Try calling Holland Marine in Toronto. They have stantions and pulpits for boats that are out of production. They bought out parts from manufacturers in the area when they went out of business. I do not know if they has Contessa stuff, but it is worth a try and if not, they may know of a source.
227 2005-12-08 13:52:49
Re: Cockpit Drains ,Again (6 replies, posted in Repairs/Modifications/Upgrades)
The new drains out the stern do not need to be too close to the water line because they do not need to drain the last 4 or 5 inches of water from the cockpit. Having those few inchs of water in the cockpit for a while will not endanger the boat and the original drains will take care of it. The new drains should not be too high either. If the cockpit is filled to the top, chances you are not in calm water and the boat will be rolling or heeling a fair amount, resulting in almost half of the water spilling out over the cockpit edge very quickly, so you now only need to drain half the cockpit. The original drains may look large when you have 4 or 5 people in the cockpit at anchor having drinks and the water level is at your feet, but when at sea and the cockpit is taking what seems forever to drain, they seem tiny. The chances of filling the cockpit are fairly small. With a following sea, the stern picks up very well. Breaking waves are a problem, but then it is much better to be taking those over the bow. I have used a 9ft diameter sea anchor from the bow during a gale in the Gulf Stream and was very impressed with its performance. In 11,000 offshore miles with my Contessa I have only had the cockpit 1/3 filled on a few occasions.
228 2005-12-05 15:21:34
Re: Found 3 more (54 replies, posted in General Questions/Comments)
Thanks, I get it now. It's new posts and/or updates.
229 2005-12-03 19:37:18
Re: Found 3 more (54 replies, posted in General Questions/Comments)
Is anyone else having problems veiwing this topic thread? For several of the last postings, I see that there has been new activity (last post dec 1 John Lee), but when I look at the postings, the new posting is not shown. Any coincidence that it is the topic with the most entries?
230 2005-12-03 19:29:21
Topic: Main Bulkhead/Mast Support/Chainplates MOD (3 replies, posted in Repairs/Modifications/Upgrades)
My father and I have installed mast support beams on both of our Contessas. They are 2" x 2" laminated curved oak beams that are fitted to the curve of the cabin roof. The beam is located on the forward side of the bulkhead under the mast. Six bolts go through the bulkhead , existing fibreglass beam and the new oak beam. These have worked great and taken any flex out of the deck or shroud loosening during heavy going.
231 2005-11-30 16:26:51
Re: Found 3 more (54 replies, posted in General Questions/Comments)
Here is another one for the list.
I purchased it in Nov 2000, did an extensive refit over 14 months, then took it on a solo crossing to Europe and back.
Name: John Allan
Anchorage: Midland, Ontario, Canada
Boat: 1976, J.J. Taylor, Hull # 161, "Seeadler"
Engine: Inboard Yanmar 1GM10 diesel
HIN# ZJTD31611275
The HIN # says molded in Dec 1975, but all the paperwork says 1976.
232 2005-11-21 18:21:48
Topic: Water in Exhaust (5 replies, posted in Technical)
When I repowered with a 1GM10, I installed a waterlock box to stop backwash from getting to the exhaust port. An inexpensive and simple solution. Even with a higher loop, the water that is in the exhaust tube between the engine and the loop can flow back when the engine is stopped.
233 2005-11-14 16:56:34
Topic: shrouds (2 replies, posted in Sails & Rigging)
I replaced all my shrouds, ends and turnbuckles. This happened in Gibraltar in 2002 and cost 610pounds or $1550 Canadian. This did not include installation which I did myself. This is normally not a problem, but the only mast crane was broken, so I replaced them two at a time while the mast was still up. If you can see rust them they are in bad shape. They rust from the inside out.
234 2005-11-14 00:15:26
Re: Sail Choice for the atlantic (5 replies, posted in Sails & Rigging)
Yes, the boat and I are both Canadian.
1976, J.J. Taylor, Hull # 161, "Seeadler"
I had the boat trailered from Canada to Salem. Nothing is required by the officials. There were no government / customs problems in any of the countries I visited. My boat is registered rather than licensed like most local boats. I have heard that some countries will not accept local licensing. Some European countries (Madeira) require that you have liability insurance, but are good at looking the other way. Insurance for crossings is getting hard to get for large fully crewed boats. For single handed trips, the insurance people just say no. For single handed boats 25 feet long, they just laugh or stare at you. Maritime side band is used by most cruisers, but is expensive, takes lots of space and requires lots of power. Instead, I had a shortwave receiver that worked on the same frequencies. I could listen to everything, but could not transmit. That was about 80% as good as the complete two way setup at a fraction of the price. I had an EPIRB but no life raft. Just a small inflatable zodiak. The only other safety gear was a good safety harness, jacklines, radar and a good boat. I did a complete refit before leaving.
235 2005-11-13 12:00:22
Re: Contessa 26: Cape Horn (40 replies, posted in Technical)
200L of water is more than plenty. I carried 120L and always had atleast 1/2 left over. In the beginning I worried about water and was careful and only used 2L per day. My longest passage was 22 days. On later passages, I splurged with fresh water showers every few days (2L). Four litres per day would be luxurious. I just remembered you are planning for a few crew. Three litres per day for 25 days per person would be good. The boat will be heavy with all the supplies, so adding extra ballast should be avoided. The cockpit drains are already too low to the water line. The weight is low and I did not notice any tenderness due to added weight.
236 2005-11-13 11:46:02
Topic: Sail Choice for the atlantic (5 replies, posted in Sails & Rigging)
No, you are not crazy to do the Atlantic in a Contessa 26. I did it in 2002-03. But you may be crazy after you finish if you take two friends. My trip was - Salem, MA to Bermuda to Azores to Portugal to Gibraltar to Madeira to Canarys to Cape Verde to St. Lucia up thru the islands to BVI to Bermuda to New York up the Hudson then the canals, Lake Ontario, the Trent canal to Georgian Bay. The trip covered 11,000nm and 13 months. I did it single handed. Our family used to live abroad on the bay during the summers, but the boat gets VERY small at sea. Try living in a small bathroom heeled over for a week with your friends before setting out.
I had the following sails: DRS, #1 genoa, #2 genoa, working jib, storm jib, loose footed main with 3 reefing points. The third reef worked great and saved the trouble of a try sail. The thrid reef and storm jib are essential. The other "sail" I am glad I had was a sea anchor. It saved my ass in a NE gale in the gulf stream.
237 2005-10-17 18:11:22
Re: Prop size (47 replies, posted in Technical)
I repowered with a Yanmar 1GM10 a few years ago. I used a simple program available on the web that asked question about the boat, engine and transmission then spit out a suggested prop size. Your prop vendor will also be able to make a suggestion based on the data. I ended up with a 11x12 RH 3 blade prop. The cruise speed is about 5.7kt. When I slow down to get better fuel economy (2300rpm, .63L/hr, 4.4kt) I get 620nm on 90L of fuel on board. The engine seems ok with the combination, I have 722 hours on it without any problems.