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This is a two-part post. The first part is the announcement of an addition to Black Arts that talks about inexpensive hardware and its dangerous limitations. It's the product of a discussion between me and Scott Schoeler (Scot-Free), who is a marine surveyor and passionate on the subject. We hope it saves you some grief.
The second part talks about what I think are legitimate low-cost projects to create shroud rollers and a whisker pole this summer. The background is:
1. a comment by a sailmaker that any boat like the 27, with forward lower shrouds, should have rollers on these to speed tacking;
2. the desire to have a decent whisker pole for our weeknight races, which are necessarily white-sail as we are not allowed to fly chutes in Toronto harbour, a desire that is tempered by the observation that many of the people who have whisker poles don't actually use these $500 toys that much.
The search for shroud rollers came up with a zero, until I asked Nick Genco at Genco Marine. He hadn't seen rollers in ages, but after I expressed disappointment, he suddenly said, "Wait a minute," returning with a length of grey plastic electrical conduit. We quickly established that this conduit's inside diameter is the same as the inside diameter of the smallest size of shroud turnbuckle boot. Since Nick sells these separately, I was able to buy one for the top and one for the bottom for each roller. With the conduit, total cost was under $10. They're not beautiful, but I don't care - they work and the genoa now comes across much more quickly.
The whisker pole was pure serendipity. I was in a paint store and noticed a fibreglass painter's extension pole with a twist lock. Hmm - 12.5 feet long, just two feet less than a PHRF-legal whisker pole. As no one was looking, I extended it a few feet and balanced on it for a few seconds. Okay, it will hold my weight, at least briefly, and that should be more than good enough for light air, which is when you really want a whisker pole. I bought the pole and once again, Genco came through with a length of aluminum tubing whose inside diameter was appropriate for a Holt pole end fitting, and that just fitted over the end of the painter's pole. I glued the aluminum tubing to the painter's pole with epoxy and voila, I have a whisker pole. It's a foot shorter than the maximum allowable, but it was $70 total, not $500, so I won't feel I've been profligate if I don't use the thing. By the way, I have used it and it bends wildly, but it's light and it hasn't slipped yet.
David Weatherston
Towser, Toronto
C&C 27 Mk IV
David Weatherston
Towser, Toronto
C&C 27 Mk IV
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