A cat rigged Souriceau?

Some pictures from Mars, ongoing colonial hijinks, and in the "Unsurprising fuckery in high places" department Caribbean edition...

Something interesting from Eric Henseval you might want to check out.

 

I'm sure Eric would be happy to tell you more about the cat rigged Souriceau.

Listening to a literary playlist

So it goes...

 

Two gaff rig boats I like...

Regarding a good cop, a commercial befitting the times, and in the "This is just so wrong" department... 

Down here in what is purported to be paradise you don't often see gaff rigs much. That bothers me just a bit.

For me at least the sailplan on Reuel Parker's Pilot Cutter 31 is pretty awesome. For starters it's simple, easily fabricated, and affordable which is a real bonus for a powerful rig.

Of course, gaff rigs don't always have to be on what most would consider to be traditional boats and they can make a lot of sense. Take this modern scow design by Yann Quenet which I need to build.

Now if this damn pandemic will just lighten up so I can find a building site and get to doing...

Listening to a bunch of R&B/Soul coverage accompanied by an excellent article.

So it goes...

Some thoughts on rigs...

An interview of note, some needful reading that made me angry, and in the "Sigh" department...

For a long time I was a big advocate of free-standing rigs. My main issue with standing rigging was its many potential failure points any one of which could make your rig fall down and go BOOM. Take it from someone who had a mast fall down that it's not something you want to do.

My current thoughts on spars and rigging has evolved to the point where I think the most sensible approach is somewhere between the two using a mast with more structural integrity in conjunction with textile rigging. The marriage of the two becomes much less prone to failure as well as more economical.

When I was considering adapting "So It Goes" to junk  or lug rig The diameter of a single mast figured out to be ten-inches in diameter which was problematic on several levels. A wood mast of that size done using traditional scantlings was going to be heavier than I thought prudent, the location of said mast would be problematic to the interior layout of the boat, and the cost was more than I was prepared to pay for in materials and time. While I played with various other junk/lug schooner or ketch rigs they all screwed up the interior to the point that I found myself going with the Simplicity Rig which Mark Smaalders designed and has worked out extremely well.

Since then, I’ve put a lot of thought into how I could have done the rig differently and in various ways to make textile rigging better and more affordable. In textile rigging, the problem seems to be that instead of embracing strengths of textile rigging they treat it like wire.

When I look at a rig replacement, the first job at hand is getting rid of those potential failure points. As most rigs fail at the mast to stay and boat to stay intersections, that’s the problem areas that need to be dealt with.

In the boat to stay intersection you have the chainplate, toggle, turnbuckle, and whatever sort of stay termination you’re using, as well as however many clevis pins or shackles are in the mix. The average number of failure points at the chainplate end of the stay is six. Multiply that with the number of stays on a sloop and that equals forty-eight failure points and we haven’t even begun talking about the stay to mast attachments. 

Which is why I've been partial towards free-standing masts and rigs. More on those in the next installment... 

Listening to an album's worth of Go-Go's coverage

So it goes...

A thought or two on rigs...

Badtux with an important point,  EBM musing on the subject of flat earth education, and a couple of excellent although depressing observations... 

Dave Z has a most excellent write up of their adventures with the split junk rig and it is well worth reading whether you're interested in junk rig or just want to know more about how sails work.

Yeah, how sails work is a pretty rare subject of discussion these days and most folks seem to just accept that sails sorta/kinda work and that's how it is.

That said, I have had a few emails on the subject of why Michael Schacht drew a gaff rig for his new Argo catamaran design. Sadly a couple of which were somewhat negative as well as showing a profound lack of understanding of how sails work especially where the gaff rig was concerned.

 

Now, it seems to me, that a large part of not understanding different sails/rigs is the fact that you just don't see them much.and, for the most part, hardly anyone has actual experience with gaff, lug, junk, or other rigs.other than the standard sloop.

I get that.

What I don't get is how someone with zero experience with a rig or sail type can cast aspersions on it's viability or efficacy for cruising.

Of course, being way past my sell by date, I have the luxury of growing up in a time when there were more than a few gaff rigs sailing and had the good fortune of actually sailing on a lot of diverse and interesting boats. So, I do have a lot of opinions where various rigs are concerned but those opinions are based on a lot of up close and personal experience as well as decades of studying sailboat design and different rigs.

So, I'll go on record that a gaff rig on Argo actually makes a whole lot of sense. Even better is that a gaff rig is, as far as rigs go, pretty inexpensive and easy to build. With a little updating in terms of material and construction there is no reason at all that it won't perform as well as what passes these days as a "standard" multihull rig. With care taken with the build of the hulls and keeping the Argo light I'd bet that it would show it's transom to most production cats which would be no bad thing at all.

Need I say more?

