petem
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
If Gloss finish then you are quite right (for some reason I thought they were matt).
If Gloss finish then you are quite right (for some reason I thought they were matt).
Fairline Squadron 78 refit/fit - Hard Top
- Thread starter jfm
- Start date
jimmy_the_builder
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
Good idea, and they do a grey which would fit my light grey/dark grey colour scheme v nicely. Where can I get a can of Plasti dip off the shelf though? Haven't got time left to buy mail order.
Good idea, and they do a grey which would fit my light grey/dark grey colour scheme v nicely. Where can I get a can of Plasti dip off the shelf though? Haven't got time left to buy mail order.
Groot T
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
WOW, jfm! The hardtop looks fantastic and suits perfectly. Quality of work sounds ideal, I wish you many happy hours of shaded chilling on the flybridge!
WOW, jfm! The hardtop looks fantastic and suits perfectly. Quality of work sounds ideal, I wish you many happy hours of shaded chilling on the flybridge!
Nick_H
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
I was able to see it out on the water for the first time last weekend (you can see our boat in the background in last pic), and it looks every bit as good in the flesh as it does in the pics. I wasn't sure about hardtops, but I'm starting to see the benefits, which aren't restricted to times when the sun is out. By adding lighting as Jfm has done it also makes the flybridge more usable at night.
I was able to see it out on the water for the first time last weekend (you can see our boat in the background in last pic), and it looks every bit as good in the flesh as it does in the pics. I wasn't sure about hardtops, but I'm starting to see the benefits, which aren't restricted to times when the sun is out. By adding lighting as Jfm has done it also makes the flybridge more usable at night.
Richard Shead
Slipped Anchor
Re: Fuel Cell
Plage Keller?
Plage Keller?
Nick_H
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
Yep. Coincidentally we ate at the beach restaurant there last night, and the food was excellent. We also had the anchorage to ourselves for the night, despite dead calm sea.
Yep. Coincidentally we ate at the beach restaurant there last night, and the food was excellent. We also had the anchorage to ourselves for the night, despite dead calm sea.
Richard Shead
Slipped Anchor
Re: Fuel Cell
Good God I feel like JFM with that spot!
I have always eaten well there, even the Russian menu failed to scare me off... but then again the wife was pregnant so I drank all her pink...
I actually prefer the little cafe on the right (looking at beach if on board) for lunch as long as you budge the locals out the way and grab a nice table in the breeze.
In fact there is a terrible film with Piers Brosnan (sp) and Emma whats her name in it that was filmed there? saw it on a plane recently.
Good God I feel like JFM with that spot!
I have always eaten well there, even the Russian menu failed to scare me off... but then again the wife was pregnant so I drank all her pink...
I actually prefer the little cafe on the right (looking at beach if on board) for lunch as long as you budge the locals out the way and grab a nice table in the breeze.
In fact there is a terrible film with Piers Brosnan (sp) and Emma whats her name in it that was filmed there? saw it on a plane recently.
alt
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
I need to stop following this thread, envy would be a polite term
Well done that man, pictures like that make me want to work harder.
I need to stop following this thread, envy would be a polite term
Well done that man, pictures like that make me want to work harder.
jfm
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
Haha great spot-the-Anchorage Richard to guess Plage Keller from those pictures! I like the restaurant too. It is expected to be less russianistic this year than last
Haha great spot-the-Anchorage Richard to guess Plage Keller from those pictures! I like the restaurant too. It is expected to be less russianistic this year than last
CharlieAlpha
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
Well hears hoping you get the time, company and the weather to enjoy your wonderful creation to it full this season (and thanks for sharing and giving us something to aspire to) :very_drunk:
Well hears hoping you get the time, company and the weather to enjoy your wonderful creation to it full this season (and thanks for sharing and giving us something to aspire to) :very_drunk:
Nick_H
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
It's a long while since we last went, and in the meantime it has merged with/bought out the place next door and seems to have moved upmarket. I dont recall any long-legged supermodels in mini skirts brushing past me last night, more's the pity, so it seems Jfm may be right about the ruskies
It's a long while since we last went, and in the meantime it has merged with/bought out the place next door and seems to have moved upmarket. I dont recall any long-legged supermodels in mini skirts brushing past me last night, more's the pity, so it seems Jfm may be right about the ruskies
Richard Shead
Slipped Anchor
Re: Fuel Cell
To be fair not been this season, late last season was my last time (with said kid) Elderly Brit in front paid for his lunch then tucked his black amex in his exceedingly snug speedos and walked into the sea....put me off my lobster.
