Compass error

Compass Error.

We also swung the compass this afternoon. That's to check if the ship's compass might be out by a few degrees due to any metal influences onboard the boat.
Whatever degrees it might be out by, is referred to as compass deviation. Then you also have the difference between true compass and magnetic compass. That called compass variation.

You have to take both variation and deviation into account when calling for a compass course to be steered. The two together is called COMPASS ERROR.

It takes a while for the concepts to sink in, but I still recall Johnny Walker drilling it into our heads way back in 1978 at the old Port Elizabeth Technicon where he presented his navigation courses.
"VARIATION WEST, COMPASS BEST, etc" "VARIATION EAST, COMPASS LEAST". To this day, I draw a little diagram on all my charts. On the stormiest of nights, a glance at the diagram will ensure that all is well at the navigation table.

I was confident that the Banjo would have very little deviation, if any at all. I had carefully planned the positioning of the radio and instruments and all the cabling during the building process to ensure we are free of compass problems.
The abscence of an inboard motor and alternators etc. also helps. Many years ago I came to within meters of putting a boat on the rocks in thick fog off Hout Bay due to and inboard motor and alternator throwing out a compass.

There are three or four different ways to swing the compass. I placed a handbearing compass on the cabin top, on the centreline of the boat. Thats about as far away from anything as you will get. Then motored on the various headings and got Jamie to call the readings out so I could compare it with the ship's compass.

We had a big problem. The compass was out by 180 degrees!
"No Jamie, read the numbers on the inside circle, not the numbers on the outside circle!"
That solved the 180 problem.

Then we were out by 20 degrees!
"No Jamie, the little lines with no numbers next to the 90 means 100 degrees, not 80! Gee my boy, which way do you count at school!"

Then got that one waxed.

The compass is spot-on. Shoo! Anyway, at least so close that no one can steer on any of the deviation that might be there.

The course to St Helena is 310 my co-skipper tells me. Magnetic, or True? Ah dunno! He never told me.

I made a special effort to check 310 degrees.
It's fine.

(the picture shows us doing our thing in front of the house. That's Jamie on the cabin top, reading out the handbearing compass numbers for me.)

It's a family affair.

It's spring tide so I will use the bit of help from mother nature to pull the boat out of the water tomorrow afternoon just after work.
The boat comes out at the village slipway 200 meters down the road. We use a launching dolley for that and pull the boat out with the family car and tow it onto our driveway. Then it becomes a real pleasure to do all the 100 tiny little jobs which require another two hundred trips on and off the boat and into the garage to cut and trim and drill.

St Francis Bay has water restrictions at the moment (serious draught) and it will be frowned upon to use a hose to clean off the marine growth from the bottom of the boat. So, despite the cold weather, Jamie and I donned wetsuits this afternoon and got stuck into cleaning the bottom BEFORE the boat comes out. Tanya and Rosie declined the invite to have the entire family in the water.
Flip, it's still winter! That water was cold.
Jamie was a big help. And surprisingly keen. Mom stood by and handed out cups of coffee and hot chocolate as we came out of the water.

On Saturday I bolted all the new fittings and deck hardware down. Except the spinnaker foreguy rope clutch. Reason, when it came to bolting it on I noticed that I never sealed the edges of the holes after I had drilled through the core the week before!

Dammit.

Rosie and Arthur

Horses for courses

Did a lot of work on Saturday and cleaned up.

Sunday was horseriding day.

Rosie went to ride at a beginners training showjumping day. (that's one event) In Port Elizabeth. We all went to watch.

Now going to ride in another town is just like going to an away regatta.
All very exciting packing and getting there. Great fun while the event is on. But.......................... all the time you have it in the back of your mind that afterwards you must pack up all this lot and still get the horse (the boat) back home. And it's going home where things normally goes pearshaped. I.e. trailer wheel comes off, delivery trip home with the boat always turns out to be a headwind, etc.

Luckily none of that happened and all went well. The horse she rides is called Lizaar. I call the thing Bizare.
She had two clear rounds and in the third round the horse stops short of the 3rd last jump. Not a sausage is he jumping. She gives him a smack and over it goes. Kinda like you have to put in an extra tack to clear the weather mark in a sailboat race.

