Commander Pete's turnbuckles... what goes around...

[s/v Faith]

Something like 6 years ago, I bent a turnbuckle in a bad docking.

  I priced replacements, but really like the W/C bronze that I have.  I mentioned it on the PearsonAriel.org site and COmmander Pete sent me a package in the mail the next week.

  Not the one I had asked for, but all 8 of his old (OEM) W/C turnbuckles.   I tested them all with the ATF trick, and they were all good. I replaced the one I had bent, and  I packed the rest of them in grease and gave them a corner of the settee.

  I shared one with a Sailor in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera... the other 6 were still in the settee today.  I had to stop at West marine for some paint... and the guy in front of me is asking the clerk about the turnbuckles.... I could see he had a w/c 3/8" bronze one just like mine.

  I interjected myself into the clerk's attempts to sell him the new stainless (over $100 buck!) turnbuckle.  He did not like it since it did not match the rest of his boat......

  I had him follow me back to the boat.  He has a 'Snapdragon' named 'puff'.  He is getting ready to do the great loop in this classic bilge keel 26' Sailboat.  I gave him one complete turnbuckle, and made a spare from his good parts and the bad parts of the one I had originally bent.

  Somewhere out there, your turnbuckle is holding up a forestay... and will sail the great loop!  Thanks!

Of course, he tried to pay for it.... the cost was to 'pass it on'.

  He may well register here, I hope so.  If nothing else, I was able to share something I received.

Commander Pete!  Thanks for the loan!

[Steve Bean]

   It's great to know things are "going around."  I haven't heard of the ATF trick.  Is this a way to check for cracks?
Steve

[maxiSwede]

   It's great to know things are "going around."  I haven't heard of the ATF trick.  Is this a way to check for cracks?
Steve

me too wondering...  ???

[Pappy Jack]

What a great story and a lesson for all. The world needs more people like you. A cup of grog to ya ;).

Fair winds and full sails,

Pappy Jack

[s/v Faith]

Thanks for the grog, but it is Commander Pete who deserves my portion.  ;D

  The 'ATF' trick I got from an aircraft NDI (non-destructive inspection) tech.

You clean a part as well as you can, and then soak it in automatic transmission fluid (small molecules, good penetration, ... something like that.)

  You take the part out (I let them soak over night), and then you sprinkle talc or baby powder over the part.  Cracks will show up as a line that collects the talc.  Of course, the threads will also collect talc, as will seams.. you look for large accumulation of talc in places like this.

[maxiSwede]

Thanks for the grog, but it is Commander Pete who deserves my portion.  ;D

  The 'ATF' trick I got from an aircraft NDI (non-destructive inspection) tech.

You clean a part as well as you can, and then soak it in automatic transmission fluid (small molecules, good penetration, ... something like that.)

  You take the part out (I let them soak over night), and then you sprinkle talc or baby powder over the part.  Cracks will show up as a line that collects the talc.  Of course, the threads will also collect talc, as will seams.. you look for large accumulation of talc in places like this.

Oh, I got it. Thanks for clarifying it.

[BobJ]

Good on Commander Pete.

Greetings - I think this is my first post on this Forum.

I arrived in this thread after searching on "Snapdragon 26."  I am corresponding with the owner of one, who hopes to participate in a race from San Francisco to Hawaii.  This includes an initial upwind leg out the Golden Gate and across the Gulf of the Farallones in winds which average well over 20 knots.  This year's edition of the race started in gale force winds and rough seas.

I have suggested that he does not have the right boat for the task, being a shallow-draft twin keeler.

Does anyone know of offshore passages being made by these boats?  They built about 200 of them (in the UK) so some must have ventured offshore.  Thank you.

[s/v Faith]

BobJ,

  I believe the owner of the Snapdragon 'Puff' is online now, he may have an answer for you.

[Snapdragon]

Hi,
I really wish I could give some authoritative insights as to the seaworthiness of the Snapdragon 26, but I've only owned mine since January and most of that time it's been on the trailer.  I have sailed her from Blackwater Bay to Pensacola Pass a few times and the heaviest weather I've encountered was a moderate chop which was hardly noticeable from the cockpit.  According to the previous owner, Puff was brought over from England on her own bottom by her first owner.  Since I've spent the last few months crawling around in her confined spaces and examining her details at great length, I am convinced that the story is plausible.  She seems to be stoutly made and should be more that adequate for my intended purpose ( the Great Loop ).

[Jim_ME]

This discussion reminds me of an article about John Letcher sailing his 25-foot twin-keel sailboat on some long passages, including to Alaska. I was unable to find that article but found this page about the Aleutka, including the specifications, which seem roughly similar to the Snapdragon 26. (I was surprised that, even with its modest draft, it had such a low Capsize screening ratio: 1.63)

http://www.valesh.com/~jon/boats/aleutka.html

An excerpt from this web page: "Both are proven ocean crossers, the first Aleutka voyaged to Hawaii and Alaska with Letcher at the helm, and later boats have made equally signifigant journies. Two examples (provided by Letcher) are Scott Bottoms, who sailed Maine Reason to Norway, by way of the West Indies and the Azores, and Robert F. L. (Liko) Self, who made two or more round trips between the west coast and Hawaii, perhaps single handed. I have heard reports of Aleutka's sailing from New Zealand to N. America."

I have read that several of the Westerly Centaurs have circumnavigated, and although the same length, are a bit heavier (6,700 lbs) and 3'-0" draft.

Atom Voyager James Baldwin includes the Centaur in his Good Old Boats List  - Choosing a small voyaging sailboat - Sailboats up to 32-foot for Offshore Voyaging http://www.atomvoyages.com/articles/boatlist.htm

I read a review about a Westerly Warwick 22 (3700 lb twin keel) by a man who cruised it from the West Coast to Hawaii with his family, then back to Vancouver, and after that trailered it across country and sailed on the East Coast and the Bahamas.

[CharlieJ]

I know of an Aleutka on the south Texas coast.. Fine sailboat
but quite small inside. No stand up places inside at all. Really can't see how John and Patti made such long cruises in the original boat. Tehani is about as small as we'd be able to cruise (as a couple)with any comfort. Single hand would be different of course.

To each his own I guess.

[Jim_ME]

The Snapdragon 26 is quite roomy, with more beam than the Aleutka 25, and the cabin trunk, with 5'10" headroom--although about the same displacement.

It has an unusual layout (drawing attached), with the head forward (as we had been discussing with the Cape Dory 25D) and sail bins/shelves on top of an enclosure of the lower half of two forward berths (which extend through the main bulkhead), and hanging locker. This seemed like an interesting way to provide a spacious head and storage, and to move those berths aft where the motion would be less (to make them perhaps into sea berths). It gives up the idea of having the berths in a separate cabin--but how often do you really need that on a 26-foot 5500-lb sailboat, and at sea the V-berths have limited use. This layout seems like a good use of space for a cruising couple.

I posted the article on the Aleutka because it had a record of long offshore passagemaking even though it (and the Westerly Warwick) is smaller than the Snapdragon, but was a somewhat similar twin-keel design. Since making my previous post I remembered that at least one of the articles that I read on the Aleutka is in the book Best Boats by Ferenc Mate (right after the Flicka 20 in the book), and includes extensive quotes by the designer, John Letcher.

In the Snapdragon 26 drawing below, the outboard motor well (in the plan) appears to be directly over the rudder (in the profile), so there must have been some adaptation (maybe the profile is for the alternative inboard version?).