Listening to the Derailers

So it goes...

an example of how "cheaper" and "better" go together...

On the current state of assholery, an apt Twilight Zone, and on the subject of budgets...

For a variety of reasons I've been thinking a lot about building affordable masts and sensible rigging to put them up with.

Which is somewhat out-of-step with what most people are doing as it seems that most folk seem to be more in the "Let's just see how expensive we can make it" school of boat building. Rather than the few asking 

"How do we make this better while cutting the cost at the same time?"

who seem to be in short supply. 

As I mentioned before I'm pretty impressed with Reuel Parker's current riff on a plywood mast and reading his follow-up article in the May/June 2021 issue of Wooden Boat Magazine that combined with a judicious use of textile rigging it's possible to put up a better rig for a whole lot less money than most think possible.

Better yet, the mast in question is super easy to build, lighter than any mast you're going to be able to buy, and, after perusing used masts on CraigsList, quite a bit cheaper than an old beat up mast on the used market. What's not to like?

So, why am I the only guy doing the happy dance?

One of my projects this week is installing a new tabernacle on "So It Goes" around the current mast and sorting out that it will work for the new mast I'm planning to build soonish of the Parker variety.

Listening to Ghalia Volt

So it goes...

Speaking of better rigs...

All kinds of scary, Kimmel makes a point, and and in the "Yeah, climate really does effect the economy" department...

How about a DIY mast solution?

 

The current May/June issue of WoodenBoat magazine has an excellent article Building Box-section Masts with Plywood by Reuel Parker that is well worth the price of admission.

Listening to Soldat Louis

So it goes...

On building a better rig...

 Killing our mother ocean, a book on my must read list, and in the "No cure for selfish stupidity" department...

Someone recently asked me about my opinions on chainplate materials for his switch to textile rigging. The main part of the question involved whether to use expensive 316 stainless vs the use of much more expensive titanium. When I told him that my choice would be Delrin I'm pretty sure he thought I'd lost my mind.

Now, I'll admit that I'm pretty sensitive to the importance of having a bombproof connection between the rig and the boat and I might be extra careful as I lost a rig to a stainless steel chainplate failure and in the same time period two different friends lost their rigs due to the failure of titanium tangs. So it's a subject that I've given a lot of serious thought to especially where textile rigging is concerned.

A lot of folks now favor the use of carbon fiber or composite chainplates glassed in to the hull which has the advantage of spreading the rigging loads over a much greater area and dispenses with the negative factors of stainless steel and titanium. If I were building a new boat I'd seriously consider this avenue but since the person in question is refitting an existing boat so it's not as easily done and somewhat problematic.

Some time ago, in my ongoing research to make textile rigging more affordable, it occurred to me that if using textile rigging metal chainplates are really sort of a one step forward two steps back kind of thing. You're still using parts that are prone to failure, not exactly textile friendly, and, to add insult to injury, are really quite expensive.

Since the main purpose of a chainplate is to distribute rigging loads on to the hull all we really need to do is to find a more textile friendly way of doing it. 

My first thought, since we're talking "rope", was something akin to a thimble but then realized that any circular or teardrop shapes would be better at distributing the shroud loads to the hull. Better yet the disc or teardrops would not need to be in a metal at all and any high density plastic like Delrin or HDPE would work just fine. The only metal at all in the shroud to hull matrix would be through bolts and backing plates.

The upside is that the plastic chainplates are both inexpensive and easily fabricated by anyone with a DIY bent. The downside is they're not the same old same so if you were to go with the idea I'd factor in that you'd have to do a lot of explaining to passers-by of the less than bright sort. Of course, if you're doing a textile rig you will be having those sort of conversations anyway so not really a factor.

I'm currently writing a more in depth how to on applying some creative frugality to textile rigging design so that anyone can build an inexpensive, user maintainable, and bombproof rig.

More about that soonish.

Listening to Nick Lowe

So it goes...

Might as well just add another project to the list...

On the subject of kitchen design, a quick slice of hindsight, and in the "Taking credit where no credit is due" department...

Today there are scattered showers that are keeping me from working on a couple of hatches that are top of "I really must get these projects out of the way!" list.

Like everything on "So It Goes" all the various projects have to go through the Need/Want meat grinder to see what gets worked on. Obviously I need to sort out those hatches but, in truth, it's not the job I really want to do.

Which means, that since I can't work on the hatches I tend to invest time in fabricating cunning plans for the projects I really want to do. Which, as it happens, has me looking at ever more clever ways to build a better mast and rig.

The fact is that there is really nothing wrong with the current mast and rig other than, as is hindsight is 20/20, I've realized I could have built the current mast lighter, less expensively, and quicker. Another factor is that I could do a better tabernacle arrangement as well which would allow me to drop the mast and raise it in a more stress free and easier manner.

