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FORWARD BEAM
From: Tim Ball
I enclose some pictures of Jan's forward beam with the dolphin striker/pulpit
support removed. The membrane between the Stainless steel fitting and
the alloy beam had almost completely disintegrated. We are going to sleeve
the corroded areas with some of the original mast section used for the
beam with the luff grove removed. We are planning to put a piece 18 inches
long over the middle section and 12 inches long on both the outer areas.
They will be sprung over the existing beam and riveted in place.
The company Sail Spar who supplied all the rig and beams for all the Sailcraft
boats, now only have a 26 foot length of the beam section left in stock.
They only recently found this and we had tried samples of similar sections
which would have worked but would require a certain amount of clamping
and torture to get them to fit. This process has been done on several
boats over here in the UK and seems to work well.
I now have access to a digital camera and hope to send you some more
pictures soon. We are currently working on a major internal refit, and
also a new outboard bracket molded in GRP with a 'v' section to split
the waves.
HOW ARE YOUR SKEGS?
This photo of a skeg on Freedom was taken by Roger Wise, who was interested
in purchasing her before we did in late 1995. According to Randy Wagner,
the Iroquois’ skegs are not original parts, but an after-thought designed
to create stability when the craft is beached or grounded at low tide.
He recently removed his skegs and reports that Hummingbird actually turns
in a tighter radius. Randy Wagner, manateeb@home.com
OUTBOARD STEERING CONTROLS:
The above photo shows how cables attach to both of Freedom’s rudders
from our 9.9 Johnson outboard motor. It is a rather crude job that we
inhereted with the boat but it works. The idea is to turn the outboard
with the rudders to make steering in tight quarters easier. The cables
are spring loaded at both ends and clip to eyelets screwed into the
rudder midway between the tiller and the box. They can be disconnected
easily when the motor is raised and we are sailing. The plate they attach
to on the outboard housing has been welded in place. The trick here
is to make certain the cables are exactly the same in length and that
the motor is mounted exactly in the center of the bracket/box so that
when you are steering straight ahead the motor is straight ahead!
LEEBOARD REPAIRS:
This spring I discovered that my port leeboard had broken off at the waterline,
and the starboard leeboard had rotted away at the (missing) pivot pin.
I pulled them to scarf on some plywood and fix things up. Once the plywood
was repaired and faired, the faired areas were wetted out with epoxy,
then two layers of 6 oz. Cloth was applied over all surfaces. All edges
were then wrapped with Dylex cloth. This is very playable and shaped nicely
without wrinkles, it is also very abrasive resistant. One must be careful
in wetting it with epoxy to eliminate any entrapment of air bubbles.
I then used 120 grit sandpaper to prepare all surfaces for a couple
of coats of epoxy, applied with rollers. Bottom paint went on most of
the surface. Enamel was used on the upper portion (about a foot or so)
which is seen from the deck and above waterline. The hardware was reinstalled.
I am now trying to locate "shackles" to replace the nasty galvanized
ones to which the line for raising and lowering the board attaches.
First price was $25 each for stainless! As for the holes in the boards
through which the pivot pin passes: I am having stainless plates fabricated,
one for each side of the board, to reduce the chafe in this area. These
plates will be set in flush. Aluminum are on now as temporaries until
Fall. Stress fractures and breakage to the original plates requires
that they also be replaced (temporary ones are also in place now). Here
are comments and suggestions about the project solicited from friends
and interested sailors:
Removal/replacement suggestions -- Before removing, place masking tape
on the board at deck level as a marker for re-insertion accuracy. Some
owners report having a replacement pin made to go clear through hull.
Apparently the pin wears unevenly and becomes canted in its bushing
at times.
Removing the plate: The leeboard pin fits into a hole in the plate
and almost meets the far side of the slot when in place. The plate is
bedded in compound, and may require some prying and hammering get it
loose. I bedded it in silicone sealant last time but I am thinking of
using Sikkaflex this time. Mine failed one year apart about three/four
years ago. They broke off in heavy air along the slot exit line. Big
bang and lots of leeway. Ted Strain, MkII, 1970, Sail #112 emstrain@flexnet.com
http://www.boatshow.com Phone: 905 584 1236
On the idea of changing board size: This is not easy to answer. If
you reduce board size, the "helm" (read weather helm) will be reduced.
