Commander #155 'Mephisto Cat'

[Rico]

Thanks all for the comments! Work is still progressing. More on that soon...

Commanderpete: Good eye! I usually do route the sheet outside the foward lower and inside the others as you describe, but this is only with my working (100%) Jib. In this picture we were approaching San Diego in light winds and I had my nifty large Genoa (180%) in use in order to catch as much wind as possible. With this headsail running, the sheet goes around all the rigging -and then some (it is BIG)... The reason you see the sheet going thought the cabintop block is that it helps to keep the leeward sheet out of the drink while it is not in use. It is just storage! (No need to tack on final approach that day!)

I think I've decided to put back the handrails... I just need to get to them! Having them a bit longer would be handy. I have to picture that...
I feel quite safe with my lanyard arrangement while heading forward. As safe as if I had lifelines - I suppose since I would not want to rely on low lifelines supported by stanchions with a large cantilever...

Mr. 227 / EBB: I'm with 'Lucky Dawg' on the cockpit issue... I'll admit that the bridge deck option seemed appealing when I first saw the possibility of taking on a open(er) water passage, but I do feel good about the configuration now that I have some heavy-er weather nautical miles under my life preserver. These boats are stiff, but they do pop-up quickly on top of rushing water from the stern. I'd say that the bow has more of a tendency to go underwater (had that happen!!) but the resulting deluge is in the correct direction to prevent flooding underneath.

As pointed out, there is the option of putting a board, or two in the companionway if things get really nasty to prevent flooding...

Some info on the topic here... http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/23..._tips/b19.html

Specific bridgedeck assemblyline discussion here:
http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussi...ead.php?t=1932

Just to catch-up on my current location in Marina del Rey; here are a few pictures of the cruise up from Mexico.

PICTURE 1 We shoved off at 1:00am on Sept 30th, a Saturday Morning (I'm not all that supersticious, but this 'getting going' bussiness takes a LONG time!) This is a picture at about 8:00am the next proper 'morning'. It was a DOLDRUM'S sort of CALM... Not a stitch of wind. It seemed as if you coould jump off the boat and walk to the coast! You may be able to notice a huge feeding frenzy going on in the distance behind the boat and towards shore. We actually sailed though it, but it was so amazing that I did not even think of the camera until we'd passed...

PICTURE 2 In the light winds, we tried to stay entertained... Here we are trying out the spinnaker (only for show really since I am not properly rigged for it yet...) but I'll figure that out later... we are also showing our little courtesy flag as we were still in Mexican waters.

[Rico]

PICTURE 1.- Leaving San Diego after checking in with customs. This is now Saturday afternoon. I would have rather have continued straight north taking advantage of the afternoon breeze, but I did not want to get in trouble...

The point you see is San Diego's Point Loma. The harbor entrance is just to the south (Right) of it, and you can see Downtown far in the distance.

PICTURE 2.- The next picture is of the following morning about 10:00. It is of the approach to Dana Point. Had to make a quick stop here since my crew needed to head off to real life... I dropped off the guys and caught a few winks and shoved off on my own for the Dana Point to Newport Beach stretch.

PICTURE 3.- (Forgot to rotate this!) Heading offshore from Dana Point. I had a great sail in a mild breeze.... I flew the 180% Genoa. I was a bit hesitant at first because I'd be in a struggle to switch sails on my own, but it worked out great. I was eager to sail, so I caught a reach towards Catalina Island (West) which is the scenic route (longer) to Newport which lies only 15 mi to the north.

PICTURE 4.-On the way to Newport Beach! I took this while I was changing underneath. I rigged up a little auto pilot to help me with the tiller while I tidied-up and got rid of the clutter. This worked really well, for the few minutes at a time that I needed...

[Rico]

PICTURE 1.- I've made it to Newport Beach!
Here is the Mephisto Cat at the Harbormaster's (Police) dock. It took me a little bit to get settled as I could not find an available guest dock (which are FREE). And I did not want to deal with the anchorage, as I really did not look forward to worrying about anchors in the night after only 4 hrs sleep in the last two days... (There are two or three free anchoring areas within the harbor.) And I also did not have a Dinghy in which to get to shore...)

Lacking a guest dock; I returned to get my luxury $5 mooring, but had to wait as there was an issue that the harbor police had to attend to... There was a 50-60 year-old skipper roaming around the harbor... This guy was completely toasted and he was running around the harbor (tight quarters - lot's of traffic) on a 50ft sailboat!!

It was one of the dozen or so 20-year old non-sailing women on the boat who got so scared when he started getting awnry and having too many close calls with other vessels that finally made the call to 911... I wasted some time, but it was entertaining at least... Only in LA...


