keltiks' 1980s Ross 35

[keltik]

Got another job ticked off the wish list.  Have had a saved search on trademe since November and finally the perfect pair of self tailing winches came up for sale.  Very rare to see any come up for sale at all, never mind a matching pair in exactly the right size for me.

So before we begin, let's make sure we know what a self tailing winch is.  On a regular yacht sheet winch (sheet being the boaty word for a rope controlling a sail) you wrap the rope around the winch drum a couple times and apply tension to the loose end (the tail) whilst turning the winch.  If you don't have enough tension on the tail, the rope just slips on the drum.  So to get maximum power into the winch, you really need 2 hands on the handle turning it - and a second person pulling the loose end or 'tailing' for you.

Not ideal when you only have 2 people and the other one is supposed to be steering or doing something more important.

So the existing Masport Barlow winches just won't do.  They also have no gear reduction so the drum of the winch turns at the same speed as the handle.

Picked up some grease and some machine oil and set about stripping the new ones down.  They'd been in someone's shed for 10years collecting dust so I thought would need a really good clean.

So nice to see a piece of kit that's about 25 years old and still in excellent condition.  The base and gear train are solid bronze, the winch drum is anodized aluminum and the bearings and ratchets are all stainless.  A few delrin spacers and some chromed bronze external hardware.

I kinda get why they are like $1,400 new.  Especially when you're going to expect 20+ years of use in a saltwater environment if they're treated right.

And installed them on the boat.

You can see the magic of the self tailing winch. The loose end goes over that horn and into a spring loaded grippy groove.  This does the tailing for you, leaving your second crew member free to fetch beers.

The new winches also have a gear reduction so the handle requires more than 1 turn to spin the winch drum once.  This reduces the effort required.  These winches aren't big enough to have multiple gears - on the bigger ones, you'll get one gear reduction turning the handle clockwise and a greater reduction anticlockwise.

[keltik]

The timing of these new winches is pretty ideal as I've entered a race!

The Mount Maunganui yacht club runs slightly more casual races than the Tauranga club so I'm going to attempt to do their 2 handed winter series.  Only 2 people allowed on each boat.  There are 6 races all up.

The first one didn't go so well.

2 days before the race, my crew (dad) caught COVID. So I roped in a mate to help. We were a bit late getting the boat up to Tauranga, setting it up took longer than expected with the new rigging and conditions were shit.

A 20 knots westerly whipping the harbour into an annoying chop with 30 knot rain squalls coming through.  We tried to get the main sail up but there was no way to safely do it due to the outboard cavitating with both of our weights further forward.  Me at the mast feeding the sail in and Mike at the winches.

Normally I would duck behind a container ship at the port to get the sails up but there were none! 

With only 20 mins to the race start, I called it off.  Not enough time to get our shit together and get to the start line.

[keltik]

The weather for my first race was a real shame as the week before I had the pleasure of doing another race on a big catamaran.

Absolutely no wind. So we drifted along for a couple hours, relaxing if not thrilling.

2 weeks later, did the next race in the series on the same boat. A perfect amount of wind and had a great race until we ran aground.

So this next race, the forecast says we'll have 10 knots which is perfect conditions for my boat. 

Fingers crossed I can do the 2 handed race on Saturday and if the weather continues to be perfect, might do the open series race on Sunday.

If the weather's shit, I'll do Sundays open series race on the catamaran.

[Beaver]

1 hour ago, keltik said:

 until we ran aground.

 

Story time please

[keltik]

13 hours ago, Beaver said:

Story time please

Not much drama tbh.  From where I was sitting down in the cockpit, I couldn't see shit.  Just sitting there trimming the main sail waiting for instructions.  Skipper called everyone to be ready for a tack, told the helmsman to make the turn when ready.  We were nearing the edge of the channel and trying to get every bit of distance before tacking.

Guy on the helm left it a few seconds too late and the boat stopped pretty quickly when the daggerboards hit the bottom.  As its a soft silt bottom - it wouldn't have damaged anything. We just dumped the wind out of the sails, fired up both diesels and gave them full beans in reverse.  Soon as we were free - engines off, sails tightened up and away we went.

Probably the 3rd time I've run aground in the last 9 months on 3 different boats.  The only time you start to pucker is when the tide is going out and the engine isn't able to pull the boat off the bottom. Then you need to get creative.

Running aground at sea or during a bar crossing is a whole different thing.  I've got a great story about that from 18 years ago.

[JustHarry]

On 05/06/2023 at 11:29, keltik said:

 

Running aground at sea or during a bar crossing is a whole different thing.  I've got a great story about that from 18 years ago.

Story time 2.0 please 

[keltik]

So let's give this story a real good shot with some context. Otherwise we look like a couple idiots.... Which isn't inaccurate, but not the whole story.

