Leading Lines Aft

[Zen]

THat is what I thought! 

[Zen]

Wow, Cmdr Pete; you changed from a health guy in a red jacket to a beautiful woman in one winter; I am impressed.

Oh, I looked again at the second pic and see you also; ...

Ok I guess I should have put the quote in.

[AdriftAtSea]

LOL...that is what I thought too...then I looked a bit closer...

[castawaysailor]

gotta luv it when a guy begins to look that good

[AdriftAtSea]

gotta luv it when a guy begins to look that good

Nah, that just means you've been at sea by yourself for way too long...

[jdsackett]

thanks captn, adrift. nice to find a forum for the small boat guys. regards, j.d

[jdsackett]

adrift.....have a cal 25. pretty solid ole gal, but dont think id want to take her on the ocean. too many BIG holes. huge pop top, which is nice in the slip, but sure is a big water catcher. wont be taking this boat when i pull the plug and go cruising, but a good one to learn on. only been sailing a couple months. boat is slipped at lake mead. can sail all year long here, does get cold , but i guess cold is relative. to you eastern and midwest folks, i guess 30s in february wouldnt be exactly cool lol, tradeoff is 120 in the summer. anyway, thats where im at. regards, j.d.

[AdriftAtSea]

We've had the 30 degree weather before thanksgiving and had snow on the decks of the boats before halloween...    Our sailing season is a bit shorter here, unless you want to go frostbiting... I'd agree that a Cal-25 is a pretty good boat to learn on, but not suitable for cruising.

The one problem I see with learning on a lake, even one as big as Lake Mead is that tides and currents will generally catch you by surprise when you go out on the big pond....so just keep that in mind when you switch from freshwater to saltwater sailing.

[Cmdr Pete]

You guys are easily distracted.

Now what were we talking about  

[CharlieJ]

  Dave and Jaja Martin MIGHT argue with you over a Cal 25 being suitable for offshore- They DID take Direction round the world.

Of course Direction was a HIGHLY modified Cal 25 I must admit

[AdriftAtSea]

Dave and Jaja Martin MIGHT argue with you over a Cal 25 being suitable for offshore- They DID take Direction round the world.

Of course Direction was a HIGHLY modified Cal 25 I must admit

It would probably cost less to get a Pearson Triton than it would to modify a Cal 25 to the degree that Dave and Jaja modified theirs... Also, probably faster to get a Triton than to modify the Cal 25.

[CharlieJ]

Got THAT right- Dave really did a total rebuild on the boat. Don't know if it should REALLY be called a Cal 25 any longer. Maybe a Martin 25??

[AdriftAtSea]

As part of my spring projects this year, I decided to lead the halyards aft on my boat. To do this, I asked my friend Bob to make up some halyard block attachment plates for the mast step. Here's a photo of the new mast step with some of the blocks in place.



As part of this project, I'm also installing four Lewmar D1 double-line clutches. Recently, another Sailnet user asked me about line clutches, and I told him to buy the Lewmar line clutches, rather than the Spinlock or Garhauer ones he was considering. The reasons for this are:

    * The Lewmars are less expensive than the Garhauer or Spinlock clutches
    * The Lewmars are less abrasive to the halyards than the Garhauer or Spinlock clutches
    * The Lewmars have some of the best holding power, and can be released gradually even under heavy loads, allowing you to ease the line, rather than let it go suddenly

The Spinlocks can't always be released if heavily loaded, so IMHO, they're more of a line jammer than a clutch. The only downside to the Lewmar clutches is that they can only handle a limited range of line sizes. For instance, the line clutch in the photo can only handle 10-12 mm lines (3/8-7/16"). A Spinlock or Garhauer could handle over twice that range—5/16-9/16".

Here's a photo of one of the line clutches I installed for the halyards project.



The deck in this location is solid fiberglass, and the line clutch was installed using four 1/4x20 bolts and a 3/16" aluminum backing plate. The labels on the clutch are not correct, as the two lines are the outhaul and the mainsail halyard.

The small Spinlock PX powercleat you see just forward and inboard of the Lewmar is for one of the two ama retraction lines, which will allow me to retract the amas from the cockpit.

The other three double line clutches will be installed on the port side of the companionway, along with another winch. A fifth line double line clutch will be installed on the port side of the boat, roughly symmetrical to the one in the photo above.

[TJim]

Strange........Before I installed my current clutches, I asked everyone I knew personally who had Lewmar or Garhauer which was the best.  I didn't have to ask about spinlock as that was what I had and I knew
they were junk.  You know what, no one, including those who had Lewmar rated Lewmar above Garhauer
but you.  I have used Lewmar on other peoples boat and believe me, I'll keep my Garhauer....Just
 the other side of the coin  from an old obnoxious opinionated Jerk. TJim

[s/v Faith]

TJim,

  Somehow your post was made in the 'Kiss sextant' thread.  I split it off and merged it in here since it seemed to me to be a reply to this thread.......... if I was incorrect please let me know.

[AdriftAtSea]

While Garhauer clutches can handle a wider range of line sizes, they tend to be a lot more abrasive to the line.  The Lewmars are far gentler on the line and are better at easing the lines when under load.  The cam-based designs, like the Garhauer and Spinlock, tend to jam or release abruptly in my experience.  YMMV. 

Strange........Before I installed my current clutches, I asked everyone I knew personally who had Lewmar or Garhauer which was the best.  I didn't have to ask about spinlock as that was what I had and I knew
they were junk.  You know what, no one, including those who had Lewmar rated Lewmar above Garhauer
but you.  I have used Lewmar on other peoples boat and believe me, I'll keep my Garhauer....Just
 the other side of the coin  from an old obnoxious opinionated Jerk. TJim