WISDOM FROM CROWN ROYAL

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Soon it will be time to put the mast back on the boat. How do you adjust the tension?

I have no shares in any company that makes a Tension Gauge. Contrary to popular thought, a slack rig is more punishing on a hull than a properly adjusted, tight rig. Insufficient tension will not reduce the loads transmitted to the hull. Slack rigging will punish the spar and rigging needlessly by allowing excessive movement, chafe and shock loading.

A properly adjusted, tight rig should not damage fiberglass hulls. On the other hand overly tight rigging will cause hull or spar damage. In order to extend the life of your boat and equipment, I would recommend that you purchase one of the gauges on the market. It is a small investment for the safety and extended life of your boat.

Just in case you are a Viking 28 owner who has just dropped off the moon, this is a problem that occurs in the deck lamination on the V 28 (and many others with balsa cores). A wood material was used in a fiberglass sandwich. If it is exposed to water over a protracted period, this material will rot and leave a void weakening the structure of your boat.

I have found a small area in Crown Royal. My method of repair is as follows. I take a rotor and cut small holes from the inside to explore. You don’t even have to look, as you will feel sawdust hitting you in the face until you hit the rot. Then you are hit with water and wet pulpy wood or brown sludge.

I then cut the hole bigger and bigger until I am back to good material. For larger areas it is possible to poke out the rotten material from between the fibreglass sandwich. Use a bent wire coat hanger or other improvised tool until you reach dry wood all around the hole. I then feather the edges with a grinder and then sand the paint back another 3-4 inches. Fill the sandwich with resin and mineral filler. Then build the area up with fiberglass and resin. The last layer should overlap the good material by at least 3 inches. Grind and sand smooth and the paint. Your outside deck surface has not been touched but will no longer feel spongy.

The best solution to this problem is prevention. Make this a project to have done this year. Whenever you drill a hole in the deck, drill it twice the size you need. The tape the inside and fill with resin. The drill the correct size hole through the resin and the core will remain sealed. Make sure you use a large, oversized washer as a backer. You should start with the stanchions and pulpits as they are underwater quite a bit and heaven help you if you ever get rot in there.

Another job I am involved in is replacing the bushings on my rudderpost. If you have noticed play or wobble in the tiller then you should look at this. It is a simple job to remove the rudder, just knock out the pin and drop the rudder. Watch-out, it is very heavy! You may have to dig a small hole in the ground to get the rudder clear. Then pull the upper and lower bushings and replace. You may need the help of a broom stale to push the bushings out if they are tight. Contact me if you need a source of bushings.

I am replacing the mast step on Crown Royal as the deck has started to flatten out and the oak that I put in about four years ago is starting to crack. I have ripped out all of the old support and jacked the deck back into place. I am going to replace the centre of the beam with oak and then the two outside members with ¾ inch steel or aluminium, whatever I can come up with.

If you would like a copy of the template for the shape of the overhead, I can copy it onto a paper for you to trace onto cardboard.

To start with, BIGGER IS BETTER. The only exception is winches used for halyards and reefing lines. Here you want finesse not brute force.

You will normally use the same location to mount a new winch and of course, the bolting footprint is going to be different. Make sure that you fill in the old holes and install as large a backing plate as you have room for. Also, when you look at the inside of the winch, you will see the drive gear. This gear is located at the bottom of the post and is only half-visible. It is this gear that will engage the drum at the bottom. Align your winch on its base so that the sheet meets the drum over this gear. You want the force of the sheet pulling down onto this gear, not away.

Here the old saying, “any fool can take it apart” is true. Assembling a winch is not exactly a watchmaker’s art, if you take it apart properly and keep all the parts in sequence. Before you start, if you can obtain a manufacturer's schematic, this will be well worth the expense. Have a large piece of cardboard on the deck. Make sure that you carefully keep everything in its proper order. Then reassembly is just the reverse.

Clean each piece with solvent and rags. Parts that cannot be removed should be cleaned with a wet rag and Q-tips to remove as much of the old grease and dirt as possible.

Now is the time to inspect the winch for wear. Pawls and springs are not that expensive and are available through most marine suppliers. The main body of the winch should be inspected for hairline cracks. A magnifying glass is not going too far. Also the shaft should be checked to ensure it has not been bent.

Lubricate all components before assembly. Make sure that all bearings and moving parts are covered but don’t over-do it. There is nothing worse than a winch spewing grease all over the deck and everyone’s clothes. Get grease that is recommended for use on winched. The inside will get quite a beating and the temperature in the hot sun will want to break it down.

Now comes the moment of truth. If you took it apart carefully, then this should be no problem. If the worst comes to the worst, you can take apart your other winch to refresh your memory on the sequence and location of the parts. After all, if you have to bring someone down to help you reassemble your winch you might as well make it worth his while!

A winter project that I completed a few years ago was to resurface my floorboards. It’s a fairly simple job that really enhances the inside of your boat. The first thing is to make a tour of your local lumberyards and purchase a door skin. This will be a piece of mahogany about 3ft by 6ft 6ins by 1/8 inch thick.

Then pull your floorboards and sand them to establish a good gluing surface. Trace the shape of the floorboards onto the door skin leaving 1/4 inch all around and cut. With a good exterior glue, stick the pieces to the appropriate boards. Put a piece of wax paper between and glue face to face with plenty of clamps. You may have to rent some extra clamps. After they dry, file and sand away the excess material.

Obtain a roll of automotive pin striping from Canadian Tire. This will be the caulking between your imitation boards. Lay out your centre floorboard first. Measure to find a distance that will give an even number across. This should be about 2 inch. Mark and layout your pin striping. Use the same measurement for the side pieces.

Install some nice flush handles for lifting and cover with a minimum of five coats of urethane. The first mate will love you and your boat will leap in value. Well, the first mate will love you. Isn’t that enough?