atmospheric discharge conveyances
Hey Kurt,
1, 2, 3 exactly.
Once we discussed that here - and I took seriously an internet lightning expert's recommendation to connect the chainplates and the mast plate inside the boat to fat naked copper wires in big radius curves to a couple big bronze bolts that go through the hull and clamp a bodacious chunk of bronze to the bottom - as so-called 'ground'. I remember the plate for some reason had to have SQUARE EDGES - couldn't be faired to the hull or slanted.
Until I remembered the irrationality of 10 million volts of lightning which might just go ahead blow out the bottom of the boat.
And why the hell would you invite that mother inside?:eek:
Somebody came up with a poorman's solution that I've never heard better.
When lightning threatens: clip a battery cable to each stay and shroud and drop the end in the water. We'd have an octopus of eight convenient grounds the enemy could choose. One or every leg.
Enhancements might include a lashing for the clips to keep them secure to the turnbuckles. A flat metal plate soldered to the ends, maybe 4"X4", in the water.
And a canvas bag to keep them ready in the locker.:cool:
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Revisiting the composite panel idea
Captain K
Your sandwich panels keep haunting me. Not in a bad way from your perspective, but in so much as I have this 'overweight' fear stemming from all of the baltic birch I used in my remodel. early on I hedged my bets for strength rather than weight. As time progressed and things continually evolve I sometimes fear the cumulative weight of all the built-ins will have a negative impact on trim, speed and carrying capacity of stores.
So now I'm seriously considering how I should approach the 'revamping' of my remodel. I will be looking at where we can use some sandwich panels to lighten things up a bit. Because there are so few remaining bulkheads and dividers left to go in it will be a challenge. So in your spare time maybe you could peruse the photos of 113's interior and offer up some suggestions:o.
But! I did manage to find some photos of panels made for use in Baltic Yachts. You know by now that I'm a picture kind of guy.
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Katie's cheap (or free) under-companionway composting head
Here are some pics of what I came up with for a cheap alternative to those overly-expensive composting heads. I have been using this for several weeks now, and have been very pleased with the result. Works great, and is dirt cheap (no pun intended ;) ). More details @ a thread I started on sailFar to describe it.
Tony - wow, that foam ply construct is just what I was thinking. I don't think I'll have time/money to implement it, but - great illustration, glad to know I'm not totally off base. :)
Ebb - I'll follow this post up with more of my external chainplate stuff; I don't want to hijack TonyG's thread (more than we did already... :D).
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Tabernacle/strongback work
Cut thru the deck today, and trimmed back the cabin liner from where the bearing surface will be. Figure to do the glasswork below first; there is only 1 thin layer of glass on the overhead now, so by doing it this way (bottom first) I think I can re-induce the original curvature in the cabin top. It had depressed about 1/4" with the OEM structure.
So, pics...
First, Katies new dinghy...
Attachment 6808
The area of deck to cut away - added about 1" all around the tabernacle base. Cut on the red line with the SoniCrafter tool, using the half-circle blade. Hey Tony - see how close I was to the hinges? Maybe 1/2". I have even more aprreciation for this tool after today - more on that in a bit.
Attachment 6809
Outline cut, & first try at top skin removal. I was really hoping I could manage to peel up this whole piece and then re-use it elsewhere, but the 40 year old FRP was just too tenacious. I wound up cutting with the tool and fighting to get this little piece off. Going from this point, ripping about 1/3 of the skin off, it came off very irregularly, tapering up from the edge to just a last, 1 thin layer of glass at the end. Hmmm...
Attachment 6810
Broke out the SoniCrafter, and BAM. Perfect tool for this. Use plunge blade, Insert into core, cutting that free all the way across, then cut across the skin at about the point which would have been maximum plunge, and you get nice clean blocks of skin and core.
Attachment 6811
A 6"x2.5" block takes maybe 1.5 minutes to remove, and the surface underneath you can almost eat off of. You can use the blade to clean off the underskin.
Attachment 6812
More coming...
What happened to the pictures on this site?
[I asked Bill. Got the idea that Kurt removed them !]
I sometimes hit the blue line on the Discussion menu that says who's on line.
A 'guest' was logged on here.
When we log on cold we are directed to the beginning pages.
All of your earLy photos are replaced with a little red X.
Last page at the moment has your mast-step surgery into the cabin top.
Quality shots of quality work taking the mystery out for anybody needing a fix in this area
(which is probably nearly everybody.)
who hasn't thought they could do it - until now.
Important shots imco.
Kurt, I hope you post the conclusion of the repair.
And show us more or your intriguing and innovative
ALUMINUM TABERNAKLE in place.
How you attach the unit.
The mast in place.
AND HOW YOU RAISE AND LOWER YOUR MAST!
'I really wanna know"
What would have once been Heresy, can become Inspiration...
Why do we consider our ill-implemented and inconsistently thick cabin trunk overhead liners to be sacrosanct?