Tanzer 16--Stern up improves upwind peformance

Tanzer 16--Stern up improves upwind performance  --  December 15, 2016  For a couple of years the two best racers in our little fleet said that we needed to put more weight forward when we were going upwind.  Actually Kevin--the more colorful of the two--said, "Get the ass up in the air."

The fall regatta was a unique opportunity.  Winds were light and variable, we had too much crew, and the committee boat was willing to take lots pictures.  It was helpful that we race against two Harpoons that have approximately the same rating as our Tanzer.  We had some great starts--different post--but obviously we weren't going to win any races--time to experiment.

If you were going for comfort and ease of moving about the cockpit, the boat would trim out like this. The stern is in the water, and it is, of course, aggravated by hanging an outboard on the back.

At this particular moment we were headed down wind, but this weight dis-
tribution gives an even worse case of stern down when you are headed
upwind.

We intentionally tried different trims by putting my weight and Susan--not so much weight--as far forward as we could get.  Tony pulled out the extension and scooted forward too.  The boat trimmed out like this.

In this picture Tony is still farther back.  Susan and I are are up on the deck
and the transom is all the way out of the water.

In this photo we had Tony move forward while we sat on the deck.  The stern
is way out of the water, and the bow is probably down a little too much.

What we learned from these experiments:

• Weight forward definitely improves tacking.  With the weight forward, even when we were over-trimmed, the boat tacked as fast as the competition.  It also was far less likely to get locked in irons even in light winds.  In addition, it took a lot less rudder to turn through the eye of the wind.  We assume that moving the weight forward, and thus altering the trim, moved the pivot point of the boat forward.

• Weight forward reduces wetted surface.  This made the boat a little faster in the 3 - 5 knot winds.  In general we were almost as fast as the Harpoons even with the extra weight.  (Almost is not fast enough when you owe them a few seconds every 15 minutes.)

• Weight forward improved pointing--a little.  We usually point almost as high as the competition, but with the weight forward it was improved slightly--they did not outpoint us. When we added a little makeshift barber hauler (not legal in class rules by the way) we pointed even a little higher.  We could also get another degree by holding the boom up to weather.  I have no doubt that the bridge style traveler is a better racing configuration than the standard traveler. But I doubt that I am a serious enough racer to make that change.  For now we will just hold the boom when we are not sure we will make the weather mark.

• Weight forward is kind of a pain in the butt.  For starters we should leave the outboard at home.  The engine plus the bracket puts a lot of weight at the far end of the lever that is the boat sitting in the water.  It takes a lot of weight to compensate for that 2 hp Honda which was pretty much the lightest four-stroke I could find.  But it can be a long paddle back to the marina so the engine probably stays.  Sitting forward of the centerboard trunk requires a lot of mobility for the crew.  Since our youngest guy is 63 and I am 69, that is not a small issue.

So racing summary for the year.  We continue to improve.  We are not beating ourselves with bad maneuvers  We did manage to beat a few boats now and ten.  Kevin, did honor us with a hard luff at the starting line so that we had to do a 720 turn.*  If we get the spinnaker thing working and keep our weight forward.  We might just win some races.

*This will be a later post.  In retrospect, I think maybe it wasn't a legal luff and I should have protested him.  Maybe we were just giddy to start first a couple of times.

Tanzer 16 hull - $200 -- No such thing as a free (cheap) boat

I was trolling the Craig's List ads this morning and came across this one.  I did answer the ad.  See my response below.

 Tanzer 16 hull - $200-Olympia

Complete hull for tanzer 16 boat. There is a racing class for this model, so just add sails and rigging and you are ready to go! No trailer but I will help you load onto yours. Watertight, pulled the drain plug for the seasonal rains but I have a brand new one ready to go back in to seal up tight. No title, will provide bill of sale. Open to trades for trailers and tools as well.

We are currently exchanging emails.  Here was my reply:

 

Is this you __________.  I might be willing to take it for free if all the wood is sound and there is no delamination.  You would have to wait until May when I have my boat in the water so I could use my trailer.  

