Perth has a Pocketship

[Dave Archer]

What an incredible feeling. It was a bit rainy just before the launch then cleared up with a stiff breeze. All went perfectly. I couldn't have been prouder. I had crowds of people watching the launch and my son delivered a clever speech toasting the 4 winds and a drop of bubbly for Neptune.

All up she took about 20 months to build. I went with the colors I like best as per PS1. The name and decal I think work well.

Here she is on the trailer ready for launching. I decided not to build the boom gallows but opted rather to build a nice stainless pillar with a sling that will detach. For now I made a temporary support of crossed wood which works well.


Here my son Michael sets off with some friends aboard. She looks great!


Another view, everything working perfectly.


My eldest son gave me the hat. I wore it proudly.


In full flight. What a sight. We had 5 on board for this and we were moving at quite a pace. I know, the jib should have been furled, but we thought we would give it all. Well it was good while it lasted!

Shortly after this photo was taken the tabernacle timber split on the side, not the joints but the actual timber. Well, we did push it to the limit and no better time to find a problem, while I had experienced sailors on board to help. We dropped the sails and got towed back. I can't say I was disappointed. I'll just build a much stronger one out of glassed ply.

I named her Precious little, which is nice I think and as a friend said, it is about all that is left in my wallet after the build was done.

I can't be more appreciative of the CLC guys, most helpful and the plans were a treat. I have totally enjoyed the build....apart from the SANDING!

[truenorth]

She looks great! I like the attention to detail, such as the flags and the decal. Makes it a real personal effort. Have to admit I've never seen it without a boom gallows. It sure does lend to a more streamlined, forward-facing craft.

Curious about the timber for the tabernacle -- what wood did you use and how thick was it? Can you share photos?

[Dave Archer]

I used Tasmanian Oak 19mm. In fact I have used the same wood for the entire boat apart from the ply.

The split was on the Port side of the tabernacle in the middle. The epoxy joints all held but the timber grain split open with a gaping gap almost right through front to back. It was only noticeable under strain and now has closed up to a hairline crack.

I always thought this might happen so wasn't too disappointed. The book does mention the strains and possible beefing up of the tabernacle. Fortunately no other issues and easy to fix.

I thought I'd rather not install the Gallows as it would get in the way if we go fishing which is half the intention for the boat. There are some great spots near Fremantle, just out of Perth.
Regards Dave

[Shudoman]

Wow... she looks great. Congrats!

Did you make your tabernacle removable or is it a permanent installation? I'm currently working on mine and had the thought that it would be removable. Have already beefed up the inside with additional ply to handle the loads. I too am building mine out of ply glassed on the inside and out. Hopefully this will be enough.

Bill

[Dave Archer]

Hi Bill,

Removable thank heavens! We really did push it to the limit though. I'm sure if it was glassed all round it would have been OK. The new one that I will make this weekend will be a lot stronger. May I also suggest that you build the mast first then make the tabernacle to suit. Mine was a bit tight which was also not good.

Regards Dave

[Pascal]

Beautiful pictures.Congratulation .Sorry about your tabernacle. I did mine with 3/4 solid maple laminated with plywood. so far so good....

[I's the B'y]

Congrats, Dave! "Precious Little" sure is a beautiful boat. Too bad about the tabernacle mishap. Interesting choice about not including the boom gallows. I found that when I trailed "So True" the 2400 km between Winnipeg, Manitoba to Montreal, Quebec that it was quite the insect collector! However, I will leave mine on as it is useful as an aft support for a boom tent when out sail-camping. Many happy sails!

I's the B'y

[sean]

Hey all-

First off, Dave, beautiful job on Precious Little! Like the look of the boat w/o the boom gallows. Have tried a bit of fishing on mine as well, and am mixed as far as the gallows go. Handy to mount rod holders, both to hold a couple rods and if trolling, but they can get in the way as well...

I also got a crack in the tabernacle this summer. It is the only structural damage that I have observed so far, so not bad after a full year of use. The crack is a hairline fracture in the epoxy at the top of the joint between the tabernacle and the cabin. Never even noticed it until the next time out, when it would creak when heavily loaded. When looking at it under sail, you could see it open up about 1-2mm or so when heavily loaded - especially pulling on the jib line to fully unfurl the sail. It happened on the roughest day I’ve even sailed in, with winds of at least 15-20? knots and significant wind swell.

I wanted to better understand the stresses experienced during sailing (free body diagrams anyone?) to try to see where the main forces are acting on in. Looking at the problem in a somewhat simplistic way, it is clear that if the stays are not adequately tight and allowing bottom aft side of the mast to contact the inside face of the tabernacle, it can take some of the load from the stays and result in a significant forward force on the upper tabernacle (kind of trips over itself). This seems to be what happen to my boat. I used a wooden block in the tabernacle as John suggest to give a bit of a rake to the mast, and also use the 2mm line to tie up lashing to connect the stays to the chainplate (as shown in the manual). What I think happened is that I tied the lashings with the mast firmly in the tabernacle. Then, after stress on the stays during use, the lashings either stretched or the multiple wraps cinched down making the stays even looser. This plus the high wind on the sails seems to be the cause of the crack.

I have since tightened up the stay lashings a bit, and removed the wooden block. This way the rake in the mast is still there, but the mast cannot fully seat in the tabernacle. In sea trials, I have also noticed significantly less ‘give’ in the hairline crack with the block removed and the stays tightened. (I have tried to seal up the top of the crack, but still does seem to move a bit). I haven’t heard any problems with the stress in the stays being too high (either at the mast or chainplate connection), so seems the more load you give to the stays the better.

-Sean

http://buildingpocketship.wordpress.com/

[DanaDCole]

It seems like turnbuckles at the chainplates would be a good idea. "Captain Charlie" pointed out that he has 'em on his boat when he took me for a ride in it. I think this would make it a lot easier to keep the stays tightened.

Also, I am by no means an expert but isn't oak, though quite strong, more brittle and more likely to crack than a softwood, e.g., Sitka spruce or Douglas fir? Plywood laminate seems like a good idea, but would fiberglass really help that much?

[DanaDCole]

I like your idea of foregoing the gallows (you are getting a lot more positive responses than I did now that people can see how sleek the boat looks without it). John Harris himself says in a post I read somewhere that the gallows can affect the sailing and balance characteristics--though probably very slightly--and it is a great bug-catcher.

I mentioned in a previous post that a topping lift would solve the problem of the boom and yard dropping to the cockpit floor when the sail is lowered. Lazy jacks would work well also, and keep the sail out of the way (see Pete McCrary's Tattoo posts for a good design). You would still need some kind of crutch to tie the mast, etc. to when trailering, and if you can carry the crutch along with you, it could be used to support the mast for a boom tent.

Can you post pictures when you finish the mast crutch?