Tanzer 16 Next Year's Projects (Winter 2015-2016)

Tanzer 16 Next Year's Projects (Winter 2015-2016)  -- March 28, 2015 We are planning to put the boat in the water next week and there are still just a couple of little nitty-nacky items to take care of. The new Genoa is on its way and will need sheets. While washing the boat yesterday, I found a few nuts and washers that need to be replaced. Our goal this year was to make things more efficient and make the boat faster. We think we have done that. But dang it! There is already a list for next winter

There are a number of little iron stains on the deck. I don't know how they got there; I'm very careful to never use ferrous metal around the boat. Plus there are stains under some of the stainless fittings. Plus there is the issue of holes from previous owner's relocation of the jib sheet tracks.


Moving the tracks was a good idea. It facilitates single
handing, but it left some ugly holes.


Thought I was careful to keep iron away from the boat, but there are
a couple dozen of these nasty pits.



These will probably come out with a little bleach and Softscrub.



The rub rail and deck areas around it are showing what happens when
you bump into things for 39 years. (#1306 was built May, 1976.)

Then there is the bigger issue. The starboard seat has always "oil canned" more than seemed reasonable. As it happened, I had to buy a little inspection camera for my part-time home repair business. I used it to take a look inside the seat.



The camera/light head doesn't articulate from the handle, but with patience
I could get a look at the inside bottom of the seat.

It was kind of obvious, but now I know for sure.  There is a crack.




I thought there might be a glass/plywood sandwich, but it appears 
to be just glass.

So next year's list:

• Repair or mitigate the crack in the seat. Right now crew Tony and I are thinking that we will cut a hole in the top and use low expansion foam to add some backing under the seat--as well as a little more flotation. If that doesn't work we will have to cut out the seat, fix it, glass it back in place, and then paint.
• Fill all the holes and paint the deck. The worst part of this job will be removing and reattaching all the hardware.
• Replace the rub rail. And of course clean up all the dings along the edge before repainting.
• Rehab the trailer. It has a new axle, but it looks pretty bad. Plus we need to add new bunks. The current bunks are just pieces of treated 2x4.
• Plus... all the stuff we will discover this season.

So it looks like the Miata is going to spend a few months out in the elements while we lend its space in the garage to the boat. We'll set the boat down on some mattresses to work on the deck, and the trailer can go out in the covered--but unheated--storage area for work.

If the hull ever gets painted, it will probably have to wait until the winter of '16-'17.

Tanzer 16 More Little Improvements

Tanzer 16 More Little Improvements  -- March 10, 2015 --  We finished racing and sailing early last September, and we had a long list of little improvements we needed to make before next year.  Today the last ones were finished. These were little things over and above the big thing:  An easier way to raise the mast.

I installed some bags to hold the halyards that are now controlled back in the cockpit--and talk about little things--a sail stop for the main.

It just seemed like a better idea than having a bunch of spaghetti laying
down on the floor.

Granted not the biggest deal in the world, but a nice convenience.  This is
a stock 1/2-inch stop that needed a little grinding so it would fit in the track
The idiot string is to prevent dropping it overboard.

Here was the list we created at the end of last year.

1) add hinged mast for easy raising with a gin pole
2) move halyards to centerboard cap; add cam cleats and a winch so it is easy to raise, lower, and adjust halyard tension underway
3) add additional blocks to traveler to gain 2:1 mechanical advantage so it will be easier to adjust traveler in brisk wind
4) add spinnaker pole
5) get new Genoa  --  Waiting
6) paint deck, including filling holes left by previous owners
7) add new rub rail
8) do a little cosmetic repair to hull in bow area--somebody bashed a lot of docks
9) clean up trailer, paint, and new bunks
10) install cunningham with 2:1 mechanical advantage
11) refill the hardware box with shackle pins, rings, and cotter pins (lots of borrowing by others has depleted the spares)

In addition we 
12) Added a tiller snubber made of shock cords.
13) Improved the topping lift for the main.
14) Added turning blocks for the topping lift and the spinnaker halyard--if we ever get one.

Blue is completed.  Black means we'll have to get on it next year.

We are not naive enough to think that any one of these things are going to help us win races.  But we do think that every little iteration of improvement makes us more efficient and less distracted so that we can concentrate on the big things.  It's a lot easier to focus on keeping sails trimmed and the boat flat when you are not diddling with lots of little stuff that shouldn't be a bother--at least that's the plan.

Plus +++ Today I had the sinking feeling that a piece of plywood inside the port seat is broken.  That would explain why it oilcans so much more than the starboard seat. I will stick my little camera in there later and verify. If it is broken, it will have to get fixed before we paint.