 

It would cost two to four thousand dollars to put together all the rigging and buy sails.  However I have a spare set of sails so I might be able to get it into the water for about two grand.  Does it have a tiller and rudder?

 

So, make rudder--about $400

make tiller                         $100

mast                                   $400

Heel                                   $50 I have one

Mast top                             unknown--hard to find

Boom                                 $200

Main                                   $700

Jib                                      $300

Tracks

Cars

Main sheet

Main sheet block and cleat

Shrouds and forestay

Jib sheets----and so much more! 

 

Now that I have started to make the list, I think that $3000 might be optimistic.  Actually the only reason I would need this boat is somebody punched a big, unfixable hole in the side of my boat. 

 

I just have a soft spot for these fine old boats and I don't want it cut up with a recip saw if it can be saved.  Can we talk?

The seller replied:

I'd be fine with free and are you speaking of _____________ by chance? I'm not sure if I can keep it till may but if you're in the Olympia area I'll see what I can do.

My response was:

Yes, I know _________ from racing.  I might be able to take it earlier than May since I have an empty trailer--wrong size.  The problem is I have to get it here and build some stands so my neighbor can lift it with his tractor.  I will just store it upside down until somebody needs it.  I can't even start until we get back from Mexico.

And--I didn't even include that I just bought a Catalina that is up on blocks.  I hope to have that ready to cruise in April too.  Boats!

So if you have a badly damaged hull on a fully rigged boat, it might be worth a trip to Olympia, WA (the southernmost point of Puget Sound--60 miles south of Seattle) to acquire this hull.

Tanzer 16--No boats for sale--on either coast.

Tanzer 16--No boats for sale--on either coast--October 25, 2016  I am an early riser--usually 4:30 or so.  I often sort through the Craig's list ads looking for Tanzer 16's.  The asking price varies quite a bit, but mostly I am looking at the pictures.  I want to see if other people have rigging ideas I missed.  I start looking in Vancouver, BC.  I work my way south and usually quit looking in San Francisco. I have never seen a Tanzer ad south of Sacramento--probably not a good boat for the Bay Area. Sometimes I look as far south as San Diego.

Then I check Quebec and Ottawa.  After that I head over to the listings for Maine and work my way south to the Florida Keys then on up to Pensacola.  Admittedly I don't check Ohio, the rest of the Mid-west or Texas.  Yesterday a weird thing happened.  There were no Tanzer 16's listed anywhere in my usual search grounds.  Very odd!  Never happened before.  What does it mean?  Probably nothing.

Tanzer 16 Dinghy Dock Repairs

Tanzer 16 Dinghy Dock Repairs  -- September 18, 2016  Mid September--it's rainy and cold on Puget Sound--so it turned out to be a good idea to tuck the boat in until spring.  Now to deal with the dinghy dock.  It's nice to go to the marina, just shove the boat in the water and sail.  Launch and retrieve twice year.

But the dock needs work.  Right now it takes two fairly strong guys and a two-speed winch to get the boat up on the bunks.  Thinking new rails, longer bunks and a couple of additional rollers will make it easier.  It would be sweet if I could launch and retrieve by myself.

Yes, it is a tad sad.

Tanzer 16 - Buttoned up for the fall and winter

Tanzer 16 - Buttoned up for the fall and winter  -- September 13, 2016  Took the boat out of the water yesterday--beautiful day--almost went sailing instead, but it's time to button things up until next season.

I'm luckier than most folks--we have a huge carport we call the covered bridge.  The boat fits in there nicely.  Plenty of airflow. The sails are stored in a heated garage.  The boat cover will live there too.

Took my time putting her away.  Checked everything, fixed a few pins on shackle pins.  Everything is ready to go for next year--1st or 2nd week of May.  I could fix a couple of paint dings--sometimes the starting line is pretty tight--but I will wait a another year or two and apply some more paint to the hull--maybe I'll flip it and paint the whole thing.  (Much easier than the cockpit and deck.)

