Sailors

Feel free to steal this, I did.

Repowering calculation...

TIH is a few years away from re powering at the moment. The correct engine size for a Whitby 42, however, is currently being discussed on the Whitby owners group.

This link is to an interesting spreadsheet which is worth downloading if choosing a suitable replacement engine. Please note the posters comments of the veracity, or otherwise, of the spreadsheet and you should check all calculations from another source.

The maximum hull speed for the W42 is 7.67kts. (Hull Speed = 1.34 * (LWL)^1/2).

As usual there is no correct answer (but a few incorrect ones) about engine size, 55HP would appear to be on the lower end of the scale with 90HP on the upper end. What is interesting is the jump between 70HP and 90HP only gives you .25kt extra, in heavy seas.

ALL OPINIONS WELCOME!!!

The Flu, work and Miami Boat Show....

I look forward to the Miami Boat Show every year. It is quite an impressive collection of boats and boat stuff and you can't beat the location. I can even find some amusement in the power boat section at the Convention center. What I really like are the small producers/exhibitors who produce actual solutions to actual boat problems. Naturally this was the perfect time to come down with the worst bout of flu that I have experienced for many years.

Despite my stuffy head and cough I managed to squander $2K on new ports from New Found Metals and a holding tank monitor from Sailor's Solutions.

Support and advice from the designer of a 31YO boat...

I recently received a very pleasant e-mail from the Whitby 42 designer, Ted Brewer. Copies of his plans of the boat are available for a modest fee and with that he is prepared to include reasonable advice and consultation. Pretty impressive.

I'm off to the Miami Boat Show on Sunday and and I doubt if most of the boats I visit there (all of which are outside my price range) will be sailing in 30 years, let alone getting support from their designers.

With the design and construction quality of many of the production sailboats now on the market I wonder what boats will be out there in 20years time that are worth rebuilding?

The KISS principle....

Nigel Calder is one of my boating hero's. He is currently building a Malo 46 with lots of the state of the art stuff. In the long term this will pay great dividends for the sailing community, however, this is a comment from his blog;

"They began building the boat in November (2007). It’s already proving to be considerably more stressful than I, or they, anticipated, and in fact Hans Leander, their designer (who is fantastic) remarked in Week 1 that “if we had had any idea what we were getting into, we would have refused to build this boat!” I’ve been feeling a bit the same way: we are uncomfortably close to the bleeding edge, rather than the leading edge, of new technology."

Check out his blog

For the rest of us I believe the KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) principle should govern our boat renovation actions.

Bronze V. MARELON®

and new stuff V. old stuff. RJ over on the Westsail 42 rebuild had opted for MARELON® thru hulls. This certainly seem the way to go as they have been around for some time and meet all Certifications etc. They are appearing in more and more boats. I have no logical disagreement with this technology, its just that when it comes to basic boat stuff I'm old fashioned. I love the heft of bronze and its been around since .... the "Bronze Age".


I may change my mind a few years into the "Marelon Age".


A larger discussion is the choice between the old style stuffing box and the PSS Dripless Shaft Seal. I come down firmly on the side of the old style stuffing box, especially for cruising sailboats.

Fun with the power washer.....

Men would do a lot more work in the home if housework involved the use of a power washer....


The after cabin has been cleaned prior to painting. Now I just have to vacuum up the paint chips.


This is the Stbd. Aft. Mizzen chainplate. The chainplate access on the Whitby 42 is excellent.