Sqoop: a square-rigged sloop

Now that I’ve established she can sail adequately with just the genoa, now is as good a time as any to remove the mainsail and the boom.  I also was able to sell the radar to another boater who will make much better use of it than I; this uncluttered things further.  You can see in these Before-After pictures that she does look a bit stripped down now. BEFORE AFTER The mainsail and boom together weighed about 25 pounds and the radar transmitter dome also weighed about 25 pounds; they both were about 90 inches above the waterline.  The square sail will be hoisted 13 feet above the deck (230 inches above the waterline) on a yard-spar that will weigh about 20 pounds.  If you do the moment arm calculations, you’ll find that these offset one another almost exactly (at all angles of heel); one less thing to worry about! Now I have a spare halyard that can be used to hoist the square sail and a blank canvas to start adding to...running backstay, braces, cr...

With our social distancing directives, if I want to go sailing it needs to be done solo.  Single-handing a 26 foot sailboat is certainly doable, but being cautious, conservative and prepared are essential.  The big worry:  what happens if you fall overboard?  If the boat is trimmed up and sailing or motoring along, you may never get back aboard before hypothermia sets in. Por otro parte , since my design goal is to transform her into a square-rigged sloop that can be single-handed, the more I go out sailing alone, the more likely the design will evolve in that direction. Today was a perfect day for a conservative, cautious day of single-hand sailing; the weather was gorgeous which meant others would be out on the water, and the winds weren’t forecast to get above 15 knots. Looking south towards Mount Rainier I started sailing north towards Seward Park with just the genoa.  I had always assumed she was a leeward slug because of her shallow keel and ligh...

Just about everyone has heard of Martha Stewart, the high priestess of cooking, fashion and home decorating, but for those of you not raised during a Reagan presidency, let me explain:  MacGyver was the title character of a popular 1980’s TV series known for his improvisational ability to create just about anything out of paper clips, matches, duct tape and his Swiss Army knife. I am indebted to both Martha and MacGyver for my latest effort.  I needed to make a draft version of the crossjack (whisker pole) I’ll be using for the square sail so I can test out the range of motion to see how it interacts (or interferes) with the boat’s existing rigging.  I knew the length of the crossjack needed to be about  80-84” long and I happened to inherit a Martha Stewart antique bronze, three-piece adjustable curtain rod kit.  If you’ve ever installed one of these, you’ll know that two of the aluminum tubes are about one inch in diameter and then there’s a smaller diameter...

Yes, rule #1 is “ don’t be stupid ” and rule #2 is “if at anytime you are frustrated or impatient...stop, then refer to rule #1 ”.  Boy, I really wish I had followed the rules. The boat came with a 25 foot shore power cord, which seemed to work fine, but the male receptacle that plugs into the dock’s electrical outlet was covered by wrap upon wrap of electrical tape.  This usually means that something unpleasant lurks under all those layers of tape, so being a responsible boat owner, I investigated.  First, I checked the continuity of all they wires in the cable; all three showed zero ohms of resistance...great so far.  Next, I carefully cut away all the tape, ensuring I didn’t damage the underlying insulation and this is what I found: Well, the white clamp that holds the cable to the plug was kind of rusty, but it seemed secure...maybe there’s something in the plug itself that is defective?  Well, let’s take the clamp off then and see what we find. ...

Today I felt confident enough with the engine, rigging and sails to take her out for a short single-handed cruise.  To get to this point, I’ve been fixing a number of niggling annoyances that I’ve noted as I’ve gotten to know her.  The main halyard was binding and not traveling freely and I discovered that it and the jib halyard were crossed near the top of mast.  After lowering the foresail I was able to uncross the halyards and re-raise the genoa.  I also replaced the block at the base of the mast to reduce friction; this should allow me to raise the mainsail from the safety of the cockpit. The installation manual for the furling unit recommended 1/4” braided rope for the furling line.  Having this line break can cause chaos since the foresail will deploy whether you want it to or not.  Should this happen while you’re away from the boat with high winds, the foresail will unfurl and most likely tear itself to shreds, hopefully before your docklines or de...