Modified boom to roll main sail & blog.

[Sparksvonrou]

Well finally the weather broke here in Erie, Pa. Sometimes it seems we never see the sun!

I purchased this used 26X last fall and finally am getting around to making mods that are important to me. For years I had a "Shark" by Hinterhauler. It had a rolling boom for reefing the main as well as stowing the main. After selling that and getting this 26X the idea of not rolling to reef or stow was just archaic. I had toyed with the idea over the winter and finally tackled the project the other day. It was a full day of fabrication and running to the hardware but it's done. Now there is a rotating eye on the stern end and a slot in the front that allows the boom to pull back to turn and when shoved forward; locks it in place. Anyone interested in having one done, I can probably do one for you.

Yesterday I started the helm and steering cable replacement. That turned into a day long project because in the process we started fixing the huge amount of slop in the rudders. We decided to go with the new helm so that it was gear drive after hearing all the bad stories of failed helms here. Besides the idea of no tension when you let go of the wheel was grand and a simple autopilot for a few minutes to do something needing done. I will post a separate thread on this modification when I get time. Also I will post another separate thread regarding the removal of the rudder slop. That will hopefully be completed today.

From there we go on to installing the Autohelm 3000 (non sea talk) and testing that. I don't know how others have used this as my pedestal kants the steering wheel upward from 90 degrees parallel to the water. As a result it's not possible to mount the motor on the side of the starboard seat as it seems so many other have done. Besides my shift and throttle are on the starboard side of the pedestal so it simply won't work. As a result we looked at mounting it on the port side and the deck. I opted to go with the port side even though it will locate right in the tank cutout. I did not want to make any openings into the deck over the aft cabin period so the deck was out. I have 1/2 inch acrylic sheets and will make a 8 inch by 1 foot piece that will bolt to the rear of the port tank cutout. Then the motor will bolt to that. That will provide the correct placement to angle the belt as needed with the kanted wheel. So there is another post coming up with the pictures and thread for the Autohelm installation. I know I will need a new 13vdc power plug and receptical to mount since I don't have the original. I also fabricated a slanted aluminum bracket to mount the Autohelm control box since the small piece that is the bracket to mount it was also missing from the used helm purchase.

There will also be changes to run all lines aft for single handing. Fortunately the Sara Marie has a roller on the jib so that's already done.

Last year we installed two batteries in the compartment just aft of the sink box. We added a battery switch, changed out the old worn fuse/switch panel, and installed a 110vac ground fault receptical there as well. Inside that compartment we also added a DC marine automatic charger wired into the 110vac. The 110vac was fed from a new 30amp receptical mounted on the port stern and runs through a push button 30amp breaker also on the aft of the stove box. It was pretty easy mount all that since the sink cover (starboard of the sink box, black/brown plastic) unscrews and that entire thing comes out of the way.

I have just ordered a new Nicro Stainless steel solar vent/fan and plan on installing that right in the forward hatch. We had a huge nightmare this spring when we opened it from winter storage (uncovered and in a unheated building). I was flabbergasted to find that everything inside had a layer of mold. We are still working on that. We pulled all the seat covers off the foam and washed them in the washer with laundry soap. We took the sail and made a laundry soap and borax mixture as recommended elsewhere on this forum and washed it well. The main had been left inside rolled on the boom so it was stained too. Now we have the task of scrubbing all the insides with the soap and borax mixture. I hope the re-installation of the foam into the seats isn't a nightmare.

I like others have had another problem with water always laying in the space below the sink and below the cooler spot. I went and used clear silicon sealer and did all the fittings topside and around the rub rail. I checked the anchor chain locker. While working on the rudders I found one ladder bracket lose so some of the water may be coming in there. We will see how she does now that the topside has been sealed with silicone. I think most was coming in there as it seemed that it got water inside even when it was only sitting in the yard and there had been rain.

Well I am not getting anything done on the project typing here but I thought others might want to see the changes and make improvements on their system too. I will try and get some pictures on here as soon as I can.

Happy Sailing

Sparks
AKA Sparksvonrou

[Brian]

Hi Sparks,

You have my interest with your "Rolling Boom".

Could you share this with us?

I have an , but the boom is almost the same. What we would need is a parts list, pictures, and instructions.