Right of way issues--didn't protest.  Probably should have.  Bad form when
you are having a lousy day.

So nothing to do, but wait for spring--AND rebuild the dinghy dock ramp so I can launch and retrieve single-handed--AND  do a few fixes to the Catalina 22 sitting in the shelter that formerly housed the RV.

Next--racing round-up--kind of painful.  Think I will put it off awhile.

By the by, the latest version of the hinged mast requires 38 minutes to take the mast down all by yourself--no fuss, no stress, safe.  I could have done it faster, but why?

Tanzer 16 Light Air "Racing" in a mixed fleet.

Tanzer 16 Light Air "Racing" in a mixed fleet -- September 4, 2016  My crew couldn't make it. He picked a good night to miss. The forecast promised rain and no wind; the forecast was the reality.  It was cold too.  Nobody answered my call for crew so I decided to work on the committee boat.  There were a lot of boats so Jim F., the dinghy fleet captain, gave them a really long line.  Don't know why, but they all clustered at the end that was not favored--not that it mattered.  They weren't going anywhere soon.  Even the 420's and Lasers struggled to move.

This is one of two "clumps."

Eric, T-16 #1304, is usually quite competitive and he struggled to find air as did the two Harpoons that weigh even more than the Tanzer.

One of the Harpoon guys, Kevin, did adopt a strategy that worked well.  He put his big, burly crew guy up on the deck.  That lifted the stern clear out of the water.  Then he shifted his weight leeward and as far forward as his hiking stick allowed him.  It looked funny, but the boat moved.

Kevin celebrating his finish with his favorite beverage.  Kevin has been
known to smoke a cigarette, drink a beer, and manage a spinnaker while
single-handing his boat in a race.  He's a pretty good sailor!

Jim F, the dinghy fleet captain.  He is a wily competitor himself. He really
knows the winds and currents in Budd Inlet.  One good race strategy is just
to follow him and his Lido--if you can keep up.

So--one regatta to go (next Sunday) and then the boat goes back under cover until spring.  That's okay there is plenty to do on the new Catalina 22.

Tanzer 16 -- Catalina 22 love triangle -- another boat -- mistresses

Tanzer 16 -- Catalina 22 love triangle -- another boat  -- August 31, 2016  I am blessed with a wonderful wife and now two mistresses.  Fortunately the mistresses are both boats.  Yesterday a Catalina 22 was added to the mix.  No plans to race the Catalina, but needed something to take out my young grandchildren, and friends my age who really just want to kick back and drink a beer while I sail.  Pat, my wife, says she may go out on this one--we'll see--she has never set foot on the Tanzer.

The big challenge with the Catalina is to leave it be.  It is ready to sail, and I don't need two boats as dialed in as the Tanzer.  Maybe I will have to actually retire--two boats is a lot -- well four actually, but one is an aluminum fishing boat and the other is a canoe and they aren't very demanding--more like flirtatious dalliances than mistresses.  Throw in a big yard and I might just be too busy to work.

Just about the max boat my little Dodge Dakota can handle.  The plan is to
keep this boat under cover most of the year and moor it in Budd Inlet May
thru September.  Boats are cheap--sails come dear.

Tanzer 16 Spinnaker wrap -- What a mess

Tanzer 16 Spinnaker wrap  --  What a mess  --  August 23, 2016  We installed a spinnaker launching chute and retrieval sock last winter; it was a big effort.  Slowly we have been learning how to use it.  Mostly it works pretty well.  Very mixed results in last week's race.

We didn't expect to do very well.  We had three guys in the boat, and the winds were light.  But we thought at least we will get to practice a bit using the spinnaker.

The spinnaker fits nicely inside the launching chute.  It is supposed to keep
the deck clean and simplify the launch.

There are a lot of reasons why we shouldn't use the spinnaker on our races--primarily because the courses are too short.  However, if we could get it up and down quickly, the spinnaker would be useful in the light air races where our weight is such a disadvantage.  (See our page on Racing the Tanzer 16 in mixed fleets.)