Of course, the mast in place works just fine but the urge to improve and make it better is that gnawing urge that I keep coming back to.

One of the improvements I wanted to incorporate in the new better mast and rig was a product I found very interesting and should have been something of a game changer for folks doing textile rigging... the Nub.

The Nub, which was a brilliant bit of design, seems to be no longer available. Then again, it is a very simple concept that could easily be reverse engineered by someone with a router and a couple of feet of Delrin rod. 

A task I really should add to the projects list...

Listening to some Queen covers

So it goes...

Working on the Big Picture...

Latitude 38 has something on cargo under sail. The BBC with an interesting article on battery tech, and John Scalzi has a new guitar...

We live in a polarized society and, for me at least, it's crazy making. 

The thing is, I'm not talking about the fact that the worlds politics are polarized (which they are) but how a polarized mindset tends to get in the way of progress in things like boat design and suchlike.

Take sailing rigs for instance... I can't actually remember the last time  I came across an open-minded discussion of various sail rigs. Nope, it's more of a this rig is good and all other rigs are bad kind of vibe when talking about rigs. Which leaves folks like me who tend to think that all rigs make sense but also have their strengths as well as weaknesses out of the dialog. It's not a good or bad question we're dealing with but a what rig would make the most sense in a given situation sort of thing.

So, hardly surprising, having mentioned something about the junk rig on the blogs, that I now have a lot of mail both pro-junk and anti-junk as well as a few emails which are a lot more interesting on the subject of how junk rigs might be improved as well as some ideas relating to other rigs that might be incorporated to improve the junk rig.

The problem with both the pro-junk and anti-junk contingents is that they are both stuck in a rut and have very little to bring to the party as well as being kind of boring in the process.

The current conundrum that I'm dealing with is not really about the junk rig but more a way for home builders and DIY gear folks to build sails themselves in an affordable and less problematic way. In actuality it's not a junk or sail issue as it's more of a whole rig big picture issue.

A big problem with the polarization of thought is that one quickly loses the ability to see the "Big Picture" which is a much needed component of progress.

Anyway, I'll continue to mine my current obsession, which might very well be barren, and we'll see how it goes.

More on the subject as it develops.

Listening to …And You Will Know Us by the Trail Of Dead

So it goes

on being sorta/kinda busy at the moment...

Norton Juster is no longer with us, a bit of surf history, and in the "She's just extremely confident about her ignorance and no one seems to have the heart to tell her she's an idiot" department...

The last couple of days I've been doing a lot of thinking about a new way of making a junk sail I've recently come across and adapting said ideas into something that might actually make sense for a VolkCruiserish type of boat.

I'm enjoying the process.

Which is a roundabout way of saying I haven't come up with the post I'd planned to write today as I've been talking to various sailmakers and gear heads on some junkish details and material availabilities.

Anyway, hopefully, more interesting stuff soon come.

Listening to some Rickie Lee Jones coverage

So it goes...

Is a trigger warning really needed?

A failing infrastructure, something about that plague state, and in the "Not the right question" department...

The other day over on VolksCruiser I wrote something on the subject of "Free Boats" and I got quite a bit of push back as a result. Apparently, the words 'free' and 'boat' used in conjunction is something of a trigger phrase for some folks.

Now, where I come from, the whole idea of taking something that has no or a negative value and recycling it into something that has a purpose and value is no bad thing and I truly admire those folk who take on such projects and are successful in their endeavors. 

Offhand I'd really love to find a free boat without a mast so I could test some cunning plans I have regarding affordable rigs and rigging but every time I find such a beast they are in someplace far away. That said, If a free C&C 35 without a mast appeals you might want to check out Craig's List up in NYC...

Listening to Siouxsie and the Banshees

So it goes...

A great resource....

Pandemic blowback, regarding Starlink, and on the subject of special privilege...

Over at Colligo Marine there's a lot of great stuff on a Schock 35 project boat that you might want to check out as the before and after format really underlines how textile rigging can work for you.

Before...

After...

Lots more to see on the Colligo site.

Listening to Shaky Feelin'

So it goes...

Warning; Content may be woodie inducing...

Chuck Wendig with all you need to know about voting, some horror stories for your hard drive, and on the subject of climate change gentrification...

I'd write something today except I'm too busy trying to absorb all of the wonderfulness involved in Stephens Waring Yacht Design's take on a very appropriate tech modern wooden mast in their current post "Modern Wood Mast: A Photo Essay".

Listening to Gracie Abrams

So it goes...

some scowish curiosity...

An apt use of lyrics, some math I'm having trouble with, and this really got to me...

So, here's a boat I've been coming back to for a long time.

Reuel Parker's Junk rigged Scow 33.