Thanks!

Brian

[JohnCFI]

I would also like to see this mod pictures and diagrams. sounds like a great idea, although you making it and shipping it here would not be practical.

[seahouse]

Here's a recent thread on the topic...

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... &start=105

... with a description and some pix. PM me if you would like one.

- Brian.

[Seapup]

Sounds like you have been quite busy, half the fun of a mac I suppose

The leaks are tricky. Once you take care of them the mold shouldn't be an issue. Until they are gone it will be frustrating. I looked at a few Xs and on all of them there were leaks under the rub rail from damage to the hull/deck joint. I think its pretty common. Sealing the chainplates and the obvious ladder leak is a great place to start. If there is still water you may have to look under the rubrail though.

I am one of the ones with the 3000 belt driven AP, feel free to PM me with any questions. You are correct that the angle needs changed to mount the motor on the pedestal. I have the newer style X pedestal with teleflex rack (thinking that is what you swapped to?) I shimmed the rack so that the wheel exits vertically and made an angled cover out of a PVC cap to fill the gap between the wheel and console. To change the angle of the rack just add a spacer on the bottom bolts.

Personally I don't know why its angled and all other sailboats are vertical, vertical takes up less space and is more comfortable to me It sounds like you have a plan worked out, but the belt and motor will be a nuisance if you run it over to the fuel locker...

[Sparksvonrou]

After a very busy week, I finally get a chance to update the ongoing mods and repairs.

Let me deal with some of the comments and thanks to everyone that did comment. I got a personal email asking for more info on the boom mod but when I tried to respond it was blocked by some spam blocker that wouldn't let me reply even to the "permission" part. You don't' need to send the boom here if you wanted me to make the mod for you. All you need to do is remove both of the end pieces and send them here. Cost estimate is under $200. I sealed around the rub rail with silicon sealer as well as some plates. I may have to take some off and seal/bed underneath.

Here is a pic of how I modified the fuel tank locker to install the Autohelm.

OK... duh. I just realized I don't know how to insert pictures. So I will have to go do that in a bit.

Anyway I think it will make little difference if it's (Autohelm) attached to the starboard seat side or to the port tank. To me, either way it's in the way. Nevertheless the advantage of having it far outweighs the inconvenience!

I have literally worked 10 hours a day for the entire week getting things done that we wanted done. The main roller is done. The new helm (Yes it was one of the gear driven ones with zero feedback) is installed along with the new cable. That was a pain. I don't know where everyone else has their steering cable exit to attach to the steering rod aft. I will post the picture where there was a hole drilled below the big hole that had a cut open boot over the cables and wires. The steering cable originally came out that. I admit mounting it through that lower hole made it lower but we found that by taking out all the slack in the rudders and cable and steering push rod, the rod should be parallel to the deck and not laying on it as it originally was. So putting the steering cable back out the big hole made a angle but the angle is acceptable and there is no resistance to steering because of it or binding. We reinstalled the big boot opting not to take all the wiring loose to install an new one without a cut. We just sealed the entire cut and around the boot to hull with silicon sealer. Kind of blobby looking but it functions. I bet some of the water inside was from that silly open small hole below the big one!

Lets see. Next we removed everything from inside. We washed all the foam cushion covers in the washing machine and put the foam in the sun outside for two days. We also sprayed them with Lysol. I hope that eliminates any moldy smell (they smell great now!). We even removed the face plate and cubbyholes from the side of the sink cabinet. We had cut wood and installed inside under the sink last fall to make a flat surface for storing things on instead of them being down in the bottom where at the time bilge water would accumulate. Also the cubbyhole just forward of the sink under that seat has a wood bottom installed. The wood wasn't cut neat but serves the purpose to keep stuff up and dry. I never had problems with water on the next cubbyhole forward on the port side of the V berth. The one on the Starboard side of the aft end of the V berth rarely got wet also but stunk from the water that accumulated under the cooler forward of the head. Those don't have wood slat bottoms. We took the advise elsewhere on this forum of using laundry detergent and borax to wash with leaving a borax film on things to keep the mold roots from growing. By the way, while on the subject, the Eco-quest Electronic Air Cleaner (way over priced... sorry Eco-quest fans) turned on max ozone did a fantastic job of stink removal and literally killed almost all the mold so it was just a remaining powder. There were a couple spots that were some weird black mold that was like iron. It had to be scrubbed to get off. Kind of like a dried rubber cement. So we washed it all down with a green scrubby (works best) and rinsed in a bucket kept clean of the borax solution. We found good strong direct sprayed 409 helped on the first scrubbing. We then wet down the bilge areas (now dry) so the borax residue was there also. I am amazed at how nice and clean it all worked out and how good it smells! It looks like a new boat! Picture coming up!