All we need now is for our new Genoa to arrive from Quebec.  We'll add a set of sheets lighter than the ones we use on the regular jib.

I'll spend a day cleaning and polishing.  Then a little practice, and we'll hope for the nice winds we had last summer.

Tanzer 16 Incredible Deal -- Totally Refurbished

Tanzer 16 Incredible Deal  -- Totally Refurbished   --  March 8, 2015  Sometime back we wrote about Ralph's refurb of his Tanzer.  It is better than factory new and it was a great deal at $4000.  All of the paint and wood look better than the day it came from the factory.  Even the rub rail is brand new.  It also has a snubbing winch and the alternative, full-width traveler that allows fine tuning the main when you are racing. Even the trailer is immaculate.  His wife does canvas work for a living and she has provided a full cover. This boat is so good, it would be worth borrowing a motor home to come out to Washington State and get it.

Why don't I buy it?  Thinking about it.  Maybe I could wait until Patricia is out of town and hope that she wouldn't notice that her garage parking spot has a boat in it.  Here is Ralph's current ad.  I wrote about this boat on June 23, 2014.  The only hitch.  If you race in a measured fleet, Ralph has changed the mast to a tapered, bendy Ranger 16 mast.  You can buy a new mast for about $400 ..... see post.  But if you race in a Portsmouth Yardstick fleet like I do, the mast should not be a problem since the boat uses normal Tanzer sails.

Ralph's ad is available at  http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/boa/4914288096.html

Tanzer 16 sailboat - $3000 (Vancouver WA)

1973 Tanzer 16 sailboat in Bristol condition. Fully restored and ready to sail. Boat has new paint and varnish and is in "better than new" condition. All work has been done to professional standards. Includes "like new" sails, full cover and trailer.
Call, text or email for more information and pics
Ralph Crouse

Tanzer 16 Hinged Mast Retrofit 3rd Iteration -- Works Well

Tanzer 16 Hinged Mast Retrofit 3rd Iteration -- Works Well (no drama)  -- March 1, 2015.  With the help of crew, Tony, I have been working on this system to raise the mast for nearly a year.  After the third major revision, it seems to work well.  The only thing that remains is to try it out in 15+ knots with a little too much sail.  Today went well.  The big change for this iteration was to move the pivot point for the A-frame forward and so that we could  keep the shrouds attached the whole time, it went better than I hoped for.  Here is the procedure step by step.

The boat trailer must be secured to a vehicle.  Then look up to make sure there are no power lines.  I once snagged my windvane on a tree branch.

Pull out a goodly amount of winch rope say eight or nine feet.  It is important to use rope and not cable on the winch.

Attach the A-frame to the fairleads (pivot points) that are forward of the chainplates.

Place the mast crutch into the gudgeons.

Set the mast into place on the crutch and secure the aft hinge pin.  Make sure you keep the forward pin in a place that is convenient--and where it won't roll away when you go to reach for it.

Attach the shrouds to the chain plates.  I like to cover all the hardware with plastic tubes.

Attach forestay to A-frame (just to make it easier to find when the mast is up).  In this picture the on the right with a turnbuckle.   Attach the jib halyard to the A-frame.  It is the one on the left attached to the braided line.Tighten up and secure the jib halyard.

Attach the temporary guys to the main halyard (actually I leave them in place when I lower the mast).  The main halyard should hold these about halfway up the mast.  Secure the main halyard Secure the guys through the fairleads that are on the same centerline as the mast.  Make them tight.

Hook the trailer winch to the A-frame.  In this picture that is the line running in front of the canopy's rear window.

Time for final check.  Make sure all the lines, guys, halyards, shrouds, etc are not tangled.  Make sure the halyards holding the temporary guys and forestay are secured.

Gently start to raise the mast.  Oh yeah! Things are going well.

Finish raising the mast.  Secure the forward hinge pin.  You may need to tighten or loose the winch just a tad to get in in.  I need to tap mine with a soft block of wood.

Attach the forestay to the stem fitting.  If it is a little too tight, gently pull the mast forward with the winch.

Congratulations the mast is up with no strain and no drama. I did it completely alone.  With practice this takes about 10 minutes.  It took me 14 minutes today, but I had to untangle all the bad stuff that happened when I dropped the mast last week.

Lower and stow the temporary guys.  Stow the A-frame.  Take down is just the reverse, but you may need gentle pressure on the mast to get it to start its journey down.  I just put  a little pressure on the boom topping lift.

NEXT: Now we can get the boat rigged without heroics, it is time to  focus on making the boat go fast.  When we get that right we will start making it look pretty (handsome).  My friend Michael says he will shoot a video of the raising process sometime this spring or summer.