PICTURE 2.- My Mooring. I spent the night on the boat, but decided to leave the boat there until the next weekend when the forecast called for a bit more wind... I had a lovely night's sleep on the boat. I think it took me 5 seconds to fall asleep.

Accommodation at the house pictured behind the Mephisto Cat was sadly NOT included in the $5 mooring fee. (If people pay $1m for 800sf in the harbor, I wonder how much this little chateau went for...) I found out later that my mooring was in front of (behind me as I took the picture) John Wayne's old house, which was later owned by Nicolas Cage the actor. There was a 100' or so motoryach parked in front of that...

[Rico]

The next Saturday I made it to Long beach - We had great 15-20kt winds in the afternoon. I though of sailing into the night make it all the way to Marina del Rey, but I did not want to subject my willing crew to this... I did not take any pictures that day but we finished up at a nice restaurant with a guest dock in Long Beach. We celebrated with a few drinks and they I went to sleep right at the guest dock... They were picked-up in Long beach...

1.- The next morning I set off at about 6:00am and motored past the Queen Mary and the spruce goose dome in Long Beach Harbor.

2.- Here I am rounding Point Fermin on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

3.- Finally getting to Marina del Rey after the day turned into a great day for sailing. I was escorted into the harbor by an Alerion Express. They were curious as to what the new little boat in the neighborhood was...

[Rico]

Finally; the Mephisto Cat at it's new home in Marina Del Rey where I've been for about two months now...

Marina Del Rey is the largest man-made harbor in the world (At least until the guys in Dubai finish working on theirs!) It is home to almost 6,000 Boats of all shapes & sizes.

I've done no more work on the boat... I've just been sailing! The weather is still great around here... (Not to rub it in... ) I took this picture last week when it was in the high 70's low 80's as usual.

Now that I've caught-up the posts to the new location, I will post some more pictures of the different projects and the work in progress...

[Rico]

Well - so much for the new home! Time to move on... I am getting worked up about making it up to SF Bay before Thanksgiving...

Has anyone done that run mid-November early December? Please let me know if you have any insight on the topic, or know someone who has done this at around this time... I'm told going around Point Conception can be hairy in the wrong weather...

[Chance]

Rico,
1st, I want to commend you on the quality work and attention to detail you have bestowed upon Mephisto Cat! I am currently working in the lazarette / motor well area our our Commander, #256 and have a couple of questions for you:

1) Where did you find the replacement rubber seal that goas around the top edge of the fiberglass (aka: knife edge to some) opening? I have been searching for a seal similar in profile to Pearson's original, but no luck. Do you remember where specifically you obtained (source) and part number and / or description for the gasket you used?

2) Did you modify the original small drainage hole? The approximate 1 inch hole centered at the base of the forward motor well mount. Did you leave it well enough alone, enlarge it, or add any others?

Respectfully,
Chance

[Rico]

Thank you very much Chance!

I also looked hard & wide for the seal. I am sorry to say that I ended up using a roll of material that the previous owner had bought and supplied with the boat a few years back. The stuff is beautiful, but at first I thought It would not be enough to do both hatches, bit I did have just enough! That material is by far better than anything I was able to find.

I did buy a length of similar material from one of McMaster-carr catalog (Picture below) but did not use it. -I would not reccommend it... (It seems not nearly as solid - flimsy actually... The material I used is all rubber - no aluminum core in the channel as in the catalog - you are welcome to have it if you need it).

The profile is as pictured and the specs follow the original material. They are as follows:


This original material mirrors these same dimensions as the original Pearson Material very, very closely, but the original stuff is all solid rubber, The material pictured has some sort of soft foam at the top - not hard rubber, while the bottom part is a hard plastic with an aluminum core... I am afraid that the material pictured will not last very long for this application.

The Dimensions are as follows:

Edge ........A.........B ............C ...........Cat #........Price
3/16" ..... 5/8" ...17/32".... 1 5/32"....1120A332.....$1.73

I will try to contact the PO and will provide any info I get on the original version (as provided by the PO).



I did not modify the drain hole beyond cleaning it up. I remains about 1" (minus a thick coat of Gel-coat) diameter and it seems to work fine... Looking back on it, I guess I would have spent a bit more time on this to work in a more pronounced slope towards the hole. I get a few ounces of water just by the hole that fail to drain when the boat sits in the slip not moving after being hosed off -But this is just me being picky...

I hope this helps.

