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| Here is the base I made for the rear
support. It has a hole drilled in the bottom that fits
over the main sheet pin. I cut a notch in the top of the
support so that the pole fits into it. |
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Base of support fits over main
sheet pin
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| Here is the completed frame. The ropes
are tied to the turnbuckles for the lifelines, the jib
sheet blocks, to some eye straps on the foredeck (I think
for the spinaker gear), and to cleats in the cockpit
area. I did not tie them to the grab rails because these
will be removed and refinished this winter. |
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Ridge support made from conduit
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| Another view. I wrapped the lines around
the pole and overlapped them so they would not slip and
cause the pole to go sideways. |
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Lines tied port and starboard to
provide support for tarp
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| Just another view showing the whole
system. I had to bend the poles to get the curve but it
is not critical (i.e. the knee system works fine) |
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Side view
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| Here is the middle support connected to
the tabernacle. I expect that the wood will break before
the tabernacle rips off the deck (no, I didn't do
destructive testing). |
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Support bolted to tabernacle
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| I terminated the ridge pole on the bow
chainplate. I flattened the end of the conduit in a vise
and drilled a hole. Again, I expect the bolt to fail
before the chainplate gets ripped out. The theory is that
the snow will slide off so there will be no load on the
pole. |
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Bow chain plate connection
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| The same is done on the aft end. |
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Stern chainplate connection
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| Top view of completed support system
(OK, digital cameras are a blessing and a curse. How many
pictures of this do we really need?) |
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Top view
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| And now for a change of pace, my cabin
all cleaned out for winter. |
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Everything out for winter
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| Ready for some tarpage. Lines tied to
the two corners will be used to pull the tarp over the
boat as we walk from bow to stern. |
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Tarp ready for raising
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| Presto, boat covered. Now what? This is
where I had to stop and have a beer to figure out how to
tie the tarp down. After much looping of rope and
un-looping of rope I came up with the following system. |
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Tarp pulled over ridge pole
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| I looped a rope all the way around the
boat and pulled it tight, but not too tight, so it stayed
up near the rub rail. I then tucked the tarp under the
rope from the outside to the inside so that the tarp was
between the rope and the boat. I then went inside and
pulled the excess tarp up so that the cover was tight. |
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Tuck tarp under rope tied around
the boat under the rub rail
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| I rolled up the excess tarpage and
pushed it down between the boat and the cover. This sort
of forms a buffer between the boat and the tarp to
prevent chafing. Most of the stress on the tarp is spread
evenly against the rubrail (after all, isn't that why
they call it rub-rail?). |
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Another view from inside
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| Here we are, all tucked in for winter.
Doesn't look too bad, almost as good as shrink wrap. And
of course when ever you're dealing with tarps the wind
has to howl (30-40mph). |
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All tucked in
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| Here is the key to making this work. I
used my boom vang tackle to tighten the rope so that it
is just under the rubrail. It is very tight and does not
move. |
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Used my boom vang tackle to pull
rope tight around hull
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| At the back of the boat there is enough
extra tarpage to allow me to climb into the boat. When I
am done, I just tuck the excess under the rope and it
stays put. |
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Tuck the rest underneath (can pull
out to get in boat)
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| Most people use the mast for the ridge
pole but I wanted to work on it during the winter
(replace or clean the rope halyards and clean the mast).
To get it out of the way I rigged a pulley system to
raise the mast to the ceiling. |
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Mast ready to be raised
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| I got the mast half way up and it was
way too hard to raise and tie off at the same time. So I
rigged the mainsheet tackle to raise the mast. I then was
able to tie it off easier. |
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Pulley system on ceiling
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| Top and bottom lines brought to the
middle so there is only one thing to pull to raise the
mast. |
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Pulley system
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| All raised and out of the way. (OK,
worst case scenario, mast falls, smashes car, bends mast,
hmmm). I added two more eyebolts with just a loop to the
mast so that if something fails there is a redundant
system to hold the mast up. |
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Mast up and out of the way
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