Two jumps to go. Over the next one, but the horse is now really acting Bizare. He spots the exit gate and takes a sharp right out of the arena. Like when the guys at the back of the boat misreads the sailing instructions for shortened course and heads the boat for the finish line and leaves out the last mark by mistake.
On the way to the exit gate Rosie loses it and starts to slide off the horse. Some chick catches her at the gate and slides her back on again. Almost like a man overboard, but not quite.

So they miss out on the last jump and gets a no score for that round. We're all happy that she gave the day her best shot and try hard not to laugh about the bizare incident with Lizaar (Bizare).

Great day out.

Oh, yes. I now know why the boat's outboard engine is refered to as how many horsepower.
"horsepower" taken from horses. An ouboard engine is as tempremental as a flippen horse.

And all those hot girls at the riding. In those tight riding pants. Gee.........they've got terrible panty line problems. Well, most of them.

Tierra del Fuego

Did no jobs this evening.

Too cold. A chilly South easter blowing and the boat lying at an acute angle on the beach. Low tide.

So I did some tax work instead. If the tax man is not happy, nobody goes anywhere in, or out of South Africa.

Then spent the rest of the evening looking at pictures on my pc. I've got to find one of myself for the Race website. Did'nt find any cool shots of myself but enjoyed looking at my pictures of Tierra Del Fuego.

I'll never get tired of that.

Got a good idea!

When the SAMSA inspector comes for the "going foreign" survey, you must also have on board "charts for the intended voyage". I'm going to present my Cape Horn charts! And check the guy's face.

Sorry, wrong boat!

Had a team conference call meeting this morning.

My co-skipper on the phone.
He is feeling bad cause he is unable to help with the jobs lists. So he is offering some advice......... . By submitting his list of "must have" creature comforts for the cockpit!

1. The cockpit seats must be comfortable.
Okay, we'll take some cushions.

2. The cockpit must be comfortable for steering from EITHER side.
Okay, the cockpit on this boat (like most boats I know), are both side, same, same.

3. He wants to be able to stand and steer in comfy.
Okay, just mind the liferaft at your feet and you should be okay. (and the boom above your head).

4. He wants support for his back while steering.
Okay, I'll take one of those cheap white plastic deck chairs, cut of the legs and mount it on a piece of marine ply, will that do? Just like on the Mini transat boats?

5. He wants a place in the cockpit for the person on stand-by to be able to have a kipp.
Okay, but the "person on stand- by" is going to be me, the only other person onboard. I offer to make a little plywood infill for the forward cockpit and I will kipp there, on some of the cushions mentioned in 1. I should be comfy.
But I go one better for him. I tell him he can put the boat on autopilot when HE is on watch and HE can kipp there and be his own "stand-by". He likes that idea.

6. Oh, he also wants a shady spot in the cockpit.
Okay, I'm gonna cut up an old Finn dinghy mainsail I still have from.....you guess it, my Finn, and make a cockpit shady from that. I offered him a choice. Old Finn sail, or old Mirror dinghy sail. We both agree we'll go for the Finn sail. More class!

Moer, is this guy on the wrong boat?

Drill, fill, drill

Drill, fill, drill.

Ticking off the jobs list this past weekend.

Patric and I lifted the mast off the boat on Friday morning before I went to work. The mast is now on the front lawn so I can give it a once over. From a quick look, all seems well, but I will do a proper job later.

Nice sunny weather on Saturday enabled me to sort out the liferaft storage in the cockpit. The end of the raft slots in well under the traveller bulkhead. The other end is secured by two s/s saddles through bolted into the cockpit floor. A rope lashing will hold the raft in position.

Fitting the saddles requires "drill, fill, drill". Seeing that the boat is composite construction, with all holes drilled, the pvc foam around the hole must be dug out and the hole refilled with thickened epoxy. The epoxy must be left to cure and once cured the hole is re drilled, but now with an epoxy sleeve around it. The epoxy sleeve does two things, it creates a seal around the hole to prevent water seeping into the pvc core material and it also forms a hardspot to prevent the bolts holding the fittings down from crushing the foam core.

It makes installing fittings a real pain in the ass.

The quickest way to do it is to mark the fitting and the holes onto the hull.

Drill a small pilot hole for each bolt.

