Well, It's been awhile since I last visited these pages so I figure its time for an update on the bit of progress that's been made. We launched the boat on July 1st and took a day or so to get things rigged up and resting normally at her birth at Cribbon's Point Marina, in Antigonish NS.
I had a few wiring issues to attend to concerning the mast lights, ei, I wanted to redo the connections between the boat and the mast to make them easier to connect and disconnect every time we launch or pull the boat, as the mast has to go up or come down to facilitate transport. As well, I still had the solar panels and charge controller to install as well as the Sailrite "stack-pack" left to finish and install.
The Solar Panels:
I decided, after installing the dingy davits, that the single heavy 235 watt solar panel that I was going to install on the top of the davits was just to big and cumbersome. I ordered a couple of 100 watt flexible solar panels online and am in the process of installing one on the bimini and one on the dodger. We are attaching the panels to the bimini and dodger fabric with velcro glued and sewn to the panels and sewn to the fabric. The wiring though straight forward, is time consuming and I never seem to have the right connectors or the proper gauge of marine wire, or the deck connectors. There's a bit of work to this but I should have it up and running in a few more days.
The "Stack-Pac"
We ordered a stack pack kit from Sailrite back in the winter. The Sailrite kit is very complete and includes the sunbrella fabric, the thread, the hardware and very good instructions (video and written). To date, we have only had time to cut it out and sew some of the hems and are now ready to sew on the zippers. We have the hardware for a "lazy-jack" system we plan to incorporate with the sail pack. We are probably only about 25% through this project, though we vow to put a drive on in the very near future.
The Davits
The davit frames were installed before the boat got launched so we were eager to try them out and do some fine tuning. A few weekend ago, we did an overnight trip to Merigomish Harbour with 2 friend boats, Teaser (Peter and Sharon Whitmee) and Akachew (Wayne and Catherine Burk). Outgoing, the dingy, a 10' Rib with a 9.8 HP (240 lbs), was swinging around a bit as we sailed through the chop on our way to Arisaig the 1st night. In Arisaig, I retied the diagonal braces a bit better and that seemed to quiet things down somewhat. When we got to our destination, I lowered the dingy for a spin around the harbour, mostly to check out the anchorage at Blackhull Gut. Next day when it was time to raise the dingy we did a lot better job of securing things and the whole setup worked up to our expectations. I installed some extra cleats and am in the process of having some SS wire slings and straps made to facilitate a more speedy lift and launch. Overall, we're very happy with the way the davits and the dingy work together. Moxie is happier carrying the dingy then dragging it, and sails along with a more speed and less effort.
I had a few wiring issues to attend to concerning the mast lights, ei, I wanted to redo the connections between the boat and the mast to make them easier to connect and disconnect every time we launch or pull the boat, as the mast has to go up or come down to facilitate transport. As well, I still had the solar panels and charge controller to install as well as the Sailrite "stack-pack" left to finish and install.
The Solar Panels:
I decided, after installing the dingy davits, that the single heavy 235 watt solar panel that I was going to install on the top of the davits was just to big and cumbersome. I ordered a couple of 100 watt flexible solar panels online and am in the process of installing one on the bimini and one on the dodger. We are attaching the panels to the bimini and dodger fabric with velcro glued and sewn to the panels and sewn to the fabric. The wiring though straight forward, is time consuming and I never seem to have the right connectors or the proper gauge of marine wire, or the deck connectors. There's a bit of work to this but I should have it up and running in a few more days.
The "Stack-Pac"
We ordered a stack pack kit from Sailrite back in the winter. The Sailrite kit is very complete and includes the sunbrella fabric, the thread, the hardware and very good instructions (video and written). To date, we have only had time to cut it out and sew some of the hems and are now ready to sew on the zippers. We have the hardware for a "lazy-jack" system we plan to incorporate with the sail pack. We are probably only about 25% through this project, though we vow to put a drive on in the very near future.
The Davits
The davit frames were installed before the boat got launched so we were eager to try them out and do some fine tuning. A few weekend ago, we did an overnight trip to Merigomish Harbour with 2 friend boats, Teaser (Peter and Sharon Whitmee) and Akachew (Wayne and Catherine Burk). Outgoing, the dingy, a 10' Rib with a 9.8 HP (240 lbs), was swinging around a bit as we sailed through the chop on our way to Arisaig the 1st night. In Arisaig, I retied the diagonal braces a bit better and that seemed to quiet things down somewhat. When we got to our destination, I lowered the dingy for a spin around the harbour, mostly to check out the anchorage at Blackhull Gut. Next day when it was time to raise the dingy we did a lot better job of securing things and the whole setup worked up to our expectations. I installed some extra cleats and am in the process of having some SS wire slings and straps made to facilitate a more speedy lift and launch. Overall, we're very happy with the way the davits and the dingy work together. Moxie is happier carrying the dingy then dragging it, and sails along with a more speed and less effort.
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