There was a loose bolt on the starboard ladder attachment bracket. We crawled into the aft berth and with the curtain over the cutout removed we were able to just get a wrench on that bolt's nut and removed it. We then silicon sealed it and tightened it back up tight. By the way. What does everyone think of the comparison of Silicon Sealer versus Life Caulk for bedding and sealing? I personally prefer the Life Caulk as I think that vibration and wiggling makes water leak around the silicon sealer.

Getting back to the helm install, we had just a minor cut with a jig saw to open the big hole for the helm to match the template. After installing it, I am pretty sure it would have worked just fine without enlarging the hole. The mounting holes for the bolts lined up perfect. We still need to pre-drill and then screw the plastic boot/cover behind the wheel as it's different sized than the original. While we were doing that we installed the pulley for the autopilot belt behind the wheel.

Cleaning things was very time consuming and we still have to clean the contents of a lot that we took out. We washed the seat cubbyhole boards. We washed the sink cubbyholes on the black plastic face. We washed the lenses on the lights. The pictures show the extreme mess the deck and aft end of the boat are. It will take a good pressure wash and lots of hull cleaner to get all that crap off. That will be last after all the traipsing in and out from the ground with stuff.
We pulled the carburetors and cleaned them all when we did the new control cables. (control cables are definitely 14 foot.)

Coming up this week Lord willing is the final reload of all the "stuff". I am sure it will be fun stuffing the foam back in the seat covers! I have a new fuse switch panel (thought we did this last fall but found we never got to it) that has to be installed since I can't find any replacement fuse holders for it and the retaining snap things on several are broken. The new one has breakers so will be better but is pretty much the same size. I have some trailer work as one of the support pipes on the side guide boards is rusted through and needs fixed. Still have the decorator boot/cover behind the wheel mentioned above to do. Then we will tackle the nicks and gouges in the rudders. We also want to find a way to make a drain hole as there is water inside these. Anyone else have that problem? Then the rudders go back on. We will have to change engine oil, oil filter and fuel filter. I am adding a 5/16 clear view plastic fuel filter inline between the tank and engine. We find these allow one to see the condition of the filtration as well as swell up huge inside in the presence of any water. We have to install the autopilot still as well as the GPS. Also needing done is the relocation of the VHF radio. Where does everyone put their radio? Has anyone mounted it through the forward cockpit on SB or Port side? There will not be room on the pedestal now with the autopilot and GPS there. At that point I want to remove the bow light and install a small bowsprit there with a anchor roller. That also will allow modification of the forward stay attachment point to allow us to move the stay with attached roller furling forward more and install a adjustable turnbuckle on the stay there. I assume its possible to move the Styrofoam from inside over the bow V berth and reach up inside there to bolt the bowsprit in place. I saw some posts on this forum and will need to search that out. Comments?

We have one more major issue that I have seen some postings about. When we got this boat, someone had dropped the mast onto the hatch cover. The aft hatch cover had been quickly repaired (probably by the trailer dealer we bought the boat off in Kentucky but maybe by the guy he got it from since he didn't seem to knowledgeable about sail boats). It was done with car Bondo which pealed right off. I fiberglassed it right last fall but still need to spray some new gel coat on the aft end of it. In the process the bottom 5 feet or some has a bend in the mast. Others here say they have similar masts and were able to straighten it out by stay adjustment. I sure hope this doesn't mean a new mast? If it does, is there a source for a new one? It sure affects the sailing performance having that misshaped mast influencing the main!

OK. Lets see if I can figure out how to put up the pictures! Feel free to email me as I enjoy the mods and feel she will preform better and be much snugger when we are done! Comments and suggestions are sure welcome!