A million years ago, Mr Keltik Snr decided he needed a hobby to melt away the stresses of the working week and chose sailing.  He did all the appropriate study, got his dayskipper, yacht master and ocean master certificates.  Bought a 28ft 1970s boat and made all the mistakes on it over a few years of sailing the shit cold brown waters of the Bristol Channel/Irish sea around Wales.

Before eventually slamming down the credit card at the 1999 London boat show and buying a brand new Beneteau 31.7

Damn that was a nice boat.  Anyways, a few years later we sold everything and moved to NZ.  Naturally the old boy was going to need another boat so ordered something a bit bigger, a Bavaria 38.  Selling your business, house and cars then moving to a country where the exchange rate triples your money allows such luxuries.

We lived in Ohope at the time, dad specifically picked that house so he could park his new boat in the harbour 50 meters away.  He bought a mooring and spent a few days with a fish finder in a dinghy charting the entrance to Ohiwa harbour as there are no channel marks or leading lights to follow.

The yacht got delivered to the viaduct basin from Germany, final installation of all the electrical accessories and engine etc were done and we all went out on the sea trials.  One week after it was signed off, we started the delivery trip.

The first leg from Westhaven to Whitianga went pretty well. Second leg to Tauranga was easy and the third leg to Whakatane was a bit stressful crossing the river bar but went ok.  We had planned to do the final trip over to Ohiwa the next day but the wind had picked up and there was a bit of a storm due to come through so we postponed for a week.

The following weekend, we did the short trip over to Ohiwa. There was still a bit of a swell but it seemed manageable.

Coming in through the entrance we had the dinghy towed behind in case we wanted to take it to scout ahead.  Half way into the entrance, it was getting a bit shallow.  There wasn't deep water where it was supposed to be. So while maneuvering about trying to find the channel, the keel touched the bottom. Before we could do much about it, a wave picked up the boat and gently dropped it down a bit further into the shallows.  

As dad tried to free the boat, a medium sized wave came through, picked us up and dropped the boat a little further into the sand.  Having a thin lead fin style keel, it just speared itself into the sand and we were stuck.

Whilst trying to figure out the next move, a few more rollers came in and knocked the boat sideways.  In the trough of each wave, the propeller was getting out of the water. Then on the crest of the next wave - with full power to the engine, we were free! The bilge pump clicked on... Not usually a good sign.

"Take the wheel son, give it full power back out to sea".  I pointed the boat back out the entrance as dad went below to check for damage.  I will never forget the look on his face as he lifted the floorboards in the cabin and stared through the multiple 6x18inch holes where the keel bolts used to be at the sea floor going past.

He attempted to block the holes with the seat squabs or anything to hand but it all got sucked out into the sea as the boat rolled around.

He made a mayday call then shouted at me to keep the engine at full power.  The throttle was pinned... But now the water level in the engine bay was up to the air filter.  The diesel slowly died.

We all sat there in silence.  Put on lifejackets. Grabbed some floaty stuff to hang onto and prepared to get into the dinghy... Which was gone.

All that was left was a frayed piece of rope.  I guess the propeller ate it and the dinghy noped itself out of there.

So we stayed with the boat untill we just swam away from the cockpit.  Some nice chap in a fishing boat heard the mayday and picked us up within 10 mins of being in the water.

He dropped us off at the Ohope wharf and we walked the couple hundred meters home.

Later that day, we hopped in the car and drove around to Ohiwa to find the yacht washed up onto the beach.  The deck was split off from the hull, splintered fiberglass and damage everywhere.

Dad called the insurance company and they were going to send some people to start the salvage operation.  While we waited, we climbed into the boat and made a start on taking the mast and rigging down.  The insurance assessor turned up just as we were unloading the fridge full of beer.  A slightly suspicious look.

A few hours later, 2 excavators arrived on the beach and set up a sling between their booms then carried the hull off the beach and loaded it onto a lowboy.

Once the dust had settled, dad had to pay his $500 insurance excess and got paid out as a total loss.

Not even 2 weeks from delivery to write off.

Then after a respectful mourning period he bought another one and we all lived happily ever after.

[keltik]

1 hour ago, JustHarry said:

Story time 2.0 please 

If you wanted the short version... Tough luck

[JustHarry]

10 minutes ago, keltik said:

If you wanted the short version... Tough luck

That was a rollercoaster of a read.

So the keel got stuck in the mud and stayed there when  wave shifter the boat?

Mustve been a puckering moment finding a pivotal part of the yacht missing 

[keltik]

Just now, JustHarry said:

That was a rollercoaster of a read.

So the keel got stuck in the mud and stayed there when  wave shifter the boat?

