Harris blog post on Pocketship outing

[slash2]

Just saw John posted a blog entry about a winter cruise on Pocketship. Haven’t read/seen it yet, but I’m sure it’s entertaining. There’s a picture of his? Pocketship with a companionway dodger which is interesting. I’ve seen plans but never saw the actual item.

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I remember seeing a sketch for a proposed dodger several years ago. The real one in the blog post looks better. I like the way it is attached to snaps around the companionway opening. But it
is hard to figure out how the frame works from the photos.

BTW, you can enlarge the photos by opening them in a separate tab (on Windows Firefox, at least...)

[dbeck]

There is a nice video of the same outing on YT, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxKY56JhZKA

[slash2]

Actually now that I’ve gone through the blog; it looks like both boats have dodgers.
Thanks for the tip on enlarging the photos, there a lot of details and mods that I want to take a closer look at. Might need to add some additional work to my spring refitting.

[craig]

Good eye on the dodgers! There was a post on these many moons ago on this forum (at the time, John hadn't actually made it).

I'm in the middle of some upgrades to my own Pocketship, so after enjoying the blog post, I also poured over the pictures with a fine-toothed comb. At the risk of acting like the paparazzi (I beg forgiveness, John Harris - your boat is famous!): here are the changes I see that are not otherwise documented on this forum:

1. The aforementioned dodger. Looks to be the same design as was posted here from the beginning, though with two eyestraps added to the aft cabin bulkhead to hold the dodger top taught.

2. Mk2 boom gallows. I admit, after seeing this show up in pictures last year I took the plunge and am now 2 revisions in. There is a lot of flex with the substantially thinner material (from pictures, it looks to be about 1-1.25 inches thick?). Mine doesn't have carbon fiber, but maybe wrapping in fiberglass will help. When I get the mast back on my boat from its long-delayed revarnishing I'll see how strong this needs to be when supported by the poles.

3. Tiller tamer and substantially thicker tiller. The next time a landlubber journalists boards, Hull #1 will be ready https://www.ft.com/content/50a23928-e43 ... 162357801f. Adding a tiller tamer was #1 on my wish list. I went with the one posted on Joel’s navigator blog https://navigatorjoel.blogspot.com/2014 ... k-for.html

4. Racing upgrades: a 2nd pair of jib sheet cleats, whisker pole, etc.

5. Metal rub strip along rub rails

6. Cabin interior: beautiful monogrammed shelving and plenty of along-the-walls storage.

7. Rigging changes:
There is a second cleat on the tabernacle for a halyard. Topsail maybe? I’m not sure what else that would be for.
Perhaps again betraying my nautical ignorance, but what is the u-bolt for on the bowsprit, aft of the roller furler? This is on both boats, and has rope chafe protection of the bowsprit.
Jiffy reefing, but that’s already been discussed on this forum. Note that the main clew does not lead forward anymore for on-the-way adjustment as in the “stock” configuration, but is instead tied permanently to the end of the boom.
One last oddity: what is on Pocketship #1’s starboard aft cabin bulkhead? It looks like a block on a riser. The pictures aren’t clear enough to see if the peak halyard is running through this?

Did I miss anything?

[afairaizl]

Hi all,

1) Dodger - funny story that one. I ended up with one by accident since I had a sail order that shipped with wood templates, which I had not definitely ordered. It turns out I was shipped the templates by mistake and then had what I needed for bending the frame correctly. John's blocks wind/rain from the side better than mine and I'll be resewing my fabric to fix the gaps. I threw that together for mine about 2 days before leaving for Florida.

3) Tiller tamer - I definitely recommend for quickly locking the tiller for motoring and/or when you need to adjust something and hold a course while by yourself. I immediately could tell the difference between John's tiller and mine. Stock has a flex to it, his did not.

4) Whisker pole was a necessity when we were heading back north towards Tampa, the winds were too weak for a spinnaker, although I did get about a half hour of use before it became pointless. The Jib in wing in wing easily got another 1/2 to full knot of speed

5) metal rub strip - I can attest to how that would have been a good addition before I ended up running into docks that had exposed bolt heads and metal rails, even with four fenders in place. I shall forever call the stainless rail addition a "can opener" going forward.

6) along the wall storage - definitely going to add something similar, things like keys, sunglasses, etc were easily lost in the shuffle between two adults and several days provisions

7) 2nd cleat and d-ring for a storm stays'l in trial testing

[craig]

Ah I see - storm stays'l. That makes sense and is really interesting. You'll have to post an update with on-the-water testing for us sometime!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the upgrades. I like the dodger setup. I hope to tackle that project later this summer or fall.

Your trip looked like a blast and your boat seemed right at home. Hope you can do it again next year (or at the very least, find somewhere closer to home )