The first hoist during the first race was perfect.  We were dead down wind, the sail came out of the tube in a flash and immediately started pulling us down wind toward the finish.  When the wind shifted to a beam reach the sail still worked well, we brought the sail in with no fuss.  Great!

But alas.  Our joy was short lived.  On the second hoist the sail came out twisted.  I tried to fix it.  It got worse.  I tried to fix it more--it got way worse.  Eventually it was wrapped in a tight knot around the jib furling drum.  I got frustrated.  Briefly considered taking my sharp rigging knife to the sail. Recovered my sanity.  Abandoned the  race. Cussed--including the F word and the "What a CF!" words.  I seldom swear on the water (sound carries).

It got way worse than this before it got better.

At two in the morning, I had trouble getting back to sleep and thoughts of spinnaker screw-up stalked me in the dark.  Finally fell back to sleep with the realization that the initial twist was caused because the sail head had flipped over when the halyard was reattached for the second hoist.  Further realized that we should not have attempted to use it in such a short race.  Main lesson from all this: When the spinnaker is a mess, don't spend time trying to fix it, just retrieve it and sail on with the jib and main.

The committee boat appreciated our early retirement from the race.  "If you can't be fast, at least quit early."

Adding a Catalina 22 to my little fleet next week.  We won't be racing that boat--unless of course there is another boat on the water.  Then we will be racing even if only one of us knows it.

Tanzer 16 PNW Invitational--Pretty much a bust

Tanzer 16 PNW Invitational--Pretty much a bust  (but still we had a good time) -- August 16, 2016  Doggone there just wasn't any wind!  We sailed north for two hours and they called the race. One catamaran and four Buccaneer 18's managed to finish.  The rest of us just couldn't complete the 2.5 miles.  We had a great lunch.  Eric (T-16 1304) and I (T-16 1306) traded great Tanzer stories and looked over each others' boats.  The Buccaneers were all from out of town, and they read the wind better than we did.

The race back was worse.  I told my crew, Dan, "Well, either we will look pretty smart or very foolish because we are quitting first." At that point the race hadn't even started. It was the right call.  The little 2 hp Honda got us back to the dock in about 35 minutes.  The wind came up just as we turned into the marina--Still a good time.  Hope some more Tanzers show up next year.

Would you come down if there was a t-shirt?  Hats?  Free beer?

Yup, that's how much wind there was after we sailed 1.5 miles of a two and
a half mile race.

Gull Harbor, the lunch spot, is one of the most scenic little coves in Sourthern
Puget Sound.

Tanzer 16--Cover for the boat--nearly finished spending money

Tanzer 16--Cover for the boat--nearly finished spending money --  July 25, 2016  -- So finally there is a cover on the boat. Now it has three jibs, an almost new main, a spinnaker launching tube for the gently used spinnaker with a retrieval patch, some major repairs, a new paint job, some great graphics, and a nearly new Honda outboard. There really is no place where I could spend more money on this boat. (Except maybe some hiking straps and a better tiller extension.)  Oh, and the trailer is really nice too.
Maybe it's time to buy another boat!  At this point I am guessing that we have about eight grand in a boat that would only sell for $4000--tops!  Ah, such is sailing!  As addictions go, it is still pretty cheap.

Tanzer 16 Dinghy Dock and Roller Furling Genoa

Tanzer 16 Dinghy Dock and  Roller Furling Genoa  --  July 23, 2013  Life is sweeter on the dinghy dock.  We unexpectedly got a place on the dinghy dock--thought it would take years. Definite improvement in our dinghy sailing lifestyle.

Now we go down to the boat at 5:00 pm.  I used to arrive at the launch and 3:00 pm.  I would take my sweet time rigging, and we put the boat in about 4:30.  Even though rigging is much easier with a hinged mast, it still takes time. (Plus I like to fuss over every pin, line and knot.)

Now we bend on the main and go.  It is a little tight getting out of our berthing area, but it's quick. When we launched from the trailer, I would leave the boat in the water overnight and then go pick it up in the morning--Cost 25 bucks for launch and overnight space.  Total cost for the dock for four months: 80 bucks!

