Glen,
Glad to hear your news and view your industry
Welcome to your new son, and congratulations to all of you, especially your wife
I have finally caught on - the "ketches" you are speaking of are a kind of rig. I had thought it was the result of australian fishing expeditions ;-}
Great work on Lialeeta - you have been a busy and successful boy!
You have good answers already - my modest contribution is
. As you'll see from above, the winch servo and running rigging will be sited above the decks, not below as I had orginally envisioned. I've searched the forum but not really been enlightened on the subject of tackle for running rigging.
- I know I can buy working brass blocks, though they are pricey-ish. Are they worth it?
- Some people seem to use conduit tubing from garden watering systems and such - doesn't strike me as an above-deck solution...?
At this stage I am planning to use brass eyelets, screwed into the timber frames, to run the sheets around the deck. Does this sound workable? Other ideas?
The winch will drive one or more closed loops - these need to be turned round somewhere. The ideal is a working pulley, preferably in a scale-like material and construction. The minimum is a brass screw-eye with the loop cord running through it!
I wouldn't go for eyelets - they are sharp one side and will eventually fray the cord. Given the universality of Murphy's law guess where the boat will be at that moment
. (will it be upwind with a calm sea?)
I would (modestly) suggest that however you plan to finally run the running rigging; first use a working (simple) layout to get experience and iron out the challenges. If you are feeling very sensible making a jig out of scrap that mimics the full-size layout will add to your self-confidence.
I made a big brig rig jig to do this - it convinced me! (BTW I had a 1-turn winch which produces a travel of 4 inches (100mm))
Fwiw for Volante I am splitting the difference and making two pulleys using my kitchen-table methods and I expect them to pass muster for function and appearance.
I will sketch and post them later - alter materials, techniques to suit your stock bin and skill set
I realise I am assuming a closed loop from the winch drum with your sheets attached to the sides of the loop. It is possible (but not enormously easy to get different travels for various sheets) Much simpler to accept same travel on all sheets, and adjust the point of sheeting (esp on the booms) to work with that travel!
2. Water-proofing the hull at the deck join seems tricky. I've decided to run a bead of clear bathroom silicone around the join, then screw the deck down to the hull frames on top of the silicone. That should do the trick, right?
Yes, that will do the trick. as amdaylight says you will seldom have to go under the deck again - but this way you would be able to (at least in theory)
3. The hull is wooden planking, filled here and there with car-body filler. For the painting process I'm thinking:
- coat of fibreglass resin (I dunno...seems like a good idea for strength and water-proofing)
- couple of coats of primer
- 3 top coats of enamel spray paint
Good thinking, - nowt wrong with that, and the suggestion of dolloping resin on the inside is good, too. In any case after a sail you were planning to remove hatches and give her a good airing, werent you?
Keep up the great work, as and when; and keep us posted
andrew