Salish 100 Setup for the boat.

So I'm going to participate in the inaugural Salish 100.  Never spent more than 2 nights straight in the boat, nor sailed it for more than a few hours.  Trying to set it up for 6 days really brings home just how small it is, as well as show one why all of the built in storage on a Paradox under the floor and along the sides is so nice.  I'm a little longer and wider, but probably have a harder time stashing everything accessibly for such a long trip.



To start with, when I put the bow roller on the boat I didn't leave enough room for the anchor flukes to clear the bow of the boat.  I started building a pulpit to extend the roller, but really didn't like how it lengthened the boat or how the fasteners lined up, so I decided  to store it on deck.  I built this plate to screw down on the foredeck.  Rode tension with keep the flukes sucked into the line.  Rode will run through the dorade and into the plastic tub you see into the photos or a square bucket if i can find the right one in time.

8 gallons of water in gallon jugs fit to the left and right of the tub for the rode and other often used short lines like reef ties.  thermarest pad and sleeping bag in a waterproof bag as well as clothes under the foredeck.  forward of that is a buoyancy chamber with access hatch where I store a spare halyard, mainsheet, and coils of useful line for any other purpose on the boat.

 Aft is storage for the two large top hatches for the slot.  Forward acrylic hatch, aft horizontal hatch and aft vertical hatch store along the sides of the cockpit/cabin.  Aft is also where the beach chair, bilge pump, fenders, 3 gallons of gas and the 5 gallon toilet will store.

 Here's the panel with the 12 volt power outlets for the phone, iPad and GoPro camera along the port side.  I have a pair of 51lb AGM batteries doing double duty as ballast and power storage for devices and a trolling motor when appropriate.  2.3hp Honda for this trip, leaving all of that battery for the devices on this trip.

Here's the rough weather configuration.  Opening at the aft end of the slot is roughly 30" x 16".

 When the weather isn't so bad, I'll only have the front two hatches installed.

Fully rigged with all of the changes.

Did a little dry sailing in the driveway this weekend as the weather wasn't very conducive to launching.  Probably a good idea to fully rig everything at least once before launching.


Here's the sheet setup.  As you can see, the end of the boom is now easily reached for rigging and reefing.  It might pull back a bit after I get the rig balanced, but it'll still be in easy reach.

Here's the downhaul setup, currently 3 to 1.  The running end belays in a jam cleat on the mast below the deck.  I can adjust it even with all the hatches on.

Here's the rig hoisted.  I have it as far forward as I can take it, pretty much guaranteeing some lee helm when I launch.  I wanted to make sure I could get rid of weather helm as the mast has moved back a bit.  You can't se it here, but the CE of the rig is pretty much in front of the leeboard if if was swung down.

Here's the rig resting in the lazyjacks and hoisted clear of my noggin in the aft end of the boat.

A full view of the lazyjacks.  They're run thru a dumb sheave drilled through the mast and meet in a single line that come to a cleat on the front of the mast.  Easy and quick to adjust.

Next stop the boat ramp.

Finishing the Motor Access details and a new Mast step

I've finally finished detailing everything after cutting in the additional hatch for the motor access, which has been working out great.  It also really helps working the aft end of the boom when rigging the boat or reefing/furling the sail.  Tall people might not need it, but if you're 5'8" or less I highly suggest you make this mod if you build a Robbsboat.  It makes things much safer and more convenient.

The bungee on the bottom holds the rudder down in lieu of Jim's chunk of lead.  Slightly fidgety getting the tension right, but works well once you do.  Uphaul run on top of the tiller.  The bolt through the end is to prevent splitting after I installed the fitting for the Ronstan tiller extension on the end, I should have pre drilled for the screws even though they're only #6.  Live and learn.

The second thing that was wearing on me was stepping the mast through the deck.  I've only got 16ft instead of the originally designed 18ft, but it can still get a little interesting balancing things as you lift it high enough to get over the deck and then reach forward to insert it.  Definitely not something I've ever wanted to do while actually on the water.  I suppose if one were to find some nice light spruce or take the trouble to build a hollow mast it wouldn't be so bad, but like the aft hatch mod I wanted to make it super safe and easy.  As a result I brought the step to just the other side of the front bulkhead and into the cabin, so now I only have to lift it a few inches over the cabin sole to step it.  The only drawback is it's going to be more difficult to keep things in the cabin water tight in a good rain.

Had to cut 4 of my ballast bars to allow for the heel of the mast to reach all the way to the floor of the boat.  I wanted the step firmly affixed down by the dimensional lumber of the bulkhead.

Notching the front of the cabin was simple and it's plenty strong enough to act as a mast partner as the mast is right up against the bulk head.  The retainer plate was simple as well, and is held in place with a couple of 5/16" bolts with wing nuts on the bottom.

The pad eye on the mast is to anchor the downhaul.  the hole you see near it is where the running end of the downhaul runs into the cabin where i belay it against the mast.  While the partner shear loads are easily handled, I didn't want the heavy downhaul tension pulling straight up on the cabin after taking the center out.  All of that load is taken by the mast, and I can adjust downhaul tension without removing the front hatch if necessary this way.

 The old step is still there to use if I want, but it makes a handy place to run an anchor rode into a bucket below.  While cleaning up the garage, I found a dorade that fit pretty much perfectly into the hole with just some minor clearancing with my dremel.  The "unfinished" mast is just a short section I glued up for test fitting everything inside the garage.

Lastly I need to build a new front hatch.  The lexan in the existing one come down too far too notch, but luckily I have some pretty thick acrylic laying around that I had originally thought I could do all of the cabin windows with.  Turned out to be a poor choice for that, but it's working out great as a hatch material.

I still need to trim out the top of the notch to make spray and rain running down the hatch go around the opening.  I also need to get some shock cord attached to the bottom of the wood rails to secure the hatch to the thumb cleats in the cabin, but it's pretty much done.

I'll need to find the right position of the sail for helm balance now that I've moved the mast back @ 5".   Jim designed the mast with about a 5 degree rake aft in the original position, which actually puts the mast tip a bit behind where it's sitting now.  I rigged the step and partner for the mast to be straight up and down, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Time to Vacuum all of the sawdust and put the interior back in order.  Again.....

Hopefully the weather cooperates this coming weekend so I can get her out on the water and do that.  Only 39 more days to the Salish 100....

Cabin modification for better motor access

I've used the boat for a couple of seasons now, and one of the things I've enjoyed the least is the big stretch over the aft deck to operate the kicker.  I even end up crawling up onto the deck on my knees a lot of the time.  Tall people would probably be able to reach fine, but I'm only 5'8" and wanted better access.  Here's how I solved it.

I've since made a hatch and rounded off the stub of the tiller.  I've also extended the rope steering back to where it doesn't interfere with standing in the new space.  The tiller still works well with an extension if one doesn't want to use the rope steering.

I had the boat out on the Columbia last week for a motoring only trip, and this has worked out exactly as I'd hoped.  Motor is easily reached and operated standing in this space.  I REALLY appreciated it when i ran out of gas sooner than expected upstream of the Glen Jackson bridge and started floating down towards the pilings.  Grabbed the gas can and filled the tank without spilling a drop in perfect safety in about a minute flat.  Also made it much easier to operate both the motor and the tiller near the dock.

A definite success.