Part of the reason I like this design is it's mostly lumberyard materials. Formply is cheap as it gets these days and my exposure tests had it as good or better than marine ply and a whole lot better than pressure treated exterior ply. Down here in southern-most tRumpistan a 3/4" sheet of formply costs less than a 1/4" exterior which would be a huge cost savings when you're buying 80-sheets or more of plywood.

So yeah, this is going to be an affordable boat.

Another reason I like the boat is its rig. I've always thought that the junk rig communities' collective phobia with jibs is somewhat problematic to performance. Lastly, while I'm a big fan of free-standing masts, I've come around to the conclusion that a little rigging combined with a beefy spar makes all kinds of sense in terms of weight and cost.

The interior accommodation in the design is what I'd call very comfortable for a couple living aboard full time.

Truth be told, I pretty much just like everything about the design as drawn. The boat is easily built of affordable materials and I know enough about to boats to know it will float right side up and do the job.

So, why haven't bought the plans already (well that's a little too complicated for the moment) and why am I going on about the design again?

Well, Mr. Parker said something interesting on his website recently...

"Because so many people have shown interest in it, I have designed a new interior for the SCOW 33 design, and upgraded the Plans and Construction Notes."

Which means I'd like to know what Reuel Parker's new interior looks like. That said, I don't expect I'll like the new interior as much as the original but I'm opened minded so we'll just have to see what we see. 

Color me curious.

Listening to the Hadestown

So it goes...

a rather big improvement in deadeyes...

More USPS fuckery, some very bad news, and in the "Tell me you're not surprised" files...

Here's something you just might want to take a look at.

It's a deadeye with actual sheaves.

Is that cool or what?

The folks at Colligo have this to say about their Terminator Flex Fittings...

"These blocks can be spliced into a running backstay or shroud on a canting mast system and present anything from a 2/1- a 7/1 purchase, your choice, with the same lightweight block!  They come with 3 sheaves that can be used or not.  For 7-13 mm Static line and up to 1/4” Dyneema Dynamic line."

Color me impressed.

The real question I have, of course, is whether or not I'll be using these in future evolutions of the rig on "So It Goes".The advantage of the sheaves will make it a whole lot easier to achieve the needful rig tension by hand instead of having to use turnbuckles.

I can see the attraction.

Then again, as the Terminator Flex fittings cost more than turnbuckles I use I don't expect to see them making any real improvements to my rig so, probably not. Your rigging needs may differ so maybe the Flex is just the thing to suit your rig.

That said, I love the way companies like Colligo keep evolving products in the right direction but wish they'd also work on making their products a bit more affordable in the process.

Listening to an album's worth of Steely Dan covers

So it goes...

Since we're on the subject of gaff rigs...

Some troubling medical practices, a bit of needful economic viewing, and in the "Good points being made" department...

A Dudley Dix presentation you might have missed.



What can I say but gaff rigs make a whole lot of sense.

Listening to Dark Water

So it goes...

Regarding gaff and Marconi rigs...

More on the subject of the USPS, something very much worth reading in The Atlantic, and in the "Better than most news" department...

Just maybe the best comparison on the gaff and Marconi rigs I've ever come across.



That said, I don't completely agree with all of it but it's a great place to start.

Don't speak French?

Tant pis pour toi.

Listening to the Lumineers

So it goes...

something from the "Dare I say it?" department...

Some good advice about medical advice, on how, just when we need more testing they're pulling the plug, and in the "Might as well call it Trump's plague" department...

Is everybody out there doing OK?

The plus side of this gawdawful pandemic is, for those hunkered down waiting for it to subside, is that we can put time and thought to ideas, projects, and conjectures that we never seem to have time for.

In my case, I've been spending a lot of time thinking up rather cunning plans to build lighter, stronger, and inexpensive free-standing masts. You might say it's been keeping me busy.

Anyone else working on cunning plans where boats are concerned?

If so, drop me a line I'd love the input.

 Stay safe in the meantime.

Listening to Fountains of Wayne

So it goes...

First good reads of the new year...

Something positive on the subject of 'Reef Toxic' sun cream, a glimpse of the negative side of tourism, and sharks in your cat's food...

Southwinds, a freebie sailing magazine well worth reading, has a couple of excellent articles in the current issue on junk rigs.

Yeah, junk rigs!

So, you're still here because?

Listening to The Paranoid Style

So it goes...

On being a scandal wherever you anchor...

Something regarding #nokidsincages, a tRumpian nightmare, the sound of war drums, and in the "I suppose you're just supposed to let them drown" department...

Two different rigs on the same hull from Reuel Parker.

Offhand, I'd be tempted to go with the junk rig as I'm not as young as I used to be and I've always felt that junks with jibs make more sense than ones without. That said, combining the elements of scow, junk, and a foresail is going to upset a whole lot of folks.

Just saying...

Listening to skameleon

So it goes...