Scout Update - Dress Rehearsal 

Been pretty busy working on Scout for the last week now. I spent my entire 4 days off last cycle working on her...and I mean until midnight (sometimes 2am). I worked my 48 hour shift at the doughnut shop on Mon/Tues and then got off duty this morning. Right back on it. She is so close but all these little details take time.  Tonight though, I wheeled her out of the garage, stepped the mast, and rigged her up.  I think we are ready for the first splash.

I don't have pics because it was outside and after dark, but tonight was a full dress rehearsal for Scout. This was the first time she was fully rigged and the sail unfurled. She looked great.  Spent an hour or so experimenting with a few different things and methods of raising/lowering sail. Doing that identified a few things that I needed to make some changes to. This boat is going to be VERY different from anything else I have ever sailed.

 Kiko came over and gave me a hand. It's always good to have someone to bounce ideas off of, and we came up with a change or two that will make things run much smoother for Scout's first splash. Here's how the last week has gone.

Tiller extension in "Collapsed" position

I added an extendable tiller extension to the side of the main tiller. This will allow me to sit outside the cockpit and steer by using my legs on the tiller extension. When it is not needed it is a simple twist lock affair and it retracts back out of the way.  That took some time as I had to experiment with different mounting locations and then fabricate some brackets for it. It still utilizes its "quick loc" attachment so it can be removed entirely in seconds without any tools.  It passes through a stainless eye-bolt then back to an aluminum bracket in which the tiller socket for the quick release is mounted. When collapsed as pictured on the right....it is the same length as the original tiller and does not interfere with anything.


When extended....it comes into the cabin and will allow me to sit in the companionway, above it,  with the tiller extending out between my knees. Rather than having to reach down below for the steering lines or have an external tiller mounted on the rudder I should be able just to shift my legs for rudder adjustment when sitting outside on nice days. The seat (which is shown in place in the picture) would be moved into its storage position and my legs will be dangling there...I just didn't move the seat for the picture.

Tiller Extension from above

Tiller extension in Extended Mode

The battery's now mounted. Yes, I use big batteries. Why? Couple of reasons. 1. I like having a large reserve of electrical for electronics, gps, vhf, etc. And 2.....My understanding of the Paradox is that she is designed to sit deep (in a relative sense) and sail heavy for best performance. To achieve this...the water ballast tanks are flooded. I do not intend to use the ballast tanks for drinking water...so to me that is just dead weight. So...if I can make the weight work for me....why not go with a large battery ( and less water)?  Also...When I cruise our bigger boat with Jo and Ensign, we carry 2 group 27 AGM's aboard. When we are not cruising however...there is no need to have both batteries in there. I will never be sailing both boats at once...so why buy another battery??  I just took the second battery out of Dauntless for now and installed a secure tray for it in Scout. I can move it back and forth between boats in 10 minutes when I want to. 

Group 27 AGM Battery Mounted in forward compartment

I decided against using the removable partitions shown in the plans and that Lezlie had already built for the bow. Using them meant locating the battery on the port side. Instead...I moved the battery position forward and on center to prevent list and to counteract the weight of my big butt in the aft end of the boat, as well as the Honda 2hp on the transom eventually. I like having the whole forward compartment open and accessible more than having the partitions. I envision this area being used for storing bedroll, sleeping mat and stuff like that. I will eventually make some kind of way to secure everything in its own special spot up there....but first I need to learn what "Everything" will consist of. 

If I need to...I will install a second battery tray further aft by the mast that will allow me to adjust the battery position fore and aft for trim as necessary. The battery tray is securely through-bolted to a hardwood board with blind nuts and 1/4-20 screws, then the board is glassed to the floor of the boat. Don't want that baby ever moving around. The electrical system will come later...for now I wanted the battery in place for trim and also, it is used for the pump to bring any necessary ballast water aboard, or pump it out. As you can see... the vent box is also now all sealed up. The wires to the battery are temporary for now just to power the ballast pump for these initial test sails. I will install a distribution panel later for lights, and electronics. I just used an inline fuse for safety.

I ran into an unforeseen issue with the topping lift I installed. I have read of many of the guys using them to make the furling operate smoother....in fact most of the Paradox's I have seen online have them.  So I did it. I drilled a hole in the bronze shaft and installed a shackle for the forward tie off point. This worked but had an un-intended consequence once it was under load. When the boom's weight was taken by the topping lift, the angle that the forward line took caused the shackle to angle towards the furler disc. It did not rub on it, however it was close. BUT...it did hit the stopper knot from the furler line (which exits to the outside of the disc) every time the furler rotated...making furling difficult and placing extra strain and chafe on everything.


 Kiko and I scratched our heads on this one for a while until a light bulb went off. First....a second hole was drilled in the furler disc and the line that exited the drum was led back into the drum again...and then the stopper knot placed on the inside of the drum rather than the outside.  That helped some...but not enough.

Second...we removed the shackle all together and used a bolt and lock nuts to make a sort of "T-bar" on the bronze rod. The topping lift was then tied tightly on the far side of the T-bar. It now pulls up to the T-bar....but that is as close as it can get to the drum. No more interference at all.  I like this system way better. It's simpler and should have no chafe. In trials...it worked great compared to the previous setup. Sorry for the blurry pics...they were no flash pics in crummy light...I wasn't able to be still enough for the long exposure times. LOL



I didn't like the mainsheet dragging on the brass tubing where it exited the transom. Seemed to create a lot of friction. So I fabbed up two brackets and installed a swivel block on either side that allows the line to transit the brass tube, under load,...without dragging on it. I have two "stand up" springs on order for these two blocks to keep them in the right orientation even in light air.

Bracket and pulley for mainsheet exit 

Aft end of Boom showing outhaul point moved forward
and chainplate used to attach mainsheet and topping lift

Finally,,,,when I installed the sail on the boom and yard...the yard was a bit short. I ended up extending it about 8 inches. Oddly enough....the boom seems excessively long. I think I figured it out. There was a change made by Matt Layden at one point where he drew a "MarkII" version of the Paradox mainsail. It is not quite as user friendly for furling as it leaves a tad of the top of the sail unfurled when the front end of the yard meets the boom....but it is supposed to improve performance to weather. Lezlie sewed up her own sail from a Sailrite kit. She did an outstanding job on it. I think that this sail is the Mark II version...and thus does not need quite as much boom. I ended up re-drilling for the location of the outhaul on the boom to get a more proper looking angle on it. It was going almost to the end of the boom...giving a lot of foot tension, but no leach tension...there was a huge wrinkle in the foot of the sail. By re-drilling it so that the outhaul bisects the angle of the leach and foot...the sail seems to set much better. After I sail her for a bit...if I see no other reason to leave it....I will shorten the boom appropriately.

The bracket on the end of the boom for the mainsheet and topping lift seems to work very well. it is a heavy stainless steel chainplate, so it does not flex and interfere with rotation of the boom. The shaft it rotates on is a 5/16 stainless lag bolt driven into the end of the boom. The head of the bolt is cut-off and a dye was used to thread the exposed end. Then a large stainless fender washer, followed by the chainplate, followed by another fender washer...and then a nylock nut  was installed. The nylock allows me to tighten just to the point of taking the play out of the chainplate....but to stop before there is too much friction for the boom to rotate. Seems to work well.......well....In the driveway at least. 

Sea trials to come!! Stand by....Scout is about to SPLASH! 

S