Go to the other side (inside the boat) and drill a 25 mm hole with a spoon bit through the inner laminate and the foam core.

As the bit touches the outer laminate, STOP.

You then fill the hole with thickened epoxy.

Once cured, drill the correct size hole.

An oversize backing plate (6 mm aluminium or 12 mm marine ply) is then placed over the hole on the inside.

This spreads the load well past the plug.

Bullet proof, just takes time.

Anyway, I also did the extra u bolts for safety harnesses in the cockpit and two attachment points for the aft safety nets.

Then I enlarged the one cockpit locker hatch so the outboard's fuel tank can go into it. That is a huge improvement. The enlarged opening must now have the raw foam core dug out and resealed with epoxy.

Today I made the hatch cover bigger to fit the bigger hole.

I also measured up all the lengths for s/steel cable to be ordered. That's for the bow pole braces, the bobstay and the aft safety nets.

Then the weather turned very nasty and all work stopped.

Tomorrow the epirb arrives.

Then it is some flares, lifejacket lights, an extra fire extinguisher and we can be surveyed for "going foreign" by the SAMSA inspector.

The picture was taken during construction, but the locker on the left is the one I enlarged to take the fuel tank. The raft goes onto the cockpit floor and slides under the lip at the forward end of the cockpit. I have prepared two thin mahogany 450 x 40 x 6 mm strips to keep the raft off the cockpit floor. Thes I will just glue on with PU adhesive.

Tiny jobs

What the hell is that?

It's nylon spacers to put on both sides of the chainplates.
The shrouds and forestay bottlescrews as they fit at the moment, leave about 5mm of tolerence either side of the chainplates. This means that the gigging pins are inclined to take the full load unevenly. Not good!

These nylon spacers will centre the rigging screws. Much better.

Tiny job, but important.

Rudder trim

Also sorted out the rudder trim.

Up to now the boat had a very neutral helm, but with a touch of lee helm after putting in a reef in the mainsail.

The mast have been raked back as well, and that improved things a bit, but not enough.

The other remedy is to trim the rudder blade's rake aft by a few degrees. Simple job with a kick-up rudder. You just drill a new hole for the locking pin.

The rudder is a composite construction. High density pu foam with a hardwood insert taking the compression loads of the gudgeons. There are also hardwood inserts placed where all the pivot bolts etc pass through the blade.
An advantage of building the boat yourself is that you know whats inside and can drill with confidence!

So the new hole is drilled and that should perfect the steering for the long haul to St Helena.

Next time I work with epoxy I will seal the exposed timber and fibres from the drilled hole.

It was reassuring to look inside the hole and to be reminded just how strong the layup of cloth on the rudder is. The cloth layups on each side of the insert is about 9 mm! Farrier says that if built to spec, you will not break the rudder. I can see why.

The other end

I don't know how to download more than one piture at a time!

The pointy end of the bow pole.
It takes two side brace lines to the bows of the float hulls, A downhaul to the stem, just above the waterline and a block for the tack line.

Job list

Job lists.

Tickt off a few jobs this evening. (not the most important ones, but they all add up)

I completed the a/spinnaker bow pole. I had earlier cut the componets for the pole according to designer Ian Farrier's technical drawings and had drilled the holes forall the bits and pieces.

This evening I bolted it all together and cut all the excess thread off the bolts. Nothing is more sloppy than over-lenght bolts.

I can decide later whether to spray paint or have it anodized. Anodizing is quite cheap and not much hassle. But I have all the paint on hand in the form of leftovers. If I paint it, I will save about R300. I can use that for the 12 meters of VHF aerial wire I will need for when I move the VHF aerial from the stern to the masthead.

By the way, the fitting above is not scew. It is angled upwards once bolted onto the stem fitting. Here it is upside down on the work bench.

4 Months to go.

4 Months to go.

Yep, 1st December is the start of the Governor's Cup, 1 800 nautical miles, Simonstown to St Helena.

Our race schedule had it that the boat was to be slipped at the end of July. So late yesterday afternoon I went and fetched the boat to bring it home for it's preperation to start.

Now bringing the boat haome is not that simple.