Mustve been a puckering moment finding a pivotal part of the yacht missing 

Yup pretty much that.  Many years have gone by and I have now heard from 3 other people that ripped the keel off their Bavarias. So I think the factory could do a better job of bolting them on.  

[BlownCorona]

holy shit that was a story. A+ scary af, would not recommend. 

it must be an extreme amount of load having the earth hold the keel and the ocean hold the both, while disagreeing on direction.
maybe they were just too long/wrong shape, seems like it would be hard to engineer out without alot of extra weight, plus it might have sunk faster or been torn apart if it didn't rip out? but a boat builder is not on my cv.
 

[tortron]

I mean, it's not typical to have the bottom fall off

[keltik]

Had my first race in the 2 handed series on Saturday.  Conditions were perfect for my boat with very light winds so we ran the bigger foresail which I've never used before.  It was the right call because we spent the whole race wringing every bit of performance out of what little wind was available.

We signed on for the race via radio and were given a 1pm starting time....which was a problem since we were ten mins away from the start line and only had 5 minutes to get there.  Crossed the line at 1:06pm and got straight into a battle with a Farr 1020.  

Managed to stay alongside the Farr and eventually took the lead. This made my dad happier and prouder than I've managed in the previous 30years.  He was literally doing his happy dance.

We were heading back towards the mount when the Farr sailed a course further into the harbour while I was heading straight across the entrance taking the shortest route to the next mark.  It became apparent who was right as the outgoing tide swept us into a wind shadow underneath the mount and pulled the boat out the harbour entrance at alarming speed. Diagram attached, red line is the next mark we were headed for.

I wasn't the only one, a bit further out the entrance was the boat that had been in first place.  With no steerage, no control and seeing how hopeless the situation was - I fired up the engine and motored back into the harbor to a safe position and resumed sailing but planned on withdrawing from the race for cheating and using the iron sail   

We continued to fight towards the last mark, but with the wind dropping even more, it was impossible to make progress against the current. So after spending 30 mins tacking upwind to gain absolutely no ground - we called it a night and headed home.

Turns out the Farr we passed and then got passed by finished in first place.  The boat further out the entrance than us managed to complete the course and finish 2nd after motoring back into the harbour and doing some penalty 360 turns. Everyone else was a DNF.

Lessons learned:

Its ok to use the motor to get back to a safe position as long as you take the appropriate penalty and do it the right way.

The boat is very competitive in light winds.

Think about the current as well as the wind when deciding what course to take.

Those self tailing winches are fucking excellent.

Stay tuned for the next race in 3 weeks time.

[keltik]

Been doing some work on this thing the last few weeks.  Managed to re-wire the whole boat, add cabin lights and make some ropes neater with new pulleys and shackles.  Note to the previous owner; please don't wire everything with 6 core alarm wire.  Sure it can handle the current but it just looks crappy.  The speedo has started working better since I replaced the wiring to the sensor.  Not sure why or how.  That tinned marine wire is good stuff.  All the copper core wire I pulled out was BLACK within a meter of any join.

Today was the 3rd round of the winter series 2 handed race.  We turned up and officially finished our first race!  Had a cracking good battle against a very nice chap in a Ross 930 - "The Bondi Tram".  Great name.

Had the bigger foresail up and conditions could not have been better for us.

Should get the results tomorrow night after the open series race which I'll be doing on a different boat.

Mine will be up at the Marina for the next 3 weeks so hopefully I can get a few more weekends with good weather to make the most of it.

[keltik]

 

[keltik]

Open series race on Sunday was around Karewa island, finished second in the boat I was on.  Couldn't have asked for a better weekend tbh.

And the cherry on top, placed second in the 2 handed race on my boat.  Can't wait to try and repeat this success in 3 weeks.

Next post should be my wiring upgrades finished with solar panel and engine charging circuit hooked up.

[EpochNZ]

Gee that brings back memories.....love the burbling sound the wake makes when you are downhill at around 10knots...

[GregT]

It all makes good - and familiar - reading. We were a yachting family when I was a kid. Raced dinghys for years then built our first keeler. Raced and cruised that then built our second. A stub keel, centerboard Van der Stat design originally for the River Plate estuary. Turned out that it planed in the right conditions which meant that sailed agressively it was a winner in local BPCC B class. And the old man having raced dinghys most of his life was VERY agressive on the helm.

From another forum I'm in contact with a kiwi living in the Med who runs a rigging business. Superyachts and race boats at top end and maintenance of a couple of hire fleets, He was talling me the costs of rigging using carbon fibre rod stays which are now the hot setup. Un bloody believable.

[BlownCorona]

Tied with Rimfire, your boat has by far the coolest name in the field.

[keltik]

7 hours ago, BlownCorona said:

Tied with Rimfire, your boat has by far the coolest name in the field.

Only because "Grunty Chicken" didn't enter this series