Cone and Ball - how to put together

[Anonymous]

This sounds trivial but here goes. I decided it was about time that I should comply, so I bought a ball and cone, made my Lalizas, from Jimmy Green at the Chi Boat Jumble on Sunday. Trouble is I can't see how to attach cords in such as way that the cone will be acceptably rigid, and still allow the cone to fold flat. The holes have very sharp edges which will cut through cord very quickly in any case. Someone out there has been here before and sorted out a sensible way of attaching some cord. I have a spare halliard so that's no problem, I just need some suitable way to attach the plastic cone. The ball seems a little easier, but is similar. Thanks, I know it seems like a trivial question!

 

[stevebrassett]

I haven't done it, yet, but I intend to put cable ties through the holes in the cone, and hoist it with cord tied to the cable ties.

 

[Talbot]

cable ties will still provide an element of chafe, but a small shackle through the hole will provide a good attachment point.

 

[roger]

Re: Cone and Ball - how to put back together

I put the strings on so that the gadget can be dislocated and packed flat. However for the life of me I can never work out how to reassemble it properly and always end up taking one bit of string off. I really am no good at topological problems.

 

[Birdseye]

Motorsailing cone? You intend to use it? In the UK?

You may well find lots of yachts approaching to ask what it is! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Stemar]

Presumably, the ball and cone are black plastic. If so, any roughness can fairly easily be sanded or filed off.

I join the holes in each piece with a piecestring that's long enough on to allow them to be assembled "easily". Assemble them before you put the string on, so you can see how to put it back together, and expect that when you haven't put them together for a while, you'll spend 10 minutes doing it, and have to top up the swear box with enough for several pints of your preferred restorative (which you'll need when you've finished /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif)

They then get attached to a flag halliard. And yes, I use the cone when motorsailing if practicable, unless I'm coming out of Portsmouth harbour or somewhere similar, where the engine's compulsory.

 

[milltech]

Weren\'t they comedians? (sorry) n.m.

..

 

[Vara]

Re: Weren\'t they comedians? (sorry) n.m.

If you are thinking of Cannon and Ball,no they were not comedians.

Well they never made me laugh.

 

[snowleopard]

they aren't meant to fold flat, you slide them apart when stowing.

chamfer the edges of the holes with a drill bit, use a loop of string big enough to pass the half-shape through and thread it through both holes at the top of the slot in one piece. open the loop and slide the other piece into the slot. then tie the halliard into one end of the loop and the other end will pull tight, holding the loose piece in place.

and one other vital piece of advice - don't put the ball down on the deck while you secure the halliard. where can i buy a ball without having to get a second cone??!!

 

[oldharry]

Motorsailing cones i regualrly used in UK waters...

[ QUOTE ]
Motorsailing cone? You intend to use it? In the UK?

You may well find lots of yachts approaching to ask what it is! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Statutory requirement in Chichester Harbour for yachts motoring with sails up, and actually used quite frequently nowadays down here.

Picture the situation down here on Bank Hols or other busy times when the main channels can be a bit like the M25 (actually quite a lot worse because they are coming at you from all directions - at least you dont often find a fleet of artics tacking across both carriageways of the M25!!!)

Responsible skippers make it clear in advance by complying with harbour regs, showing the cone, making it clear they are motorsailing and will react accordingly.

 

[Ifraser]

i understood an inverted cone on a sailing boat means...I have an R.Y.A. examiner on board!!!

 

[Ships_Cat]

Assuming they are the ones where one half slides into a slot in the other -

I do the same as Talbot and have a shackle through one hole in each piece so that when assembled there is a shackle at the top and one at the bottom.

We don't bother with a motoring cone as we very rarely motor sail (actually hardly ever see them for sale out here) but for the ball there is a shortish piece of line attached to one shackle and a long piece to the other. I just reach as high as I can up the inner forestay and tie the ball close to it with the short piece of line and a rolling hitch. The long piece I just bring down to a convenient existing deck fitting (in our case the forward chocks for the dinghy).

Taking it down I tie both pieces of line together in order to avoid the kind of accident that I think SnowLeopard alludes to.

John

 

[Gunfleet]

Use bungy slightly stretched. That makes them resist pulling apart but still possible to pull apart.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone. I like the sound of the two shackles - one at the bottom, one at the top, so that the forces are holding the parts together in use yet come apart for stowage.

When we were in the west country there wasn't much call for a cone; normally it was obvious when someone was motorsailing or there was no conflict (other than in the Carrick Roads on a summer weekend but then I either motored or sailed). Here in the Solent it is terribly diffcult to know whether to treat a potentially conflicting vessel as the 'stand on' because he is under sail, and many of them don't seem to give a hoot. So I shall be using the cone when appropriate (until we get back into civilised waters again /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif)

Thanks all for sharing your ideas. David

 

[absit_omen]

I once got the two confused and motorsailed from Beaumaris to Conway with my anchor ball hoisted. I shudder to think what sort of rules I broke.

 

[Anonymous]

[ QUOTE ]
I once got the two confused and motorsailed from Beaumaris to Conway with my anchor ball hoisted. I shudder to think what sort of rules I broke.

[/ QUOTE ]I imagine people thought you were saying "balls to the rules" /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[oldharry]

[ QUOTE ]
I once got the two confused and motorsailed from Beaumaris to Conway with my anchor ball hoisted. I shudder to think what sort of rules I broke.

[/ QUOTE ]
a bit of a "balls up" in both senses I think...? /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[milltech]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I once got the two confused and motorsailed from Beaumaris to Conway with my anchor ball hoisted. I shudder to think what sort of rules I broke.

[/ QUOTE ]I imagine people thought you were saying "balls to the rules" /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

A very singular affront don't you think?

 

[MedMan]

I have a dedicated length of 8mm multiplait with a soft eye at what, when it is hoisted, is the upper end. About a metre below the eye I have sewn in a length of thin cord leaving two tails each about 20cm long. There is a second length of thin cord about 30cm further down, that being the diameter of my anchor ball and height of my motoring cone.

To use, I slide together the appropriate shape and use the tails to tie the top and bottom to the length of multiplait. The eye is attached to my spinnaker pole uphaul and the free end to a suitable deck fitting. My anchor light ties to the aft-facing hole half way up the anchor ball and tacks down to a different point on the deck. This stops the ball spinning like a top when there is a wind.

 

[gjeffery]

Re: Motor-sailing cones i regualrly used in UK waters...

"Statutory requirement in Chichester Harbour for yachts motoring with sails up"

From memory, letting the sheets fly is acceptable - you have made me check!

Although the Chichier Harbour Guide for 2005 does not mention "letting sheets fly" as an alternative to hoisting the cone, this is in the 2004 guide. The CHC website, references this to LNTM 3/00 - indicates no change since 2000. From http://www.conservancy.co.uk/water/local_notices.asp

3/00 International Regulations for Preventing Collisions Under Byelaw No. 10, these regulations apply to the harbour and to vessels navigating therein. The maximum fine for contravention is £1000. Because of the considerable traffic in the harbour, mariners are to pay particular attention to:-
a) keeping to the starboard side of the channel
b) reducing speed and if necessary altering course in plenty of time if the giving way vessel;
c) if under power and sail displaying a black cone point down or letting fly sheets.


- so, we don't need a cone, if we let the sails flap! This may seem academic, but the threat of a £1000 fine does concentrate my attention.

I think that keeping to the starboard side of he channel is more contentious - especially when motoring with the current on the starboard side of the channel, and faced by an ISO insisting on meeting "head to head".

Can we be absolutely clear about if a boat is motoring, if she is sailing with the engine is running, but not in gear?