201

(7 replies, posted in Sails & Rigging)

The best mechanically and most suggested method is a line from the end of the boom to a pulley at the bow and then back to a cleat. The problem is that you can not tack with it, it has to be taken off when not used and it must be set up before the boom goes out. It can only be used effectively when the boom is all the way out. Which adds up to not always using it since it is such a hassle.
I have been using a system that is not as strong, but is very convenient. I have a stap around the boom attached to two lines. The main is loose footed so the strap can slid to were it wants to be. (about 4 feet from the mast). Each line goes to a pulley on the jib sheet track, then back to the winch cleat. The cleats are not used since I have selftailing. Simply tighten the line on one side and leave the other one loose. The system is permanently rigged. Since the lines are forward of the dodger, you can tach without problems. It will work on a full run or beam reach. Because it is so easy to use, I always use it when the wind is near or aft of the beam. I decided that policy would be a good idea after a friend had three of his front teeth knocked out in a gybe. It is not as mechanically good as the line at the end of the boom, but I have not had a problem with over stressing the boom yet. Remember, if you gybe, the main is backed winded, but the boom does not get a chance to move so there is no slamming over of the sail and boom. That fast moving mass is what can really get bad things happening. It is a simple low cost solution that is easy to get in the habit of using. All that you need is some line and two pulleys. I had bought new jib sheet pulleys and cars, so I just left the old ones in place and used them and the lines where made from old halyards. So it was practically free with the strap sewn up from canvas and seatbelt web strapping. That's a price I can handle and after 11,000nm I still have all of my teeth.

202

(4 replies, posted in Sails & Rigging)

Are these ball sockets on the outboard ends? Between the spreader tube and the shrould? The 1970s Contessas have a plug with a slot to hold the shrould.

Here in the Doral marine, $68 will get you a day and a half at the transient dock for a 32 ft boat.
Mountain scenery not included but the water is fresh.

205

(55 replies, posted in Sails & Rigging)

The downwind roll you speak of... If that happened with a main and jib wing on wing, then just pull in the main in 15 or 20 degrees and it should stop.  I have had it quickly build up to the point of rolling back and forth from port rail in the water to starboard rail in the water in seconds. Exciting, but....

I have the following shortwave antenna on my boat. On top of the masthead, a 1” square aluminum tube extends aft horizontally about 18”. This also allows the windex to be mounted so that it does not interfere with the VHF antenna. From the aft end of the tube there is a foot long piece of wire then a plastic insulator then the top end of the 18ga bare copper wire. The wire extends down toward the stern. A 5 or 6 foot tall stainless pole is vertically mounted a foot and a half forward of the stern. The bottom of the wire is held by the top of the pole. Since the distance from the mast to pole may vary slightly, the wire is not attached directly to the pole. Instead a pulley is inside the top of the pole, the wire goes into the pole, around the pulley, down the center of the pole and then attaches to a length of bungee cord. The wire and the bungee come out the bottom of the pole. The bungee keeps tension on the wire. The pole and the masthead tube keep the wire away from the main sail, people and the backstay. My shrouds are all grounded so it may be important to keep it separated from the shrouds. The pole is also used to mount the GPS antenna at the top away from possible damage. The Canadian flag is mounted on the pole, since it must be kept away from the selfsteering gear. This setup has worked for me very well. It is completely out of the way. I do not transmit, so use it as a long wire antenna without a tuner. I have been able to pick up Herb the weather router guy as far away as Morocco. Herb is in Ontario and transmits on marine SSB. I have a few pictures and will post them when that can be done on the site.

207

(22 replies, posted in Repairs/Modifications/Upgrades)

The Monitor is about the only one that allows it to be mounted on the centerline of the boat. I talked with all the different manufacturers about mounting their unit on a boat with an outboard rudder. Half of them said, " no problem, we just mount it off to the side and put a longer water blade on it." The other half said, "it must be mounted in the center, otherside it will really not work well on either tack. We do not recommend our model for your boat." All of these units worked on the same principles. So were only half of them honest or just too conservative or without experience on off-center mounting. The answers are never as clear as we would like. I have 11,000nm on my Monitor and it's worked great, but yes it is big. You can try to put a positive spin on it and think of it as a large heavy symbol of offshore singlehandedness.