[Sparksvonrou]

Seahouse's post about main rolling is not the same concept as what I did. Our mod does not allow rotation of the sail when it's set and being used. It allows releasing it, rolling it up to any desired reef point, and then locking it back in place. One person with lines fed aft can reef from the cockpit. Some mod will be done to the slot to the mast also as posted elsewhere on this forum. The when it's time to drop sail, release it, roll it all the way up, and lock it again. Put the sail cover on and go home if your at a pier!

Sparks

[seahouse]

Hey Sparks!

Hello there across the Lake!

Sounds like a slick setup. It might have to be a different beast for and M, maybe because of the different boom configuration between and X and an M? The hardware and lines for the mainsheet and the boom vang make roller reefing impractical on an M without special modifications (such as captivating roller balls) to both. So for storing/rolling, the vang and mainsheets are disengaged.

Any pix of your setup on an X? Will it work on an M?

[BOAT]

Well, my boom roller mod was a failure. I did not want to post pictures and stuff until it was tested well. I created a gooseneck from a Ronstan RF78A barrel swivel, (see above picture). After re-drilling and grinding the Ronstan was the exact same size as the factory gooseneck. I tested it in the driveway wind at about 11 knots an all worked fine.

Well,

‘boat’ kicked my ass this past Saturday.
I could see whitecaps, I figured it would calm down later but got a little worried when the wife mentioned “hey, no sailboats out today at all, what up?”

We put out at 8am. It was choppy and the waves were breaking near the rocks, but I was not concerned because the mouth of our harbor is always a mess and things smooth out after you clear the rocks and the shallows. The further I got out the worse things got – I kept pressing forward hoping for some nice smooth swells to raise the main but the chop just got worse and worse. I started raising the main and things kept jamming up, the problem was the rolling from side to side – the chop came from all directions. I’m looking up the mast and its swinging back and forth and the wife is having trouble keeping a heading. Of course, after 30 minutes fighting the main looking up at the mast top I get sick. So I’m sweating, my mouth is choking, I’m getting exhausted trying to get this main up and getting so sick I think I’m going to pass out. What’s wrong with this thing? I’m thinking about how I will be forced to eat my words about hating sail slugs when I finally get the main all the way up and only then see there is no place to secure the tack! What? Only then I realized:

In error, I attached the new gooseneck to the tack bracket.

No wonder everything jammed up – so I pull the gooseneck out of there and bolted it to the proper place and when I put the tack in correctly it pulls the tack bracket right out, why? Because the bolt on the tack bracket fell off, (Great). I’m looking on the deck for it (like an idiot, in THIS ocean nothing is gonna stay on the deck) and I know I have a spare tack bracket in the cabin but I can’t let go of the sail to go below!! All this scramble and fighting and rolling and me looking in every direction and totally losing sight of the horizon just made the whole world start to spin. Okay, been there, done that before.

I have been sea sick MANY times before so I realize this is not going to work – I let the main drop to the deck and I promptly throw the whole thing in one wad into the cabin.

I turn the boat around and head back to the harbor under motor – (hanging on the wheelhouse sweating profusely in cool 60 degree winds trying not to pass out with a following sea) – I have been there many times before so I’m not in a panic, but pi$$ off and frustrated more than anything else. I have taught everyone to “not look up for a long time” early in the season because it will get you sick, and here I was guilty. So we pull up to the dock at the Jolly Roger and the girls go in to eat breakfast while I lay down to get my pounding head back. 2 Tylenol and 1 hour later I’m ready to go back out.

THIS time I have the new gooseneck in the right place and the main is up before I leave the harbor. We saw several small boats (30 footers) attempt to sail out of the harbor and promptly turn around because they could not make headway against the breaking waves and chop rushing into the harbor opening. After the 3rd boat made his attempt and gave up it was my turn. The wind was even stronger and the seas even bigger than earlier. Boat hit the ground swells (which were starting to break now) with incredible stability this time. We held a steady heel solid as a rock, NO ROLLING, I was very happy with the roll stability but we were heading straight into 4 to 5 foot chop so it was a real ride pounding our way forward. One guy passed by me in a 36 under mainsail and it made me think we were not making any headway at all – I thought we were trapped in the mouth of the harbor, but my daughter was watching the rocks and said “Dad, we are moving ahead slowly”. That’s when I saw the prop wash on the 36 footer and realized he was under motor.