We are especially enjoying the furling Genoa from Schurr sails.   It took some dinking around to get the tension right on the shrouds and forestay (wire inside sail)* but totally worth it.  The only sacrifice is that you can't use it partially deployed.  It's out or it's in.  Last night we started out at 1830 with 16 knots steady and much bigger gusts.  All we used was a reefed main.  By 2030 it was a drifter, but we hadn't rigged the spinnaker.

Mostly this year we have had the bad luck of rain on race nights--not the finest Pacific Northwest summer, but we were spoiled last year when it was sunny from May straight through to September.

The Genoa is easy to deploy.

Easy to stow.

*My advice:  Have them make the wire inside the sail an inch or two shorter than your forestay and make up the difference with a longer shackle--it would save a lot of time getting the mast rake correct.

Tanzer 16 Handbook, remaster -- need illustrations

Tanzer 16 Handbook, remaster -- need illustrations  --  July 3, 2016  I am in the process of retyping the original Tanzer 16, Overnighter and Tanzer 14 Handbook. I thought if we had a nice copy in Word, it would be easy to share and make a nice enhancement when folks try to sell their boats.
I copied the handbook on the Tanzer 16 Owners Facebook page.  That's 18 pages and I am typing one per day. Trying to duplicate it exactly (almost).  Even the line spacing is the same.

 But, the illustrations are not so swell.  If someone out there has a good copy, I could use some good, repro quality illustrations.  Maybe you could scan them or make good copies.  If you can help out, please contact me:  jslosson@aol.com.

Thanks.

jim

Here's what it will look like. Only nicer of course since it will be in a text file.

Tanzer 16 A fast sail in ideal conditions

Tanzer 16 A fast sail in ideal conditions  -- 4.4 km in 30 minutes--no kidding -- June 23, 2016  I dinked around all day trying to get the length of the shrouds just right so there would be enough tension on the roller furling luff.  I had a new hinge made, and that required that I shorten the shrouds.  They were already loose from the last round of "improvements." Finally after three hours of a little less here, a little more there, three different length shackles and some spacers at the head attachment to the mast--it all fit, and I made it to the launch in time for our test sail.  (*See below)

When we left the dock, the tide was low, really low.  The wind was out of the NW at a steady 8 knots. We made it out to Boston Harbor, that's five and a half km in less than an hour.  The current was against us.  We only tacked once to stay in the channel.  The wind just wanted to lift us up--couldn't believe we were that lucky.

Coming back was better. The wind shifted; came out of the SW and WSW at 8 knots--no waves.  We were close hauled all the way, The current was with us.  We turned south at exactly 1800.  At 1830 we passed the Olympia Shoal--4.4 km in exactly 30 minutes.  We were throwing a nice clean wake all the way; add in the current and we were way faster than hull speed.

Sometimes you get double lucky!

And--by the way--the new sail from Schurr worked well.  Well built--great service.

*It was a lot easier hook up the luff since I use the winch on the trailer to raise the mast.  I had some mechanical advantage so that I could over-tension the mast against the shrouds, hook the Genoa, then back off the winch tension. It was also helpful that I have temporary supports (shrouds) in place as part of the gin pole mast raising process.  It allowed me to disconnect a shroud while I worked on the spacers and still keep the mast standing in good control. Without that feature, I would have needed to raise and lower the mast three or four times.

Tanzer 16, Mistakes, outtakes, bloopers, and screw-ups

Tanzer 16, Mistakes, outtakes, bloopers, and screw-ups -- June 11, 2016  Generally I try to be honest about the boat and the work we do on it.  If I mess up, I generally report it.  But then there is the other stuff, small mistakes that generally don't warrant a whole post.  So this will be the blooper post.  We have checklists for packing the boat, racing upwind and racing downwind.  But sometimes you forget to look at the checklist.  Hope this post provides you with a chuckle, some insight, and a chance to say at least I didn't do that.  I read somewhere that it's okay to make mistakes, as long as they are new ones.