To be fair not been this season, late last season was my last time (with said kid) Elderly Brit in front paid for his lunch then tucked his black amex in his exceedingly snug speedos and walked into the sea....put me off my lobster.
STEVEDUNSTABLE
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
Hi JFM.......Silly question time (sorry)...on post nmbr 205, you mention that props were rebalanced ..my I ask why they needed that ??..have they been "dinged" or fouled etc ..... if not, what causes them to go out of balance and how can you tell on a ship of that size and weight ??......ps. love the hard top.....pps.. any chance of Match "passing" swanwick one weekend for another "scrutineering" ?.... (just dreaming)........regards steve..
Hi JFM.......Silly question time (sorry)...on post nmbr 205, you mention that props were rebalanced ..my I ask why they needed that ??..have they been "dinged" or fouled etc ..... if not, what causes them to go out of balance and how can you tell on a ship of that size and weight ??......ps. love the hard top.....pps.. any chance of Match "passing" swanwick one weekend for another "scrutineering" ?.... (just dreaming)........regards steve..
jfm
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
Hi Steve. One prop was slightly out of balance - you could sense a vibration at some rpm. They don't wear out - I think a prop blade got slightly dinged as the boat was reversed (by me!) into a very shallow berth for the cannes boat show. There has been no other dinging done to the boat. As I was being guided into the Cannes berth, I put an engine in gear, did about 1 rev of the prop, and felt the prop edge rub on one of the pontoon mooring chains. It was a special too-shallow berth made for the boat show, not a normal berth
Annoying thing is, I still think it is out of balance so I'm gonna lift the boat again in a few weeks!
Alas swanwick isn't on the cruising itinerary currently. Whoever designed Europe made the shape too inconvenient (Iberian peninsular). Imagine if there was a canal from Barcelona to Biarritz - I'd bring the boat to UK in the winter
Anyway, back to refitting, the pictures below are Colhel's ensign staff installed. I didn't like the fairline staff (bit of 25mm s/s tube) so got 1.2m of 50mm dia carbon fibre tube. Colhel on here, machinist extraordinaire, made the fittings and tube ends. There is base plate that bolts to the boat, naturally with hidden fasteners devised by colin. The carbon tube has s/s fittings at each end, all of which fit together like a swiss watch. The bottom tube fitting connects/disconnects to the fitting that's on the boat (allowing easy fit/removal of the whole thing) and the top tube fitting has a removable cap and is hollowed out on the inside. Inside here is a knot for the top ensign cord, plus a device to tension the bottom cord. The idea is to have no external knots - both top and bottom ensign cords just "disappear" into holes in the top and bottom s/s tube fittings, and all the tensioning mechanics are inside the carbon tube. The ensign itself is custom made with a black luff tape and cord, not the usual white
The tensioner device consists of a machined plastic bobbin inside the cf tube, about halfway along the cf tube length. Bobbin is 45 dia x 60 long. The bottom ensign cord is tied to this bobbin. The bobbin has a tapped M5 hole, and a long bit of M5 studding with a nut welded to the top end (making the studding a 500mm long set screw in fact) passes thru the top tube fitting then screws into the tapped m5 hole in the bobbin. To tension, you remove the top cap of the ensign staff, and use a power drill to turn the studding, which draws the bobbin upwards inside the cf tube. This tensions the cord so the ensign luff is drum tight. Put the cap back on, and everything is hidden. (Not sure I've explained that well - if a drawing is needed I'll oblige!)
By the way, the staff is angled at 45degrees, This is to allow clearance as I crane the Laser dinghy on. Otherwise it would have been angled only 30 degrees or so
Colhel is taking orders I think - the one from Monitor Marine costs £3-4k and this cost much less. I have to say I'm blown away by the perfection in Colin's stainless steel creations. I hope the pics below give you an idea. This stuff is way beyond the quality you get from ordinary s/s fabrication firms; it is just machining perfection. Look for example at the edge of the plate in the last pic below. And I thought I'd seen mirror polished until I saw Colin's. And all this hand made and delivered with a smile from the very nice guy that many of us on here know Colin to be in real life!
