Non sliding

dylanwinter

dylanwinter

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 Mar 2005
Messages
12,954
Location
Buckingham
www.keepturningleft.co.uk
The Minstrel is home - a few minor problems to sort

but one of them is the main will not slide up the groove in the gaff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJdeLUC1CKc

I assume that the spar has swollen a bit

what do I do?

- run some sand paper down the groove and then re-varnish it

should I lubricate it in some way - candle wax?

all suggestions gratefully received

there are a few snaps of the boat here and a tour of the inside

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/blogs/the-minstrel/

Dylan
 
It could be the bolt rope has shrunk thus scrunching the sail up. It may be worth stretching the sail for a bit and trying again with some lubricant, silicone spray can be effective.
 
On an otherwise rather dull holiday with a friend's parents, I once discovered an abandoned Mirror in the shed at their holiday home. I spent a morning fettling it so that my mate and I could do something more interesting than sit on the beach reading. The yard had exactly the problem you describe; I ran some sandpaper up and down the groove with the part inside padded out with kitchen roll.

In that case I think it was swollen due to being abandoned in a shed; I guess the other cause would be over-enthusiastic varnishing.

Pete
 
The sail looks in good nick
From the vid there looks to be some dark stain along the spar groove? If that is the case it would indicate water has got under the varnish, in which case a good sanding and perhaps storing it somewhere dry for a while would help.
But before all of that palaver I would get some silicon spray and give the groove a really generous pasting - it is really amazing how much difference it makes, at the beginning of the season I could not winch my main, a few generous applications of silicon and it goes up sweet by hand.
 
nickd said:
From the vid there looks to be some dark stain along the spar groove? If that is the case it would indicate water has got under the varnish
Click to expand...

I hadn't watched the video before, but now I have and agree with Nick. Wood probably a bit swollen due to dampness in the lips of the groove, due to varnish being worn away by the sail. Sand back thoroughly (to allow for a few coats of varnish), dry if possible, depending on how damp the wood now seems, re-varnish to stop it getting damper.

Pete
 
Nice looking boat, a bit posh after the Slug.
I take your point about the stern, it looks vaguely biological.
Regarding your problem with a tight slot,[ah memories], there are some sensible suggestions made previously, but to recap.
1/ the wood may have swollen, get it indoors to dry out.
2/ It may have varnish dribbles.
3/ Double sandpaper will sooner or later sort it out, but don't overdo this as you don't want the slot too loose.
4/ Silicone spray or furniture polish in preference to candle wax.
[Joshua Slocum would have used lard or tallow, but goose fat might work]
Those sails look new, have they ever been fitted to those spars, new sails often are difficult to get into grooves.
Good luck with the new venture. Exciting times, new boat, new puppies!
Minstrels, made to melt in your mouth, not in your hand.
 
Last edited:
fitting

DanTribe said:
Nice looking boat, a bit posh after the Slug.
I take your point about the stern, it looks vaguely biological.
Regarding your problem with a tight slot,[ah memories], there are some sensible suggestions made previously, but to recap.
1/ the wood may have swollen, get it indoors to dry out.
2/ It may have varnish dribbles.
3/ Double sandpaper will sooner or later sort it out, but don't overdo this as you don't want the slot too loose.
4/ Silicone spray or furniture polish in preference to candle wax.
[Joshua Slocum would have used lard or tallow, but goose fat might work]
Those sails look new, have they ever been fitted to those spars, new sails often are difficult to get into grooves.
Good luck with the new venture. Exciting times, new boat, new puppies!
Minstrels, made to melt in your mouth, not in your hand.
Click to expand...

the sails have been on the boat

but the first owner changed the rig to the Bermudan and then put the spars and the sails away

the next owner, John, who had it for 15 years also never used the high peaked gaff/gunter

you can see some sunlight degradation on the main - but not much so yes.... basically new sails.

Not a cheap boat though 3 x the value of the slug and still needs some work and money

hopefully in the long term it should be cheaper to run and more reliable

D

Puppies for sale -- great boating pedigrees puppies due in June - we have never done it before so it will be rather exciting. I might even get my camera out.... sad to say I filmed the moment of conception
 
DanTribe said:
[Joshua Slocum would have used lard or tallow, but goose fat might work]
Click to expand...