Dropping the mast -- Doesn't count.  I have dropped it twice (one was controlled*) the other time it just hit the pavement.  I can see from the scrapes and cracks that it has happened at least twice before.  That's why I have a hinged mast and a gin pole.  Difficulty with mast raising is the only really negative thing about the Tanzer 16.  (* By controlled I mean I dropped it on the top of my truck with its roof rack.  No damage to the truck or mast.)

What a mess!

Launching, retrieving,  trailering--  After backing the trailer down a long, long ramp due to extreme low tide, we discovered the boat would not come off the trailer.  We had not made sure the centerboard was cleated off in the extreme up position.and it was catching on the cross member of the trailer.  I had to pull the boat back up on the trailer and climb in--not easy--with my muddy feet.  Haven't repeated that one.

Needs to be up and cleated tight.

Pulled the boat up to the trailer and heard a tiny grinding sound.  The centerboard was up, but nobody pulled the rudder blade into the up position.

Headed down the driveway and heard an awful grinding sound right after the truck hit a bump.  On the second occurrence stopped the truck.  The trailer jack was in the down position.

Travels better when the jack is tilted parallel to the ground.

Forgot things at home--   First time it was the old main--which I had laid out, but didn't take.  The new main had over-size slugs that didn't fit.  Second time--had the mast ready to hoist and discovered that the gin pole A-frame was still at home.  Tony went to get it and we just left the boat half rigged sitting at the launch.  Lucky it's a big launch and Thursdays are slow.  Now we take all the sails no matter what, and the gin pole is on the packing list.

Tough to raise the mast without the gin pole.

Sheets to the wind -- One each--didn't tie a stopper knot in the main sheet.  Kind of fun trying to grab a piece of rope with a boat hook while barreling down wind.  At one time or another we have lost the port or starboard jib sheet.  Easy to get back--just tack.  We did lose a spinnaker sheet but that doesn't count since we let it fly purposely while we recovered from a 120 degree wind shift. Of course everybody, including us, has drug a bow painter along side the boat.  Unfortunately ours is bright yellow so the whole fleet gets to enjoy it.

Topping lift -- Worthy of it's own category.  Makes it much easier to rig and launch the boat because the boom is up off the deck, but it is a sword with two edges.  In one race we couldn't figure out why almost everyone could out-point us.  Looking at the pictures later it was obvious that we never flattened out the main because the topping lift was still on.  Last week in extremely light air, the boat did very well for such a heavy boat.  Once again we had forgotten the topping lift, but this time it worked to our advantage--much fuller shape, thus more power in the light air.

As you can see, the topping lift is about as tight as a fiddle string.

Motor --  You have to turn on the fuel supply or it won't start--enough said.

The fuel valve is on the starboard side at the back of the
engine.  You need to look for it because you can't see
it from the helmsman's position.

Running aground -- Doesn't count.  The tidal range in Olympia is often 15 feet and the channel out of the marina is only about 100 feet wide.

Too much leeway -- We got a good start, stayed with the fleet on the upwind leg, made up some time down wind by broad reaching instead of running and couldn't make any forward progress as we rounded he committee boat for the second lap.  Yeah--forgot to put the center board down.

Stuff that hasn't happened yet  -- I can't tell you because I am superstitious.  If I tell you, it will surely happen.

jim

Tanzer 16, labeling the lines

Tanzer 16, labeling the lines --  June 8, 2016 I like to have the halyards, topping lifts, down hauls, etc. labeled.  It helps when I have non-sailors in the boat.  In the words of one guest, "Why can't you just call it the sail raising rope?"  After painting the boat,  I had to replace some of the little tags.  I took a neatly typed list to my sign making guy.  He is not a sailor.

Normally I am pretty fussy about the boat, but I thought, "What the hell, it's a nice piece of whimsy." So I installed it.

Tanzer 16 PNW Invitational - what to expect

Tanzer 16 PNW Invitational* - what to expect -- June 4, 2016  -- Okay, Jim, suppose I am willing to put my boat on a trailer and come down to the southern most point in Puget Sound for this race on Sunday, August 14.  What would it look like?