[Bill]

A number of years ago, the association had the Pearson weatherstripping reproduced for the lazerette and forward Ariel hatches. It is now sold out, but if there is interest, we can order it again. The minimum production run equals 50 or 60 sets. With the recent price for poly anything going through the roof (and postage rate increases), however, the price is unlikely to be as cheap as it was before. Here's the write up from the old order form:

The Association has reproduced the weatherstripping used by Pearson on Ariel yachts. It is being made available in kits containing ten feet of a larger extrusion for the lazarette hatch and six feet of a smaller extrusion for the forward cabin hatch. Each extrusion is cut longer than necessary to allow for possible variation in hatch rim circumference. Shipping is via Priority Mail. (Note: forward hatch on the Commander is 6'-6" in circumference. We will be cutting this length.)


Weatherstripping Kit (2 lengths) $ 48.00

Packaging and Shipping 7.00

Total Per Kit: $ 55.00

[Chance]

Rico,
Thanks for your prompt reply and the offer. Because I'm not launching anytime in the near future, I'm going to hold out and try to locate that which you have used. That would be great if you get the information from the PO, for sourcing, etc..

Bill,
Most definately I would be interested in purchasing one set of the the rubber extrusions (Pearson weatherstripping) to address the two areas I'm in need of restoring. Even with the price increase, I'm in. Hopefully there will be enough interest within the community to justify / pay for the custom order so we (those that need it now and for those that will need it in the future) can get the right material.

Respectfully,
Chance

[Bill]

Oops. Couldn't see the picture well. I thought it was split in the middle

Nevermind

You would think there would be some automotive product that could be used.

I guess the Association already looked hard for a substitute

As a matter of fact, yes we did. We obtained about a dozen samples of weatherstripping, but none were, shall we say, "free form" enough to fit the hatch lip on our yachts. Ended up sending samples to a rubber extruder who was able to duplicate the two forms. That was 2001 and we shipped the last of the weatherstripping sets in 2005 or '06.

[Rico]

I've not had time to post regarding my decision to head North to San Francisco... I've been in a mad rush trying to get myself & the boat ready.

I'll be starting the trip (Marina Del Rey to San Francisco) at daybreak tomorrow. I'll be singlehandling on the first leg from Marina Del Rey to Oxnard... this is about a 55 mile sail.

I expect to reach Oxnard late in the day tomorrow in warm, but light winds (the ones that seem to be fueling the current fires in several places in California). I'll meet-up with the trip's 'first mate' Carol there. She will be joining me...hopefully all the way to San Francisco which is about 470 miles North of Marina del rey. This will make the trip to the San Francisco Bay a total some 700 miles in total accounting for the distance from Ensenada where the boat was launched into the water.

We will make the trip from Oxnard up to Santa Barbara - 33 miles The following day where we'll meet-up with my second crewmember, Kristin, who will come aboard for the rounding of Point Conception (55 miles east of SB) hopefully in the wee hours of Sunday morning. We are lucky to have a favourable forecast and a long enough weather window for rounding the point and sneak into Morro Bay which is some 85 miles further north.

Kristin will stay with us until Morro Bay which we should reach aided by a light (and unseasonable) southerly wind - as opposed to the Nor-Westerlies that are typical for this time of the year. Unfortunately, these light southerlies tend to happen just before the weather kicks-up into a storm...

As of now, the forecast calls for these 'favourable' winds for the trip North - important at the time of rounding point conception especially. (read: not on the nose, as it is predominantly as the California coast runs up in a northwesterly direction all the way to a point just South of San Francisco Bay).

Rental EPIRB is on board along with a bunch of other gear (safety gear, spares, foulies, tools, etc.)

I've decided to leave the hard dinghy behind... as I do not want to deal with a swamped dinghy in tow... I do have a tiny inflatable - just in case someone asks... 'cause I do not think it will really do much for us in the middle of the ocean. At least it will be something we can climb on to...

I am looking forward to this voyage North along the California coast... I will post some pictures on this thread as I am able.

Wish us a bit of luck!

[ebb]

Beautiful boat,
fine crafted upgrades,
you've done right by Mephisto,
she'll get you thru the Golden Gate.

[Ed Ekers]

Rico, I am located in Santa Cruz and thought I would give you a heads up for your trip north. Today (Friday) we are seeing swells in the 7-10 ft. range. The forecast for the next five days calls for a weather system coming in early next week, which has the potential to build even bigger seas.

I have sailed down the coast a few times over the years and the area of Conception can be a real ***** as I am sure you are aware. If I was making the trip north over the coming days I would be watching the sea condition with a weather front in the area. It could turn ugly fast if you are in the wrong spot. The sea condition around Conception can and will get very confused as they build.

With that said, I and the rest of the folks on this board are wishing you a great time as you trek your way north……ed

[commanderpete]

Good luck Rico! Hope the weather cooperates

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