A heap more questions

[stranded]

Not sure whether forum etiquette demands that I post these in different threads, so I'll take a chance on one and change if there are objections.

Barring unknown unknowns, we should be taking custody of our new to us (and first) boat in early February. We have already given the yard a list of essential stuff to do so we can get on the water as soon as, but there's plenty more keeping me awake (generally more with excitement than worry at this stage - the bliss of ignorance no doubt!). So in no particular order...

1) I need a good mattress to support my bandy legs and dodgy knees (sleeping on my back is only an option when alone or in fog) - at home an individual pocket sprung one works well, but does anyone know if the springs get rusty in a damp boat?

2) Leaving aside the scale of any additional cost, would you expect to see significant real life benefits in e.g. performance, robustness, longevity, service from a 'premium' brand inflatable dinghy like a Zodiac over one of the better cheaper ones?

3) I plan on getting a torqueedo motor (having read about the advantages and disadvantages). Should this affect our choice of inflatable features e.g. floor?

4) We have a removable inner forestay on our masthead rig. I have just read in a heavy weather sailing piece that such forestays generally require running backstays. Does that sound right in our case where the inner stay runs from the masthead or is it only when the strain would be lower down? I anticipate only using the inner instead of the main forestay, not as well as.

5) The teak decks sound as though they have been rather loved to death and I am keen to eek out a few more years from them. They are as green and 'orrible as I expect to be tomorrow morning. Having read various threads I am planning on spraying a couple of times with Brintons patio cleaner, leaving time between for it to work, then follow TCM's comprehensive advice and using Wessex two part. Any flaws with this plan? I absolutely do not want to treat them with Semco or anything.

As ever, immensely grateful for any advice/views. And a Happy New Year to all.

Mark

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

1.Sorry, dont know a thing about the mattress question.

2. Having foolishly purchased two cheap inflatables, both of which went sticky in less than a season I advocate buying the best you can afford, DIRECT from a main dealer or manufacturer.

3. Torqueedo has a built on battery ( I Think) so any floor is fine. If separate battery is required maybe look at an airdeck and a separate floor protector ie, smoothed off bit of ply with a fiddle to stop the battery sliding about.

4. If it is a removable forestay I see no reason to overcomplicate your rig with running backstays, if they were necessary no doubt the manufacturer or previous owner would have fitted them.

5. Get some oxalic acid from ebay or somewhere closer to hand and clean up the teakwork for pennies. I for one would not bother with any aftercare treatment on teak as it generally does not improve the wood. Possibly a little teak oil when dry just to regain a little elasticity in the grain.

Happy new year !!

 

[merlin3688]

4) We have a removable inner forestay on our masthead rig. I have just read in a heavy weather sailing piece that such forestays generally require running backstays. Does that sound right in our case where the inner stay runs from the masthead or is it only when the strain would be lower down? I anticipate only using the inner instead of the main forestay, not as well as.

You only need running backstays if the inner stay is connected at an unsupporting part of the mast IE between the top of the mast and spreaders. Jumper wires are sometimes fitted (Forward facing spreaders)

 

[prv]

Barring unknown unknowns, we should be taking custody of our new to us (and first) boat in early February.

Congrats!

We're at a similar point (well, second boat rather than first) - and technically we've already taken delivery, but then we gave her up again to the tender care of the paintshop for a month or so

at home an individual pocket sprung one works well, but does anyone know if the springs get rusty in a damp boat?

I've definitely heard of sprung mattresses on boats, so it can be done. Usually on posher boats than I'm used to, though, so no personal experience

I would have thought that on a decent boat (which yours sounds like from some of the things you've said in other posts) with a dry cabin, rather than a leaky wet MAB, the majority of the dampness a bed will see will come from the bodies sleeping in it rather than the environment. That's the same on land or sea, and since mattresses don't rust at home, I'd be cautiously optimistic.

Your biggest problem is likely to be that the bunks won't be a standard domestic size. There are companies that custom-make spring mattresses for bunks (and they definitely should be boat-compatible) so the problem can certainly be solved for a price if it's important to you.

2) Leaving aside the scale of any additional cost, would you expect to see significant real life benefits in e.g. performance, robustness, longevity, service from a 'premium' brand inflatable dinghy like a Zodiac over one of the better cheaper ones?

Dunno. But dinghies do occasionally get damaged, lost, or nicked, in which case the less you paid for it the better

3) I plan on getting a torqueedo motor (having read about the advantages and disadvantages). Should this affect our choice of inflatable features e.g. floor?

Since electric motors are pretty feeble (designed for slowly moving around a lake without scaring fish), if you insist on using them on the sea you'll want to minimise drag. That means no wooden-slat floors (or plain fabric floors with no support at all). Personally I like airdecks although I don't have vast experience of them.

