My second catamaran

That looks like a low sail number. How old is that H16?

gahamby wrote: That looks like a low sail number. How old is that H16?

According to the title, 1977.

We got our trailer registered. It has a few issues:
1) the crossmembers that hold up the hulls are bent. The story was that some kids were using the trampoline as a trampoline and bent them. We need to straighten those, de-rust them, and paint them.
2) One of the leaf springs was busted. Two new ones are on the way. It seems that leaf springs are all about 25" these days, but the old ones were 32". We'll need to modify the spring mount a bit.
3) all the electrical stuff was trashed, but the trailer came with a new set of LED lights and harness we can install. We had to buy marker lights.
4) The trailer was a little rusty. We have cleaned up the main part of the trailer and the axle so far. Here is the paint job drying:

The boat has a few issues. We are missing the downhaul. The cheek block for the jib halyard is trashed - the plastic disintegrated. The traveler car seems to be missing some parts. The bullseye fairlead for the traveler cleat is missing - probably disintegrated. The lines are somewhat fossilized. There are a couple of soft spots on the tops of the hulls.

Edited by waiex191 on May 19, 2021 - 12:32 AM.

Is the V tail in the background a Beech Bonanza?

Edchris177 wrote: Is the V tail in the background a Beech Bonanza?

Nope! It's a Sonex Waiex. I've been building it with my son for the last 7+ years. We are done building and down to the paperwork.
First engine start last weekend:

Here is the kit company - Sonex in Oshkosh, WI.
https://www.sonexaircraft.com/

They are on the B model now, mine is a classic A model.

Edited by waiex191 on May 19, 2021 - 12:23 PM.

I thought it looked small for a Bonanza, but there's not many designs with the V tail. Enjoy, been many years since I flew light pistons. My current ride, (certainly not owned by myself), is the Triple 7

We had a lot of ATPs in the glider clubs I used to belong in. It seemed like a common way for the pros to reconnect with the joys of simple flying. Interestingly enough, we also had a lot of sailors in the glider clubs. Soaring and sailing are very analogous to each other.

I've also not flown light piston (or anything!) in almost 8 years - between family and building the airplane that got put on the back burner. I am going to schedule my flight review for this weekend or next and start building proficiency again. I've got some test flying in my future.

We are still rebuilding the trailer. New hub seals and wheel studs are on the way. I found on one hub the wheel studs were worn halfway through, as though the wheel had been loose a long time. I know I could buy new hubs for $30 each, but they would be made in china. My made in Japan bearings looked like they were in good shape.

I took off one of the rollers yesterday so I could straighten, clean off, and paint the bracket. After I straightened it, I noticed a crack in the corner. I checked and two others were cracked, and one had been welded. That is the problem with any project on old junk - the proverbial can of worms. We also bought marker lights for the back from Amazon. There were only remnants on the trailer and the SC17 trailer has none. We bought these little 3/4" lights and they are awesome. Needs an 11/16" hole to install properly.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IR3G3S4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

One of my sailor co-workers told me about Cajun Rope. Prices seem very reasonable.
https://www.cajunrope.com/store/p9/Cajun_XLE_-_Free_Shipping%E2%80%8B.html

The jib sheet is broken - I am pretty sure all lines are due for replacement.

I often hear that "there is nothing more expensive than a free sailboat" and other advice to spend the money to get something good out of the gate. I think there is a lot of truth there. Our trailer project has spiraled out of control a bit. The new studs were spinning in the old hubs. We welded them on but I elected to buy new hubs anyway, especially when some weld spatter landed on the races. Whoops. We have moved the leaf spring brackets and located new holes in the spring mounts. I've ordered all the lines except for batten ties. I need to make a parts list for the boat and get that stuff on order. Summer is coming.

Here is the welding of the cracked roller brackets happening. You can see we have straightened, cleaned, and primed the spreaders. Also the front of the trailer has been cleaned and painted. We are probably about $170 extra into the trailer so far.

Edited by waiex191 on May 26, 2021 - 03:29 PM.

Hey-keep it up and keep posting. My cup of tea. I ended up building new triple rollers, only now I have to re-build them because they don't balance right. Yeah, it may be equal or a little less to build in the end, but you learn and are self-sufficient. And that, my friend is American, apple pie and sailing.

Good stuff!

Thanks Chuck. We finished our trailer over the weekend. New springs, hubs, lights, wiring, and of course paint. With the shorter springs and moving the axle all the way forward we have positive tongue weight, but it is not excessive like it was before. We did a test run to 70 mph with the boat on and it was good.

New lines and new parts from Murrays are on the way. Hope to have this on the water for Father's day.

Edited by waiex191 on Jun 01, 2021 - 01:15 PM.

I'm putting the igloo beer coolers aside for a bit and trying to get the H16 lakeworthy by Father's day. My lines from Cajun Rope came today. They look good. Hoping the trampoline will last for this season anyway. It's not great. We took off the Home Depot lacing that was on it.

Also you can see in the picture I bought a $20 harbor freight bumper mount 2" receiver. I'm going to put in a rear mast support that plugs into the receiver. I'll show more pictures later when that is done.

