Just wondering what you guys are using for wind direction indicators on your boats.
What would you suggest.
Dave
How about some 8-track tape as Rick suggests in his video?
I am using some "Larry Gatlin" 8-track tape on the bridle wires and on the standing rigging above my head. Only fitting for a Texan to use a country music tape (even though I can't stand the stuff).
I would not want to look all the way up to the top of the mast.
Cheers
bob
i typed out a description of my present bridle indicator involving a soda straw, pencil, coffee cup, stainless wire and plastic beads. then my computer froze. i took that as a sign. the secret of my light air success remains safe ;^)
Any chance of your trying again at letting out your secret? I've been trying to think of a good wind indicator I could make.
A popular marine store sells indicators, and I'd opt for the one that is detachable to avoid "mishaps". They're about 20-30 smacks, though....
That makes sense. Right now I have a scrap of cloth tied to the top of my tetherball mast float. It helps, but not as much as I need. As soon as I can get my mast sealed or filled with flotation I'll take the tetherball off and maybe I'll come up with a better way to find the wind.
well its very simple really. i think the lightest indicators are the most effective. magnetic tape is good but i like a dart better. i like a jib bridle indicator cause its easy to look at. i have a dart made with about 8" of soda straw that uses 3" of pencil inserted into the front and a semicircular half of a styro coffee cup bottom sanded and faired for a vane. cut a 1/8" slot about 2"deep into the rear of the straw.insert the vane . tie it into place in the slot with a 4" piece of kite string looped around the front and back of the vane, insert about 1" of the pencil (sharpened of course!) into the front-should be a tight fit. find the balance point of your dart by balancing it over a pencil laid flat on your desk, melt a hole through the balance point with a large hot needle. minor adjustments can be made by sliding the pencil in or out. find about a foot of non corrosive wire, about 1/16" diameter is good. i think mine might be nickel plated steel it doesn't rust. coat hanger will do in a pinch, the thinner ones are better. bend a loop into one end that will be bolted and wing-nutted to the bottom hole of your bridle's jib shackle, pointing down. put the dart onto the wire next followed by a plastic bead, a small brass washer, and another bead. then bend the wire into a u at the bottom to capture the dart and beads. make sure the shaft wire is vertical. these lightweight darts can be so senitive they will move when you walk past. they degrade in uv, i make a new dart every few months. with one of these on the front of your boat you will know the direction of every subtle wind shift as you carve through the zephyrs and the fleet to the windward mark, and detect every nuance of shift as you religiously keep the dart perpendicular to to your boat's centerline reaching downwind...
Excellent! Just the kind of project I enjoy. I'd start on it tomorrow, but I'll be out on the lake! It'll be a good Sunday afternoon project, though. Thanks for sharing it.