Hi Steve. One prop was slightly out of balance - you could sense a vibration at some rpm. They don't wear out - I think a prop blade got slightly dinged as the boat was reversed (by me!) into a very shallow berth for the cannes boat show. There has been no other dinging done to the boat. As I was being guided into the Cannes berth, I put an engine in gear, did about 1 rev of the prop, and felt the prop edge rub on one of the pontoon mooring chains. It was a special too-shallow berth made for the boat show, not a normal berth
Annoying thing is, I still think it is out of balance so I'm gonna lift the boat again in a few weeks!
Alas swanwick isn't on the cruising itinerary currently. Whoever designed Europe made the shape too inconvenient (Iberian peninsular). Imagine if there was a canal from Barcelona to Biarritz - I'd bring the boat to UK in the winter
Anyway, back to refitting, the pictures below are Colhel's ensign staff installed. I didn't like the fairline staff (bit of 25mm s/s tube) so got 1.2m of 50mm dia carbon fibre tube. Colhel on here, machinist extraordinaire, made the fittings and tube ends. There is base plate that bolts to the boat, naturally with hidden fasteners devised by colin. The carbon tube has s/s fittings at each end, all of which fit together like a swiss watch. The bottom tube fitting connects/disconnects to the fitting that's on the boat (allowing easy fit/removal of the whole thing) and the top tube fitting has a removable cap and is hollowed out on the inside. Inside here is a knot for the top ensign cord, plus a device to tension the bottom cord. The idea is to have no external knots - both top and bottom ensign cords just "disappear" into holes in the top and bottom s/s tube fittings, and all the tensioning mechanics are inside the carbon tube. The ensign itself is custom made with a black luff tape and cord, not the usual white
The tensioner device consists of a machined plastic bobbin inside the cf tube, about halfway along the cf tube length. Bobbin is 45 dia x 60 long. The bottom ensign cord is tied to this bobbin. The bobbin has a tapped M5 hole, and a long bit of M5 studding with a nut welded to the top end (making the studding a 500mm long set screw in fact) passes thru the top tube fitting then screws into the tapped m5 hole in the bobbin. To tension, you remove the top cap of the ensign staff, and use a power drill to turn the studding, which draws the bobbin upwards inside the cf tube. This tensions the cord so the ensign luff is drum tight. Put the cap back on, and everything is hidden. (Not sure I've explained that well - if a drawing is needed I'll oblige!)
By the way, the staff is angled at 45degrees, This is to allow clearance as I crane the Laser dinghy on. Otherwise it would have been angled only 30 degrees or so
Colhel is taking orders I think - the one from Monitor Marine costs £3-4k and this cost much less. I have to say I'm blown away by the perfection in Colin's stainless steel creations. I hope the pics below give you an idea. This stuff is way beyond the quality you get from ordinary s/s fabrication firms; it is just machining perfection. Look for example at the edge of the plate in the last pic below. And I thought I'd seen mirror polished until I saw Colin's. And all this hand made and delivered with a smile from the very nice guy that many of us on here know Colin to be in real life!
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rbcoomer
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
Nice touch that and great craftsmanship
Nice touch that and great craftsmanship
rafiki_
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
Nice job for an OCD perfectionist!
Nice job for an OCD perfectionist!
petem
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
That's the dogs b0ll0cks I reckon JFM. I want one!
Pete
That's the dogs b0ll0cks I reckon JFM. I want one!
Pete
BartW
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
thats indeed a very impressive finish, and clever tensioning mechanism, very very nice !
I like it very much but am not going to change my 40mm SS tube.
there are many more items much higher on the whish list ;-)
did you eventually make or designed a system for quick courtesy flag changing ?
was thinking about it last season, as I needed to do quite some courtesy flag changings here, including raising the "yellow" flag each time when aproaching the customs Quay for other country entry
thats indeed a very impressive finish, and clever tensioning mechanism, very very nice !
I like it very much but am not going to change my 40mm SS tube.
there are many more items much higher on the whish list ;-)
did you eventually make or designed a system for quick courtesy flag changing ?
was thinking about it last season, as I needed to do quite some courtesy flag changings here, including raising the "yellow" flag each time when aproaching the customs Quay for other country entry
Nick_H
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
Zip ties. Clip off the previous one, zip tie on the new one at the top, clip off the tail, and tie off the cord at the bottom.
Zip ties. Clip off the previous one, zip tie on the new one at the top, clip off the tail, and tie off the cord at the bottom.
BartW
Well-Known Member
Re: Fuel Cell
I would have made the ensign slightly bigger ??
the staff allows for that
I would have made the ensign slightly bigger ??
the staff allows for that