We pulled off the rudders and it looks like I need at least one rudder cam. I'm going to buy the 2 pack from Murray's and just refresh them both, even though only one is broken. We also pulled out the drain plug and the gudgeon. Here is probably the most serious problem with the boat:

There is some fiberglassing in my near future.

Edited by waiex191 on Jun 07, 2021 - 06:34 PM.

Ouchy! Took a hit, but it's glass and can be fixed. It's not manly, but a loofa sponge, the synthetic kind is pretty good for getting fiberglass out of the skin... Of course, dressing for the occasion is better...

I'll be dressing for the occasion and using the shop vacuum while I sand. That's a trick I learned from the finest composite technicians at Sikorsky Aircraft.

Tonight Adam put new tires on the spare rims for the trailer. I did a bunch of welding and fabricating for the aft mast support, and we sanded out the cracks in the transom:

Looks pretty ugly. The wood behind the transom has been wet. At some point this will need a bigger restoration than I'm currently doing.

For getting glass out of skin, I like masking tape. Pat it on the affected spot and peel it off. Tape, peel repeat.
When I put a stern mast support on my trailer, I set the height off the ground with the mast pinned to the base and the mast head on an 8'-0" stepladder. That gave it a nice angle for raising. It also stores the mast nicely for tarping during winter storage.Makes a nice tent, sheds the snow. If I had it to do over I'd add a foot the height so I stop banging my head. Yeah Hobie and their wood reinforced sterns! Eff that!

We did a couple of layups in there, then I made flox by mixing resin with chopped glass and sawdust. Jammed it in, sanded down when it was cured.

Unfortunately I'm missing some battens - two for the main and two for the jib. That's the #5 & #6 I need for the main, and the #3 and #4 for the jib.

gahamby, good ideas on the aft mast support. Unfortunately I'd already welded it up. Also I'd like to be able to use my truck to pull it, and the mast needs to go high to clear the topper. I also keep my boats inside.

My front mast support is quite tall. Puts the base almost 8-0 off the ground in trail/storage position. This clears the top of my camper van. I do have to mind driveway dips.

Edited by gahamby on Jun 13, 2021 - 04:02 PM.

https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/members/11946-albums1165-picture37144.html

It ends up like this.

Edited by gahamby on Jun 13, 2021 - 03:18 PM.

Thanks gahamby, looks good.

I've sewn on one hiking strap. About to do the other.

The original hiking straps were rotten. The tramp is not great, it is pretty stiff. I'll make a new one another time.

I had to do the same with the tramp on my H14T. That tramp was stiff but held up well.

Thanks gahamby, good to know.

Here are my new hiking straps. I'm lacing on the tramp. My first time doing this.

I like the hitch receiver trick for the after mast support.

gahamby wrote: I like the hitch receiver trick for the after mast support.

Thanks! That idea made for less fabrication.

We drilled off the old cheek block and riveted the new one on last night.

I've also got the tramp all laced on and have stuck my feet through the hiking straps for the first time. They seem good.

We had lost one of the gudgeon screws and I didn't have a replacement in my collection. We drove over to the EAA hangar to check the hardware stock there, and discovered they are 12-24 threads. I never heard of that before. Ordered a 10 pack on Amazon, drove back to our hangar, and found the screw.

This old cat has aluminum rudder pivots and steel gudgeons. I ordered up a 12 pack of aluminum rod, 12" long. Last night we also cut down a couple to 8" and drilled holes in the end for cotter pins.

I bought a new Seasense rope cutter from Amazon for about $30. It works well though I stripped out one of the element holding screws and had to fix it. We cut our ratchet straps to length and trimmed the tramp laces with it.

Ordered a 10 pack on Amazon, drove back to our hangar, and found the screw.

🙄

: )

Edited by MN3 on Jun 17, 2021 - 11:18 AM.

I'm working on getting the rigging set up again. We had used some Home Depot rope temporarily to pull the halyards down and I removed that crap put the new Cajun lines on. Also putting the stays back on. Question, my mast tang only has one hole. The owner's manual is newer than my boat and shows a larger tang with two holes. Is it ok to just use the one hole for stays and trap wires?

Should I/can I upgrade the mast tang to the newer one? I think my mast is a little dented underneath the mast tang.

Also the recommended halyard rope lengths have a lot of line that goes well beyond the bottom of the mast. Is there a reason for this? It seems the longer the line the more you have to stow somehow when sailing. But, too short and it's probably hard to get a hold of when the mast is stepped. Any wisdom that somebody can impart regarding line length?

Edited by waiex191 on Jun 17, 2021 - 02:30 PM.

These are the tools i made for tighte4ning the tramp. 3/16" stainless steel rod with a hand-sized bend on one ens and a hook for the lacing on the other. 3 diff lengths so you can switch to shorter hooks as you work from front to back.

raisehull wrote:
These are the tools i made for tighte4ning the tramp. 3/16" stainless steel rod with a hand-sized bend on one ens and a hook for the lacing on the other. 3 diff lengths so you can switch to shorter hooks as you work from front to back.

Looks like that link isn't shared - I can't open it.