Odds and Ends on Sail
by Alvan Eames

More Miscellaneous Bits


Anchoring Off
Some odd bits
Bosun's Chair
Paint
Sailmaker's Palm

Dinghy Spars
Kayak Propulsion

Anchoring Off

My regular method of anchoring off, is by arranging the right length of warp, flaking it out in a bucket for free running, making it fast!!, then balance the anchor on the bow. I then put the bow ashore to disembark, and having tied a tripping line to the crown of the anchor, I push the boat out. When the tripping line is almost run out, I give it a tug, which causes the anchor to drop into the water. When the boat is clearly lying safely to anchor, I make the tripping line fast on the shore, making sure that any incoming tide will not cover the inshore end. When ready to reboard, the tripping line is hauled ashore, followed by the anchor, and then the boat.

Some odd bits

If you use a drain plug, make sure that you carry a spare.

If you lock your tiller with a comb device, then a good one can be made from a toothed rubber timing belt, nailed flat to a coaming below the tiller.

If you have a permanent mooring, marked with a buoy, then use a 4ft bit of light line, attached to the underside of the buoy, with some kind of small float on the end. This makes life easy when picking up the mooring, and ruins the spectator sport for onlookers....

Bosun's Chair

Hauling a crew member up the mast rarely applies in a boat of less than 20 ft, but on occasion I have rigged a bosun’s chair and hoisted my son up the mast, when he was younger. I carried a 1 ins thick piece of 20 x 7 ins wood, which had a vee notch cut into each end. Then I tied a Bowline-on-a-Bight in a piece of line, put one loop round the boy’s middle and the piece of wood into the other, for a seat.

Paint

I have used plain black bitumen paint on a clinker hull, but it does tend to absorb heat, and cause the topsides to open up and leak a little when heeled. I gather that coloured bitumen paint is available, even white, which would overcome that problem. An advantage of bitumen is that it can be applied to a wet surface, and touching up is possible without it being obvious.

Sailmaker's Palm

I have had a proper palm for many years, but an old retired saddler showed me a better tool for the job, which is a lot cheaper. He took the tongue out of an old pair of boots, cut a hole for the thumb, and glued a small piece of metal to the back of it. The needle is pushed through the work by the leather side, the hand being protected by the metal. Having used both the bought one and the home made one, I have to say that the latter is the better tool. The leather prevents the needle from slipping. The piece of leather is about 3 x 5 ins, and oval shaped, and the bit of metal is beaten and shaped to be comfortable on the ball of the thumb.


home made palm

Dinghy Spars

A good source of spars for dinghies is eBay auctions. I find that there are plenty of sailing surfboard masts and sails up for grabs, and fashion being what it is, they occasionally are sold for very cheap prices. I have found 12 ft and 15 ft masts for only five or six UK Pounds, and once with a sail thrown in. The more bendy masts would certainly make a good lightweight sprit, and a surfboard sail would do for a small plywood boat. The garish colours of the sails are outweighed by the bargain prices! I would use such a sail with a sprit boom, rigged with a snotter, not the double wishbone type.

Kayak Propulsion

I have acquired a small kayak, quite beamy, and while the normal means of propulsion is the use of a double-ended paddle, it is evident that a pair of oars would be more efficient. It should be possible to build a sort of A-frame from 2 x 1 ins wood, with a protruding bolt at the apex, which could drop into a hole on the foredeck, near the bow; with another protruding bolt in the middle of the cross-piece for a matching hole. The ends of the side bits would have a 5/8 ins thole pin glued in, perhaps 3 ins sticking up. The whole thing could easily be made collapsible, locked by the cross-piece. The thole pins would need to be about 4 ft apart.

When paddling becomes irksome, then the paddle could be split into its two halves, a pair of rope strops slipped on, and, with the stern of the kayak now the bow, the canoeist would only have to spin the craft round, and pull away.

There is a commercial gadget called the “Oarmaster” which is far more sophisticated, with a sliding seat etc, and which has a far more sophisticated price. When this present chilly weather ends, I shall climb up onto my garage roof and take measurements, for my prototype...

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