Leading lines to the cockpit

  Let's face it: Having a boat that was designed for one design racing for a crew of eight, is no fun to be sailed shorthanded.. Exhausting is the right word!

 So I decided to make her more shorthanded friendly, and the first thing to do is move lines aft to the cockpit. Mast collar blocks, deck organizers, cabin top winches and clutches needed to be added. The traveller's old and leaky teak riser blocks  were on their way, and needed to replace them because it was hard to seal a serious leak into the balsa core, and ended up with a lot of rotten wood on port side. Also got shocked when I saw that the bolts attaching them to the deck were welded in the middle. so, I made a Cad  design for  new risers, bought some 1/2" aluminum plates,  cut them, shaped them and took them to a shop for the parts to be welded togheter.. They ended up really nice, so I just sanded the weld, the edges,  painted and installed them.. Now I was able to lead my lines through them and   I don't have to remove the track in order to remove the teak rails,  and the companionway hood and hatch.. 

I chose a spinlock clutch and a lewmar 30 winch. The deck organizer was bought from Garhauer. The also made the mast collar plates for attaching the blocks. They custom made the holes for them to be attached to  the mast collar..  The  C/C distance for Estancia is 5-1/4", and uses 1/4" bolts. If I have to do it again, I'll install a third bolt rigt in the middle. The bolt hole were drilled through the deck. Nuts and washers were installed in the other side. Also, a turnbuckle had to be installed inside the cabin with a U bolt and a pad eye  between the mast and the deck, so the last one wont rise while halyards are under load.

Windlass Project

This is the new windlass that I just installed on Estancia.  I bought the new Lewmar Concept 1 motor, breaker and solenoid box from a friend, and the found on ebay the all stainless upper part from an Anchorlift Dolphin 1000 windlass. After getting some measures from the seller, I noticed that it can be combined, so I bought it and both parts fitted perfectly. I think I got the best of both worlds. The Lewmar motor is very reliable and the current draw is around 70 amps, and the Anchorlift drains a lot more amps and has less power,
The original upper part from the Concept 1 was aluminum and had only a capstan. The Anchorlift  has a drum/capstan option, and is all stainless. This is a great option, because a can use the drum for a send anchor, or to someone aloft.

Installation is straight forward, there are not too many installation options, unless you don't have an anchor roller already installed.  The motor will go inside the anchor locker. I was thinking about installing it a little bit aft, so the motor will be inside the v- berth, and covered with a wood or fiberglass box, but it will get in the middle if I want to install a chainplate for a staysail. So, inside the locker it is!!

 After aligning the windlass with the anchor roller, I noticed that it will have to be installed over the foreguy track (wich I don't have) channel, so I had to make a fiberglass "adaptor" to compensate for the curved deck 

and the channel dept. Since the C38 anchor locker is not that deep, the chain and rode will probably need some help and been guided, so they won't jam at the windlass, but definitely, it will be less work that pulling a 45lbs CQR and 20'  of 5/16

' chain!!!

A 3/8" fiberglass laminate was installed under the deck for strengh, and the installation ended up pretty well.

The control box was located inside the V berth locker, so humidity wont as much, as if installed in the anchor locker.

Next job is to make somekind of box  over the motor and a hole that leads to the v berth locker for ventilation. This way, it won't be exposed to the salty environment of the anchor locker. 

Dodger Project

Here's my new dodger on its way.. After five years of studying and planning, finally got the materials, selected the right design and started working on it. Several tips were provided by several sailors, and specially from other C38 owners.

My needs called for a "coastal dodger", something to avoid the hot and damaging UV rays and rain, from coming through the huge companionway opening on the C38. Looking back from the bow, I wanted it to follow the lines of the deck, but that will take some room inside the dodger, so I started by placing the frame mounts on each side of the cabin, instead of the top. This way, I can turn the 8" winch handle without any obstructions. The same principle was applied to the side curtains, the primaries 10" winch handles had to rotate freely but getting rid of the sides were out of question. The final aproach was making a curtain with enough gap in the middle between the winch and the dodger that still brings some protection. At 6', I consider myself a tall person, so the tallest the dodger, the better! The total height of the dodger is 64". One inch taller, and the boom will kiss the dodger top.

Mainsail Stack Pack

Way better than the regular lazy jack!! Mainsail handling couldn't be easier for shorthanded sailing.

Solar Panels

I installed four Arco Solar 45w solar panels on the existing bimini. Didn't want a separate estrcture for them. The only thing that the pics are not showing are a couple of stainless pipes that go from the stern side of the panels, to the stern pulpit. These were added in order to make the structure more rigid, and turned out to be a great adition.

I can even move back .the front part of the bimini for a full sunbath, afternoon sailing, or ocasional racing.

The charge current is controlled by a Morningstar dual battery bank controller.

My batteries are always topped!!!

Estancia

Lazy Jack

I installed the Lazy jack system on ESTANCIA last month, but it wasn't untyl last Saturday when I used it for the first time. Why I didn't install them before, I have no idea!!!!

The easy handling of the mainsail is amazing. I made them at a fraction of an "off the shelf" kit.

It's a three leg system that goes up the mast to a couple of blocks installed on the lower spreaders and down to cleats on the mast base. This way, I can retract them when sailing, or when installing the sail cover.