208

(11 replies, posted in Site Support/Comments)

The new site is great. Good work.. and fast work.
If the old site will only be on line for a few monthly, then the user that only checks in every few monthly may never find out about the new site. Here is an idea to notify the users from the old site about the change. If email addresses could be extracted from the user profile data, a mass email could be send to inform all users. This may also help to get back some of the old users who have not signed in for a long time out of forgetfulness.  Thanks again for the hard work.

209

(5 replies, posted in General Questions/Comments)

If the hull is laid up in one piece you may still see a parting line on the outside because the mold will probably be a two piece mold. The two pieces of the mold are put together, the gelcoat and glass added and then the two mold pieces separated to allow the boat to be extracted. A two piece mold does not necessarily mean a two piece hull. Some of the gelcoat creeps into the tiny gap between the mold halves or the two do not line up exactly and you get a line on the outside.

210

(3 replies, posted in General Questions/Comments)

Mine is similar. 58" long, curved top, tapering along its length to a 1" diameter round cross section at the end.

211

(3 replies, posted in General Questions/Comments)

If your boat is registered rather than licienced in Canada, there is more bad luck around the corner. When I bought my Contessa, it cost $150 to change the owner in the Canadian vessel registry. I had planned on changing the name later, but discovered that it costs $250 to change the registry name. The existing name suddenly sounded better and I could not think of a better one, so Seeadler she remains. You can have the boat deleted from the registry for only $50, but I needed registry for entry into foreign countries.

The Canadian Contessas have a flat floor about 11" under the cabin sole. This provides a nice storage area and seals off the keel below. If the keel were to be damaged, no water would get into the hull. Is the English Contessa the same?  A boat (make unknown)crossing the Atlantic with the ARC rally a few years ago had a similar fiberglass keel molded as part of the hull, but without the top sealed. The lower leading edge of the keel split along the join and sank the boat. So it provides safety and a good place to store batteries and beer.

I believe that in the Canadian Contessas the standard battery placement is inside under the cabin sole. Both of mine are there and present no problem. If water got over the top, the acid may leak, but the vents are very small, so this show not be a problem over a short time.

Adrian, Yes, that was my understanding too. The length of the deck only.

Kristin, Thanks, my guess was also about 28 ft. Good to confirm. Unfortunately, the price increases if longer than 28 ft and my steering vane will put it over into the next size/price range.

Does anyone know the overall length of the JJ Taylor including the bow pulpit and rudder overhang? I just got the 2006 marina form and they are getting sticky this year and want the total overall length. 25.5 feet will not fly this year. They will be checking in the spring. If anyone happens to know this dimension it would save me a long drive and some climbing through the snow.

216

(24 replies, posted in Repairs/Modifications/Upgrades)

I find the dodger a definite asset. It does reduce the visibility forward, but it provides a good place to throw stuff out of the way temporarily without it rolling off the deck. Many of the lines that lead aft, but are not used often can be tucked away up there and out of the cockpit. It keeps a lot of spray out of the cockpit and provides complete protection from spray, wind and rain if you are seated up against the back of the cabin. Maybe Francis Chichester or Chay Blyth would not have had one, but then they sailed in the days before stupid things like seat belts, air conditioning or GPS. I enjoy reading their books, but will take a dodger any day and consider it uncivilized to go without. Maybe if I was young and foolish.