I imagine silicone polishes would be much more effective than any variety of fat, but if you did want to use tallow it's easily available. I grease my gaff jaws with it regularly, and the leather lining to my gammon iron slightly less regularly (cos it's a bugger with the bowsprit in the way). The secret is that electricians apparently use it to lubricate cables being pulled through conduits. Seems like a good way of encouraging rodent damage to me, but that's what the tubs I have were sold as.

I wouldn't use goose fat; I assume it would go off. Tallow doesn't, even stored in an unsealed plastic tub in a hot boat all summer (three years and counting).

Pete
 
Again, good suggestions so far.

I would be careful about using grease, wax or especially silicon if you may need to varnish in the future.

Better to dry out, strip old varnish if necessary, carefully adjust clearance as needed then re varnish and then only if necessary consider lubricant.
 
Bolt rope stretch first cos its easiest and likeliest: If you tie one end of the sail and pull on the other whilst feeding the spar on to the stretched sail, tadaah. Fairy liquid is a good lubricant and of course washes away for future varnishing.

A punt builder of your experieince knows when sanding to wrap the sandpaper around a former to maintain the hollowed groove section.

Now, can we have some vids of the towing it home pleaeeese-And yes of course you plug shameleesly:):):)
But the punt article explained toi me more clearly than any on just how the yourtube hits/business model works. all forgiven, say cheers three times and bless the bow of the Merry Minstrel when the time comes
 
Good plan

Blueboatman said:
Bolt rope stretch first cos its easiest and likeliest: If you tie one end of the sail and pull on the other whilst feeding the spar on to the stretched sail, tadaah. Fairy liquid is a good lubricant and of course washes away for future varnishing.

A punt builder of your experieince knows when sanding to wrap the sandpaper around a former to maintain the hollowed groove section.

Now, can we have some vids of the towing it home pleaeeese-And yes of course you plug shameleesly:):):)
But the punt article explained toi me more clearly than any on just how the yourtube hits/business model works. all forgiven, say cheers three times and bless the bow of the Merry Minstrel when the time comes
Click to expand...

aha

yes - there I was all ready to just jump in and sand

you have offeredd me some great advice

so if I wrapped the sandpaper around the top end of a dead or cut up genoa I would have a ready made shape

the film of the journey home is on a page

no link

Dylan
 
lotusman said:
I would be careful about using grease, wax or especially silicon if you may need to varnish in the future.
Click to expand...

Think you may well be right about the silicone - good point. Certainly silicone sealant leaves a tricky residue.

Tallow is no problem for varnishing though - my mast gets a liberal smearing of it transferred from the gaff jaws, but a wipe down with varnish thinners before sanding takes it all off. Same with the bowsprit, and the woodwork surrounding the leathering on the jaws themselves.

Not that I'm suggesting tallow is the best answer to Dylan's problem though - making the groove bigger or the sail-edge smaller should be the priority.

Pete
 
Hi Dylan Just open up the first 6in to make a throat to get it started you will find it should fit the rest of the luff groove and if ok sand off the remaining varnish and seal with epoxy and re varnish this will stop it grabbing the luff next time you take the sail down.
 
Id use candle wax as the lubricant after enlarging the slot to make it an easy fit and re-varnishing.

Candle wax wont mark the sail and will easily clean off with white spirit when the time comes to varnish again.
 
Ah.
Just got up to speed on the Minstrels homeward bound video, that really does look 'the business'.
It seems you have found the perfect tow combination there too.
 
That looks very excellent.

In your video the first 6 or 8" of the gaff throat seem a bit splintery and rather narrow.

If it were me I would have a Stanley knife at it and open up the lead-in a bit then smooth it off. Even if it is a bit swollen, I reckon it has been a bit too narrow anyway. You don't want to be damaging that nice fresh sail.
 
Stopping that vid at 29 secs you can see the top of the luff and the groove in the same close up.

The top of the luff is chafed and there appears to be some repair done - do I see extra stitching round it as a 'repair' that may have made it thicker?

The groove also appears to narrow a few inches up before getting slightly wider and more even.

Is it possible to try and slide the sail in upside down to see if the groove is actually wide enough and the head is the problem?
 
nickd said:
I would get some silicon spray and give the groove a really generous pasting - .
Click to expand...

Nooooooo! Not if you wish to varnish the spar later - and you WILL, won't you Dylan ? :)

Sandpaper, allow it to dry out naturally and then revarnish - a job that you will only be able to do in the absence of silicone.......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top