Scout Update...Details Details Details....

No...those are not my glasses!! lol

Last week Jo, Ensign and I got out of town for the Holiday weekend so no work got done on Scout. We got home on Monday night...and it was back to our real jobs on Tues morning. For me that meant a 48 hour tour.Got home today for four days so I hope to make some real progress on a lot of the little housekeeping things that need to be finalized up before Scout floats.

First, let me say this...

Lezlie....if you read this blog, my hat is off to you. The amount of work and effort that went into Scout (formerly Tardis) before I acquired her from you is amazing. I'm not sure I could have done it. The more I work on the minimal amount of things she needs for completion, the more impressed I am with all your work. :-)

For anyone that wants to see Scout's creation as done by Lezlie from the the very beginning, she has it all chronicled on her blog. Here's the link...It starts back around January of 2011...

http://lezliesworld.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html

So....let's see....the update...

Well....there are numerous small jobs in the works. Many of them require just spending time , scratching my head...mocking up this or that to see if it will work before putting it into play permanently. I often refer to some of the other Paradox sites to see how others have handled some of the items I am working on. Although there is a plan book, it seems everyone customizes to their liking a bit. It's kind of fun to take a little from this guy's ideas, a little from that guy, add a little of my own and watch what materializes. The thing you have to be careful of,  though, is often changing one thing to solve one issue, just creates another. Lots of time staring at this boat right now as the final details come together.

Leather Pad added to mast to protect sail, boom, and mast

Today I made a leather pad for the mast where the sail, boom, and furler will rub on it when sailing on Port tack. I have seen photos of others that have rubbed right through the fabric on the sail so I used a soft leather and I will replace it as it wears out. It is laced temporarily with cordage, but I will replace that with shock cord once I step the mast, raise the sail, and know I have the height correct. The shock cord will self adjust for stretch and shrinkage of the leather over time

Rudder Lift Line

I also finally got the rudder lifting line all finished. I was awaiting some fairleads I ordered to arrive and they finally did. The line has to make numerous changes in direction through micro and bullet blocks, then a fairlead and finally through a captive clamcleat. I installed a t-handle to make pulling the line easier and adjusted the friction nut on the rudder. Seems to work pretty smooth now. I am going to find or make a much larger washer for the one nut that secures the rudder in place on the rudderstock.

Interior view of tiller, steering line attachment and rudder lift line
 looking towards transom from cabin

Here you can see the tiller pushed over to port and the rudder lifting line running along its starboard side. It goes through a captive aluminum clamcleat and then has a T-Handle on the line made of Starboard.

Steering lines attaching to tiller and cut to length

The steering line was also cut to final length after adding some knots in it at intervals on each side to assist in holding onto it. I  have devised a deal I am going to add onto the steering line that will incorporate a block on an extra adjustable tension line. It will allow me to set and adjust the tension on the steering line. That way in light air I can make the rudder very light and responsive with good feedback.  In heavier air I will be able to tension the line up, making the steering system somewhat stiffer.

Half inch thimble seized to bronze rod of the Tack Strop

The furling system called for a half inch thimble to be seized to the boom strop arm in order to guide the furling line into the drum. I finally found the thimble that I needed from Sailrite and ordered it. The shackle to the left of the furling drum is an addition to allow a topping lift to be used to support the boom during furling. I have seen this used by numerous other Paradox's.

Close up of the seizing...done with stainless annealed seizing wire

The seizing job is not beautiful, but it seems fairly solid and I am going to go with it for now. If it bugs me enough I may undo it and pretty it up later. It's the first time I have seized something like that ,,,and it shows.



Still to come:

The mainsheet is still a work in progress. I think that tonight after many hours and different mock-ups I know how I want to run it. Getting it over the baffle inside the aft end of the boat, and also around all the rudder and tiller gear is challenging. I've got a few brackets to make but I think I have it figured out.

I want to get the battery installed so I can trim the boat with the battery's weight in there....although no electrical will be hooked up for the initial sails.

I have to decide on an outboard bracket for the times when I want to use an outboard. I have located one that is easily removable and may go that direction.

Hang with me...I'm gonna get her done. I've just kinda been dealing with a little bit of distraction.

While working on Scout....I have been working on myself too. Found out the hard way (at work) that I have a glucose problem...some call it diabetes. Ugh!  I am working out daily and on a strict diet hoping against hope that cutting weight, increasing my physical fitness, and severely modifying my formerly junk food diet,  will eventually allow me to manage the disease without any medication. It is a huge lifestyle change for me and taking a LOT of time and effort. Hopefully, by this fall when I want to be sailing Scout a lot, we'll have this all figured out and it won't be a big deal. What it IS.....is a real blow to the ego.  Never have I not been able to do what I set my mind on doing due to physical or medical limitations. I am determined to kick this thing's ass by getting mine into high gear. I gotta lot of stuff I still plan on doing. Yanking a disc out of my neck 10 years ago didn't stop me. I'll be damned if this will. My goal is for this to be just another bump in the road. Diabetes just does not fit into my plan right now.

Onward and upward! :-)

Scout Sails This Month!