Here is a wiring diagram for a bilge pump ON / OFF/ AUTO switch. Picture is attached. I did not understand what you meant by "alarm switch". A few notes....  If the pump runs, but does not pump water, it may be running backwards. Just reverse the wires to the pump. The power for the circuit should be hooked up at the battery, rather than at the master switch or fuse panel. That way you can turn off the master switch and still have the bilge pump run it AUTO when you leave the boat. I forgot to show a fuse in the diagram. You can use a in-line fuse holder with a fuse to match your pumps current rating. The switch is a standard SPDT from radio shack or look at pg 504 in the Westmarine catalog. The switch must be 3 position. Meaning it will stay in the center position.
There is a canvas/sail maker in Toronto called Genco Marine (spelling?) that makes dodgers for the Contessa.

OK I just learned that the "insert image" icon only links to pics stored on the web, so I will email it to you

218

(14 replies, posted in Technical)

I replaced the original tank that was on the plywood platform in the port cockpit locker. I made a cardboard prototype to get the maximum size and yet still fit in. The top view it rectangular and just fits into the locker opening. But the side view is shaped to fit the curve of the hull side. The tank is lowered into the locker then rotated 90 degrees and then slid forward against the bulkhead. That way the tank only takes up about 8 inches of the locker and gives access to the area aft of the locker opening. Most of the tank is hidden outboard of the locker opening. The cardboard prototype was then given to a local metal shop to make the real thing. It holds 45 liters. At reduced rpm that gives me 275nm range at 4.4 kts. I store another 45 liters in four gerry cans in the starboard locker.

219

(14 replies, posted in Technical)

Mine has a built-in tank under the V-berth for the holding tank and no original hard tank for water. Just make sure you use the proper vapor proof tubing. (aka Odor safe) The clear PVC with fiber re-enforcing will let the smell through the tubing. Expensive, but worth it.

220

(54 replies, posted in General Questions/Comments)

My Contessa #161 is in the same situation. The serial # show Dec 75, but the paperwork says 1976. The first thing that goes into the mold is the impression for the HIN #, then mold release and gelcoat and time for it to harden, then the glass layup. Even though the resin is hard to the touch within a few hours, it should be left in the mold for 3 to 7 days. Then all the cabinetry and fittings and deck joined. Then there's the Christmas and New Years holidays and then the slow downs while trying to get the display ready for the Toronto boat show in January. It is surprising the boat ever gets delivered.

221

(2 replies, posted in Repairs/Modifications/Upgrades)

I replaced all my shrouds with the next size wire, but the sheets and halyard I replaces with the same size. Sheets are 1/2" and the halyards are 3/8". The only problem I had was with the main sheet. I bought rope with a soft outer layer. The rope was not tightly woven, so when the tension was off the diameter increased. Once tension was applied, the diameter returned to 1/2" and the rope did not stretch. In very light wind, if you let the main out, the friction of the expanded size rope in the pulleys meant that the rope would not run thru properly. This is not a big deal and only when letting the main out completely in light winds, but may be something to keep in mind when buying new sheets.

Another route would be to take to canals to New York in the late summer and leave the boat there over the winter. This would give you lots of time in the spring. When a crossed, I had my boat trucked to Salem, Mass.

223

(5 replies, posted in Technical)

I agree with you that the high loop chamber under the cockpit cowel must not be removed. It is for preventing water from entering the exhaust exit at the stern and getting to the engine. The water lock box I referred to is only for water that came from the injected cooling water. When the engine is stopped or brought to idle, the exhaust is not longer pushing the water up the pipe. It prevents the injected water in the exhaust pipe from flowing back to the engine. Since this is a limited amount of water, the box does not have to be very low or large. I am careful about checking for water coming out the exhaust, but do not trust myself enough to turn off the water valve.

224

(5 replies, posted in Sails & Rigging)

Shannon, I got your email regarding your questions on this topic and replied directly to your email since my reply was rather lengthy.

I stayed with the original shrouds. They were old and rusty. After sailing to Europe, one of the strands broke so I replaced they all with the next size up while in Gibraltar. The original size is ok as long as you are not hell bent on always getting that last 2% of speed. In windy conditions, backing off say 10% from top speed will not reduce strain on the boat by only 10%, but more like 30%.