4) We have a removable inner forestay on our masthead rig. I have just read in a heavy weather sailing piece that such forestays generally require running backstays. Does that sound right in our case where the inner stay runs from the masthead or is it only when the strain would be lower down?

The rule of thumb I heard is that no runners are required if the top of the inner stay is within about a foot of whatever provides the main aft support (backstay on masthead rig, aft-leaning shrouds on fractional).

5) The teak decks sound as though they have been rather loved to death and I am keen to eek out a few more years from them.

No comment on the chemicals (I insisted we steer clear of old teak decks despite the preferences of my co-owners), but hopefully you're already aware that any brushing should be across the grain, not along it .

Pete

 

[stranded]

Cheers Pete - congratulations to you too. I am afraid that I am too excited (52 going on 12) to consider 'handing her back' for anything so we are trying to get the critical stuff done ahead of handover so we can at least go out for a sail (and doubtless find how much else we need to do). I think she is at least pretty watertight but not sure just plain old English damp air discriminates between boats. I'll ask at LIBS - looks like there might be a couple of mattress makers there but wanted to get a more neutral opinion.

Grumpy (are we related?) - did your two dinghies go sticky in the UK - I had kind of assumed that was more a problem in countries that have summers?

Sounds like the runners thing shouldn't be an issue. She's done a transat. Don't know if they used the inner f/s but presumably that would have revealed any need for additional support. Anyway, given the consensus here including a real live rigger, I'll assume not but try it out in a blow not too far from home - certainly don't want to complicate things any more than needed.

Thanks as ever.

Mark

 

[FWB]

Torqeedo is great and powerful.
Airdeck much nicer than slats.
Brintons is great too, but you don't need to do anything after using it. Brintons alone will keep the teak nice.
Congrats on new toy!

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

Grumpy (are we related?) - did your two dinghies go sticky in the UK - I had kind of assumed that was more a problem in countries that have summers?


Very likely related !!

Both our " SEAGO" 2.7m airdeck dinghies were used only in the semi tropical confines of the Suntrapping East Coast. Feedback from the dealers was at best awful. Hence my view that buying the best you can afford direct from a main dealer is a saving. I had a Zodiac stolen which was about 12 years old and looked/ felt better than almost any budget range dinghy does when brand new and out of the box. Sadly SWMBO had forgotten to insure it when we changed boats. Best bit of all was that when we phoned the insurance company they told us that there would have been no additional premium.

Ah well, Dinghy and one year old 2stroke outboard hopefully went to a good home, hope they drown in it !

See, I am Grumpy

 

[NormanS]

We have an inner forestay, which is normally not connected at the foot. Easily rigged in seconds with one of these over-centre levery things, whose name escapes me at the moment. It attaches only about a foot down from the masthead, and is only rigged for the storm jib

 

[duncan99210]

Mattress: there are a few of companies out there who make made to measure matresses. Google boat mattress and follow the links. We have solid foam one's but have them laid over a set of slats which lifts them about 1/2 an inch off the locker underneath. This helps prevent condensation and when it does happen, keep the bottom of the mattress dry. A bonus is that it make things more comfortable.

Frankly, I'd not bother with a very expensive 'named' dinghy. They all seem to be made of much the same stuff and last about as long as one another. I'd not go for the cheapest but probably for something middle of the price range with an aero deck - gives mugh better handling and keeps things drier than a slatted deck.

Wouldn't bother with any sort of electric motor yet awhile. They are very expensive for what they are and not really powerful enough to cope with any real current, especailly with more than one person aboard.

Teak cleaning is a one a year task for us using one of the many powder teak cleaners and a scrubbing brush. At any other time during the year, water and a scrubbing brush is all we use. No treatments other than trying to avoid oil and grease on the stuff.

Enjoy the boat and don't worry too much about things. If you keep watching on here for long enough, you'll get opinions diverse enough to confuse you for ever.....

 

[doug748]

"1) I need a good mattress to support my bandy legs and dodgy knees (sleeping on my back is only an option when alone or in fog) - at home an individual pocket sprung one works well, but does anyone know if the springs get rusty in a damp boat?"



I have slept on sprung matresses on board and I can confirm they are magnificent. This was a large cat, so a 4ft standard effort worked fine. The owner took the view that if they did badly he could just buy new.

If you can wangle a 3ft bed into any of your berths you have cracked it. You will then be able to replace the thing, very inexpensively, at will.

Bearing in mind all the daft things that appear on new boats, comfortable berths seem to be the bottom of the list.

 

[JimC]

Can only contribute to the inflatables question, and then only to say that the Lodestar dinghy I bought five years ago has been a good buy. With it's steep V bottom it's almost like a mini rib and we use it in conditions where we wouldn't have chanced it in any of our previous inflatables. It actually gets drier the faster you go as the bow rises, and we only have a 3.5 hp o/b. Only drawback is that it's fairly heavy.