Firstly, I drive to the harbour. Leave car at harbour to collect later.
Then motor from the harbour to the mouth of the Kromme River. About 4 n/miles. To catch the last of the incomming tide which would give me that extra half a meter of water over the bar and the tricky channel which runs parralel to the beach, then the sharp turn right into the river propper and the the short distance to the entrance to the St Francis Bay marina canal system.

I was banking on Jamie to come along and give me a hand. But Jamie (now 13) has discovered another 13 year old living in Humansdorp. And that's where he was. I had no chance of getting him to help.

Boat and Dad versus 13 year old girl. I was on my own.

Quick motor to the river mouth. Watch the surf, count the sets. From behind it looked okay. Not great, just okay.
So I make a run on the back of a set. The boat is fast and we decide to overtake the wave in font of us and test the boat's surfing ability. It surfs well!

Then the sharp left turn, parralel to the beach. You now have the big sandbank on your left, with waves breaking on it between you and the open sea. On the right you have some more waves breaking onto the beach. You are in a channel that's about 10 meters wide. Or rather the bit that's deep enough to use. With the rudder full down we draw 950 mm. I had drawn the daggerboard up to match that.

The first bit of the channel is always bumpy and yesterday afternoon was no different. Then it smooths out and about 500 meters further you turn sharp right, a horsehoe bend, and you're in the river. Danger is over and you have something to drink. Believe me, by then your mouth is VERY dry.

All went well. Beached the boat at the canal entrance and with the help of Barry the Boeing pilot who came paddling past, I lowered the mast into it's cradle.

Still all well.

Then the fun began.
I must motor round the corner into the canals and moor the boat there, to wait for low tide at midnight so we can pass under a little road bridge which rather inconveniently blocks our house from the open waters.

That's all I had to do!
It is now dark. I shove the boat off, start the motor and proceed up the canal.
The engine cuts out.
This engine NEVER cuts out. As in NEVER, EVER.

The tide sweeps us out of the canals towards the river. I drop the anchor but the stern is going to hit some rocks on the oposite bank. It is now pitch black dark. To protect the boat I lower myself into the water and shove the stern clear. But cut my hand and my leg on the frikken rocks.

Now check whats wrong with the engine. In the loom of the white stern navigation light I see the problem. The cradle that supports the lowered mast has been placed over the fuel pipe! Who did that? ME!

But there is no way I can lift that lot. So I grab a screw driver and wedge it underneath the cradle, lift it enough and then shove a pair of pliers under it to act as a spacer so the fuel pipe can open up. Those were the tools lying in the cockpit from lowering the mast.

Wroom! Off we go to our temporary berth around the corner. Get there, secure the boat with a bit of a struggle. Hell, wish Jamie was there to help! But I manage. The boat is strung up between two walls in a little cove, well clear of any walls. All done, I give Tanya a call to come and pick me up.

All I must do is get ashore now. No problem, the water is only about 400 mm deep.

I pack my little rucksack, car keys, camera, cell phone.

I easy myself off the boat.
I go down,
and down,
and down.

Up to my nuts,
then my chest,
then my armpits.

When the water reaches my chin, my toes touch the muddy bottom.
Only just!

All this would have been okay.
Except it's 7 p/m and winter!

My dear Tanya collects me. I go and have a warm shower, dry cloathes. Then off to the harbour to go and fetch my car.

Jamie gets home from his new bokkie.

At midnight he takes me around with Tanya's motor boat to go and bring the Banjo home to the beach in front of our house.

As we chug along the laaitie tells me, "Dad, when we get to your boat I will go alongside for you to climb straight on and I will go to the side and cast you off. No need for you to get your feet wet Dad."

Hell, where was the little bliksem earlier when I really needed him?

Anyway,the boat is now home.

This week we will lift the mast off for a good inspection and to fit a VHF arial.
I will start the work inside the cabin and fit some deckhardware we need to make things easier up top. I have completed the spinnaker pole and its fittings and will try it for size.

I will also do the fitting of the solar pannel posts on the stern.

Hopefully the liferaft is back from Cape Town and I can sort out the mountings for that in the cockpit.

The countdown has started and the jobs need ticking off. An new ones will be added.

Oh, yes. This afternoon I got into the waste deep water and cleaned 90% of the bottom. So it will be almost clean when the boat comes out onto the drive way.