Rather than make shorter boards, try raising them a little. The load
on them drops dramatically. If you raise them by 10%, then the load
on them drops by about 25 percent. The load goes up when close hauled
and at the square of the speed. Another way to reduce the load is to
put the windward board down a little at high speed. So I guess you could
make the identical board, lower it less, but use both boards a little
so you had the same lateral resistance as before.
Check the edge of the trunk and be sure it is smooth. If the board
is "too narrow" then the edge of the trunk grinds away at the board.
The board and trunk need to be very close to each other in size. Also
check that the board stop has not worn and is not "over lowering the
board". If the board is wood, you can strengthen it A LOT by adding
glass and slightly changing its shape. A smart fabricator can do 4 times
the strengthening job of an amateur. Even aluminum weakens dramatically
when "notched" by the board trunk with time. I engineer for a living
and this is not a tough problem or a tough fabrication job.
Rob Morse; jmorse@jps.net
Rob Morse is not an Iroquois owner, but interested in them. JD
CROSSBAR REINFORCEMENT:
Just completed cross bar reinforcement (alum. forestay support between
forward part of hulls). Used mast type sleeve extrusions with stainless
Avedel (sleeved) rivets to minimize future electrolysis/corrosion. Believe
integrity has been restored to that high stress area. Most of these boats
have now incurred some degree of deterioration (often unseen) under gull
striker and forestay brackets/fittings. Best to check as this is an area
of high stress loads.
Jerry Lugert, Norwalk, CT
RUBRAILS:
I am in the process of prepping the rubrail area for a replacement. The
previous owner had put some type of soft wood (probably fir) on in place
of the original teak and had epoxied it! Not fun to remove! I am planning
to not replace the wood and fair in the edge sans toe rail. I can then
place a new 3" hard rubber rail along the old line of thru bolts. Any
thoughts on this idea? Roger, Catalyst RWise@aol.com
SOLAR ENERGY:
It is possible to use solar to keep your system charged. We live aboard
a 42' cat at a mooring. At present, we just about break even using 2 x
80 watt solar panels (in New England). We run electric refrigeration,
lights, radio, occasional TV etc.. This year I am adding 3 x 85 watt panels
to overkill the system on the generation side. The panels are mounted
flat with no provision for tilting towards the sun. Reasonable battery
capacity (we have 360 ampere-hours in the house bank), a good solar voltage
regulator and an efficient electrical system (well insulated fridge, fluorescent
lights etc.) are essential. The batteries should last much longer because
they are not cycled as deeply. Solar is ideal for multihulls because of
the large available deck space for mounting. We have space for 4 x 85
watt panels on our 5' x 9' hardtop alone. Solar is also silent and requires
almost zero maintenance. Tom Kintz, multihul@pcix.com
SHADE CLOTH:
For marine-grade shade cloth which will let a limited amount of light
through and also air try Phifertex. Try SailRite at www.sailrite.com.
It is a mesh material that comes in many colors. It is not listed on Sailrite's
website, so you will have to ask about it.
BOW ROLLERS:
I would like any info you might have on the original Iroquois bow rollers.
I saw the ones on your boat and they are beautiful. Is it possible to
still locate these? Also, I want to install genoa lead tracks on the cabintop.
Any ideas as to length and positioning? Roger
RUDDERS & STEERING:
We made the casings out of aluminum; were able to save one blade and use
it to shape the second out of mahogany; we have eliminated the tillers
in favor of wheel steering, we cut slots in the transom to allow tiller
arms to extend about 8-10 inches into the lazarette, these are attached
to Morse flexible control cables normally used on outboard motors, we
fabricated a steering console to fit over the aft cabin window at the
nav station, the Morse steering head connects to the 2 cables in this
console, the cables run to starboard and aft through the berth where they
separate; we are still in the tuning process and are currently fabricating
adjustable drag links to better control the toe-in toe-out of the rudders.
-- Roger
BIMINI:
As for the bimini, we are still working out the design, we would like
to be able to lay it down in nice weather, but the dimensions of the frame
that came with the boat make this nearly impossible. We have thought about
a semi-permanent frame, but have yet to work out the geometry to accommodate
the mainsheet and traveler. -- Roger
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