Maiden Voyage

[kuriti]

Well, I made my first trip out on my SJ today.It was cooler than normal for the Carolinas, lower 70s, and the wind was awesome, 11-14 knots. As i was rigging i was actually nervous watching the wind build since i was really looking for a boring day with light winds for my first day. i had the kids and wife coming along, so I was worried about excessive heel that might scare them off the whole endeavor. i actually went ahead to the marina where i am keeping the boat to rig and called them to come when i was ready. The boat itself is in great condition for its age, but the standing and running rigging, including blocks, will get replaced this winter. There is a homemade furler on the forestay, which i couldn't figure out and will remove ultimately as i don't see the point. the forestay has to be bent in order to trailer with this setup and it makes be nervous because the cable has been compromised there. i may buy a real furler down the road, but for now, i will just leave the jib off in big wind. i ended up just flying the main today and it was perfect. When i called the wife to come she was running behind, which was fortunate because it gave me time to check the keel winch. i removed the observation plate and played with the winch. it turns out it was wound the opposite direction from how it should have been. i could pull the cable with my hand and it would unwind. i was doubting myself, thinking, "if they sailed it like this, it must be right", but finally decided the physics were just all wrong. i re-wound it and it turned out to be the right thing to do. i am afraid that if i hadn't, the keel would have just dropped like a stone when i floated it off the trailer. retrieving it would have also been a problem, scary.

Nevertheless, we got her launched with the wife pulling the truck up the ramp. unfortunately, this marina has no dock, only a beach and i had to pull the boat up on the beach to load the wife and 2 kids. I got everything set up and we were off. it was a blast. my wife asked if she could try and ended up sailing about half the time! she loved it, which is good, since she is the CFO. Everyone calls these 'dinghies' in terms of their sailing characteristics, but it was very smooth and the gusts we had were nothing. sure the boat heeled, but i am used to actual dinghies, so this was very gradual and quite comfortable. our sail shape was abysmal, but i was looking to de-power anyway, so it was fine. the kids loved the cabin and the heel that i feared would scare everyone turned out to be nothing. Anywho, here are the questions that i ended up with for the collective knowledge you all have:

1. how long should the forestay and backstay be? i have read most of the jim hubbard archives and it seems most answers to this question are, "the same as the old one". however, even with the backstay turnbuckle fully tightened, neither shroud was very taught. i would never be able to achieve the vaunted mask rake i know i will want with this set up. therefore, i am thinking one or the other has been replaced previously and one is incorrect, disallowing any tension.

2. the keel bolt also did not fit well. i am suspicious that the previous owner never lowered the keel since "repairing' the winch (see keel winch repair above) and just found the largest bolt that would fit the hole where the pin goes. it should be smaller i believe. does the bolt have to be very snug when inserted into the keel or can i get a big enough one that won't sheer, but will easily fit the hole in the keel? i shoved a large screwdriver in either side today as a jury rig and obviously won't do that again.

surprisingly, that is all my questions for now. i found plenty of things to fix, but feel pretty comfortable in doing all of them. I am glad i bought the SJ and am excited about all the time i will spend on her in the future. thanks again for all yall's help.

PS: i plan on sewing my own cushions for the interior and will document the whole process as a "how to" since i have struggled to find a specific thread on this.

kuriti

[Krysia Ry]

I think you are referring to the keel lock-down bolt as the keel bolt is entombed in glass or epoxy. The bolt just needs to fit the hole. I believe they are all 1/2" by 6". I have a lock down position and a lock up position for loading on the trailer or holding up the keel at the beach. The bolt comes out when trailering and the keel rests on a keel board on the trailer. Glad your family had a good time.
Bill

[TomD]

Welcome to the forum. Great comments! If you need any cushion measurements let me know. I have a set for my boat that I use with the family.

[kuriti]

Krysia- is the keel up bolt position stock or did you (previous owner) add it? Seems like a good idea. i rested the keel on the trailer roller to relieve the winch cable pressure. Something i forgot to ask. my winch is aft of the keel inspection port and not attached to the compression post. the post looks like a new one and is well built. the cable runs from the winch across the inside top of the trunk (under the inspection plate) to a fixed pulley set within the post, back to a block attached to the keel, then terminating back at the post. Is this a known/desirable modification? the winch still looks pretty dated and could use replacement.

Tom- i would love some cushion measurements. i am in an MKII. Thanks for the offer. I will still photograph my process to share.

cheers,

kuriti

[Black Jack]

Kuriti,
Great post. I am glad your sail went well with the family. That is the first critical step to building the enthusiasm for our sport.
Were did you sail in NC? We have a good collection of San Juan 21's here in New Bern so if you ever adventure out this way let me know and we can get together for a beer.

