simple way to make a universal joint for the luff spar when you don't have access to windsurfing supplies. The base of the spar, which will have a rope passing through it, will sit in the cup, with the rope passing through that. With the rope pulled and fastened tightly on the other end, it will provide a great universal joint. And it should be easy and quick to drop the sail if needed. Just loosen the halyard and the rope passing through this mast step and the whole thing comes down.
Should be ready to finish gluing up the ama and the second iako this weekend sometime.