You all know what it’s like to sit on the helm and see the bow crash into the water and the white spray shoot off in either direction – it’s great, I loved it. We were excited; I was pleased at how ‘boat’ handled the rough water.

We got out to sea but the conditions were not much better. The chop was crazy and the wind was strong. I put out a little genoa and ‘boat’ wanted to knock down so bad but held her own – but the plowing made no sense so I rolled the genoa back to nothing but a storm jib. And with that we pounded our way around for about 40 minutes. I asked all on board: “We have two choices: I can go out on deck again to reef the main or we turn back – we have a following sea going home so it’s going to be bad – what do you want to do?” All hands said: “Go back, sail another day”. Since we were the only boat out there except a 42 foot Columbia I agreed.

The following sea was crazy – we had water coming in the back but the cockpit remained dry. I stepped down onto the motor well to un-pin the motor and got my shoe submerged. Stupid; I had rudders down, I could have waited until I got out of the breakers before hooking the motor back up to the helm. I got a soaked shoe for my trouble.

After ‘surfing’ back into the harbor I tried my roller boom again – Jammed AGAIN???! Ferget it! I dropped the main on the deck and pulled the tack pin and the wife promptly untied the outhaul and just pulled the whole sucker out of the boom and threw it in the cabin. My ‘MOD’ was a COMPLETE FAILURE!!

During the breakdown in the parking lot I saw the problem. Here is a picture of my ‘MOD’ AFTER out little jaunt in the waves:

[mastreb]

Sorry that didn't work out for you--it was also my first attempt at a roller boom, and yes, didn't work for me either. Brian's boom roller is WAY stronger.

I've got one suggestion for Oceanside in the spring: Trailer down to San Diego bay and put in at the public docks for two weeks or so when you've got time to sail. It's never bad in the Bay. The public docks are $1/foot/day.

[BOAT]

Normaly we would not go out in March, April, or May but since we got the boat the first of 2013 we really wanted to test and train before the summer season. So far we have had some really good outings because we were lucky. This time, not as good. If MY equipment mods had not failed we could have sailed.

Still, you idea is a GREAT idea - putting out into the big bay only adds another 45 minutes of travel time to our day - it's actually a really good idea even if i don't get a slip.

My wife does not mind the rough water at all - but she wants a rig that is set up so she can raise and lower the main without me if we are going to go out in rough water. That means I need to make some phone calls.

[Russ]

My wife does not mind the rough water at all - but she wants a rig that is set up so she can raise and lower the main without me if we are going to go out in rough water.

Sail slugs?

[BOAT]

Could be - I don't know - I will talk to the boat people today and see what they got. How does yours work?

[mastreb]

Spinrite mainsheet feeder at West Marine along with sailkote works great, along with lines led aft to the winches.

Lacking any true skills or talent, I'm all about the simple mods: For my "line" led aft, I just hooked a shackle block to the mast foot at the gin-pole bolt hole, another spring block on the forward-most point of the cabin-top jib tracks, and back to the cabintop winches. Because the shackle block is forward of the mast, this setup does not interfere with mast rotation at all.

I don't use the cabin-top tracks or winches for my 150 genny, I use rotating cam-cleats on the gunnel tracks instead so I can use the stbd winch for the daggerboard and the port winch for the halyard. Works great, except that my halyard needs to be about five feet longer than it is to stay in place completely. I don't bother with a downhaul--rolling up the main does the job.

No need for sail slugs--along with the necessary mast gate, they would make boom roller furling complicated.

I'm considering moving the mainsheet bail back to the end of the boom and taking off the vang bail so I can use Brian's roller furler as a roller-reefer. I'm also considering going to a dual-mainsheet configuration (repurposing the former vang) attached to swivel cam-cleats on the forward gunnel tracks.

Matt

[BOAT]

So you have the bolted main working well with a feeder, eh? You can do that from the cockpit??

How do you store the main on the boom? I mean, what do you do so that the bolt rope feeds properly without helping it?

Does your setup work well when it's windy?