Dan Bornarth
Black Jack
#2403

[Krysia Ry]

Kuriti,
I'm unsure of the origin of the lock-up bolt position. It is nice to have for anchoring in shallow water, loading, or beaching. I haven't seen a winch mounted aft of the inspection port and would guess it was done by an owner who wanted quicker access to the mechanism. That is one down fall of this boat when single handing in my opinion. You cannot sail up to the beach while retracting your keel, something I used to do all the time on my little AMF Sunbird (which of course did not sail anywhere near as well as my Sj). A dated looking winch is fine as long as it won't "free run" with a load. Most folks have replaced the original winch with an auto reverse winch or whatever they are called.
Happy sailing
Bill

[kuriti]

Jack- thanks for the offer, i like beer . One of the reasons i chose the SJ was the online community and the presence here in NC. i sail on Jordan Lake, but intend to head yall's direction once i feel a little more confident. i bought my boat in VA and feel it is happy to be repatriated to it's home state. I can't make the new years day regatta this year (not sure i could handle the cold any year), but are there any other SJ events throughout the year? I plan on 'performance cruising' rather than racing. "performance cruising' is a fake phrase i just made up meaning: i want to go fast, but not bad enough to cut my cockpit in half with a traveler or employ difficult tactics that might interfere with drinking said beer.

Krysia- thanks for the 411. i will replace the winch in time, but i just got the parts list from Gene Adams and have to save up some money for other more fun things.

[Diarmuid]

Jack- thanks for the offer, i like beer . One of the reasons i chose the SJ was the online community and the presence here in NC. i sail on Jordan Lake, but intend to head yall's direction once i feel a little more confident. i bought my boat in VA and feel it is happy to be repatriated to it's home state. I can't make the new years day regatta this year (not sure i could handle the cold any year), but are there any other SJ events throughout the year? I plan on 'performance cruising' rather than racing. "performance cruising' is a fake phrase i just made up meaning: i want to go fast, but not bad enough to cut my cockpit in half with a traveler or employ difficult tactics that might interfere with drinking said beer.

Krysia- thanks for the 411. i will replace the winch in time, but i just got the parts list from Gene Adams and have to save up some money for other more fun things.

Man after my own heart. Re: your hold-down bolt. It's not unknown for chunks of thickened, brittle polyester resin -- sort of a reddish-brown color & consistency of hard candy -- to break loose around the keel pin bolt & complicate inserting the pin. Try and sight thru the hole with the keel in near-down position. If there's loose junk inside, drift-pin it out & you'll be good. We use a 1/2"d x 6" plated hitch pin, available from hardware or tractor supply stores; we tie the retaining clip to the bail handle with bright-colored cord, so we don't lose it & can tell at a glance if the keel is down & pinned.

[cklamp]

Kuriti, I second the winch being one of the first things to replace, or spruce up. I've seen a winch handle fly off and a keel freefall from almost all the way up. It's really not pretty, and actually a bit scary, and can potentially damage your boat. If you were unlucky, it could break a hand, forearm, etc, or worse if the kids are around... It might not be a "fun" item, but it's a definite "must do first" item IMNSHO:)

Later
C

[Black Jack]

Kuriti,
with the recent Hurricane Irene we have been a bit off our schedule, but everything is slowly getting back to normal. We are holding a fun Match race event on October 2 as part of our Fall Sunday racing series supporting our jr sailing program. It is the first time we are holding a match race event and curently have 8 boats signed up. We will do a sunday fleet racing series through to our Fleet 8 Turkey Trott regatta which is always the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
I know you have expressed the fact you are not interested in racing, but would like to get the most out of your San juan 21. Please feel free to come out and join us as crew or just come out and hang out and check out the boats. We have no shortage of beer drinkers in our group and have at least 6 north american champions sailing out of the club on a regular basis to help with any questions you might have about your boat. Also many of the boats were built here in New Bern and we still have a few sailors who built the boats and have some funny stories to tell about how our boats are put together. Maybe better to not hear those stories at this point or you might sell the boat!
The Match racing event will be held right in front of Blackbeard sailing club and will be a real social event. Great spectator viewing from the club. Good time to come out and meet some San Juan 21 owners who really enjoy their boats. Many have been in the class for a lot of years.

Also to support the opinions of others. Please replace your winch at your earliest convienence. It is important. A safety item. Also repairing the gooseneck on the centerboard is a real tough repair if it is broken. Which is possible to happen if the centerboard free drops and hits hard against that stop.

Dan Bornarth
Black Jack
#2403