Here are some pictures from last year, which, I am told is pretty typical.

Not so much wind in Budd Inlet in the middle of a summer day.  Usually a fair turn-out for boats.  If we have enough boats, we might even get our own start.

Then it is kind of a leisurely race out to Gull Harbor a distance of 2.5 miles.  No need to hurry.  There is only one winner, the first to finish, and that is going to be a catamaran or a 505 depending on the wind.

Then sail into Gull Harbor for lunch.  It's very protected.

After lunch the wind usually fills in either from the West or North (not always of course) and it can be a bit blustery.  Just right for the Tanzers.  This is a handicapped race so we will want to start with everyone else.  Worst case scenario--you get a nice sail for 2 1/2 miles.  Should be plenty of light to load the trailer and head home.

*If you have a boat, you're invited.

Tanzer 16 -- Hatch for the spinnaker chute

Tanzer 16 -- Hatch for the spinnaker chute   -- June 2, 2016  -- Never expected to get a place on the dinghy dock in my lifetime.  I assumed my boat would always be trailered and live at home in our carport we call the covered bridge.

So when I did get a place on the dinghy dock, I had to quickly fabricate some kind of a hatch cover for the spinnaker chute.  We didn't do all this work to collect water in the retrieval sock and thus into the bottom of the boat.

Unfortunately, I didn't keep any of the templates from the original installation.  So I had to start by making a plug out of plywood.

Because I was in a hurry--and because I will make a better cover next fall -- I skipped the mold step, and made the hatch straight from the plug.  I sanded the heck out of the edges then put on four coats of polyurethane.  After that the plug was waxed--four coats. Then I laid up four layers of glass cloth.

It came off the plug pretty easily.  Then the hatch was trimmed away from all the waste and primed.

Somewhere between primer and finish coats I must have contaminated the surface.  There were all kinds of problems with allegation.  So, I sanded back to primer and started over. New primer applied with a brush, and three coats of sprayed on Brightside. (My usual mixture of thinners--it sprays nicely.)

The finished product--like I said, better job this fall.

In the meantime a new hinge is being fabricated for the mast step.  I could be happier if rake were adjustable.  Yes, I will concede, this is getting a bit ridiculous--even for an old man's sailboat.

Tanzer 16 -- PNW Tanzer 16 Invitational

Tanzer 16 -- PNW Tanzer 16 Invitational -- May 31, 2016  Just testing the waters here. If there is a PNW Tanzer 16 Invitational* it will be Sunday, August 14.

There will be two races.  The first race is out--Olympia to Gull Harbor.  --then lunch-- Then we race back from Gull Harbor to Olympia. The course distance is usually 2.5 miles and generally the race back has pretty steady wind. Usually the wind is a board reach--sometimes the whole race is just one tack.  I am thinking that we will finish with both races about 5:30--plenty of light left to load boats.

The first race is just first to finish--no handicap.  The second race is handicapped with Portsmouth Yardstick.

 If you are interested and you could make it, please let me know. Level of organization will depend on how many people we expect.  jslosson@aol.com.  Not looking for committment at this time--just trying to gauge level of interest.

This race will be part of the South Sound Sailing Society Dinghy Fleet Race to Somewhere.

*If you have a boat, you're invited.

Tanzer 16 -- Another snubbing winch pedestal

Tanzer 16 -- Another snubbing winch pedestal  --  May 26, 2016  D'Arcy Grant sent in a 70's Era magazine ad for Tanzer 16's and Overnighters that will probably get published here as a post and a page when we find out a little more about it.  But, in examining the ad, noticed that the snubbing winch pedestal is not like the one shown in the plans.  It is wider and features cleats for the jib sheets.  Stainless steel sheet metal was used to make it.  Wish I had seen this idea before I made mine.

If you did it this way, it would be more convenient to cleat

jib sheets, and you would have plenty of room to run

halyards to the center of the boat.