I lost track of my original cagoule, so I recently re-created a pattern and sewed up two new cagoules. The first was a bit tight over my knees when I sat down with it on, so I added to the girth and the second cagoule measured up to the pleasant memories of the original. Sitting out in the weather, I can be quite comfortable. Wearing just a light pile pullover over a T-shirt —what I wear in the house—and a knit cap prevents cold spots where the shoulders and the hood make close contact with the cagoule. With the hood opening drawn tight around my face and my hands pulled in, it can be 20 to 30 degrees warmer inside the cagoule than outside. On one 37-degree night I measured 67 degrees inside the cagoule.
Rolling a hull of this size is usually an operation that requires a small army of helpers. Working with the gantry cranes doesn’t require so many people; it goes fastest with four winch operators, each on a safely secured ladder, and a couple of additional helpers on the ground to assist when needed. The cranes rotate the hull in place, keeping it from rolling and traveling across the floor—a benefit for working in a small space.
A few years ago, I had added some small pieces of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) across the centerline of one of the trailers plywood decks to reduce the friction of bare wood. I was pleased with how much easier it made launching and retrieving my 14′ Whitehall, so when I modified that trailer with a longer tongue for my 19’ Caledonia yawl, I decided to replace the carpet-padding on the bunks with StarBoard by King Plastics, a slippery marine-grade HDPE. I bought 3/8″ StarBoard for the two bunks, stiff enough to keep its shape and thick enough to accommodate countersinks for screws. The material is easily worked with common shop tools. I quickly rounded the corners with a router and drilled holes with Fuller bits and Forstner bits. I used galvanized screws to secure the StarBoard to the 2×6 bunks. The HDPE was more than solid enough to keep the screw heads from pushing past the countersinks.
One of the first things that my father-in-law taught me was how to make the end of a line shipshape by applying a whipping. The method that he taught me is known as the “common whipping,” multiple turns of whipping twine with its ends pulled underneath the turns. The common whipping is quick and easy but prone to slipping off the end of the line and will come completely apart if any part of it is cut or chafed. Two other options—the Admiralty whipping and the West Country whipping—are more secure, nearly as easy to execute, and don’t require a needle.
When I made a new set of long-reach clamps, I used the cam idea but did away with the metal straps and used a single length of cord instead. I didn’t bother with the semi-circular notch for the cam that’s cut into the jaw; it’s the fussiest part of making Brenne clamp. I went through a few iterations of the new design, with each less complicated than the one that preceded it and, as is often the case, the simplest solution was the best solution.
Sometimes there are not enough hands to hold the main, steer the boat, and do something else; sometimes you just get tired and it’s a relief to have a cleat to hold the sheet. Dinghy racers are well familiar with this, and for many years have used various forms of quick-release jam and cam cleats. But sailors who haven’t grown up with them may not be fast enough to free the sheet, and so sometimes wind up taking a swim.
Tie-down straps with cam buckles are very tidy devices for holding kayaks and canoes securely on roof racks, as well as a host of other applications, but they’re not so tidy when they’re piled in the back of the car waiting to be used. The 1” webbing common to most straps doesn’t take as well to a loose coil as rope does, and winding them in a tight coil around the buckle requires something to keep them from coming undone. A better way to coil straps comes from the days when computers stored data on punched paper tape. Russ, a former Army intelligence officer turned kayaker, coiled tie-down straps the same way he had coiled paper tape by wrapping it in figure-8 turns around his extended thumb and pinky finger. The figure-8s have the advantage of alternating twists, so when the coil is undone, the webbing isn’t tangled up on itself.
should have known better. The slough where I dropped anchor for the night was among the many tidal backwaters of the Snohomish River near Everett, Washington. The sloughs were littered with waterlogged driftwood, some of it exposed at low tide, the rest permanently submerged. I dropped my expensive stainless-steel anchor for the night and in . . .
Bringing the pressure up to 40 psi is sufficient to propel the remaining 4 gallons of water out of the tank. The nozzle I have on the hose will shoot 30’ and, when wide open, empty the tank in 1-½ minutes. I can always carry extra fresh water in the car if I need to reload the tank.
Spring is our time to recommission our fleet of four trailers, so I recently made the rounds to check the condition of lights, tires, axles, and bearings. I found that the grease in the bearings of one of our trailers had a milky brown appearance, rather than the clear, thick motor-oil appearance that it normally has. The light color was an indication that water had found its way into the grease. Grease that has been overheated by friction-generated heat will be darker than new grease. With this trailer, it’s likely that the seals had failed and the bearing needed to be removed, cleaned, and inspected. The cleaned bearings or their replacements then get repacked with grease and reinstalled with new seals.
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