So, got caught in some violent winds witch were not predicted, capsized 4 times.
The 4th time I was so tired, I could right the cat but couldn't get back onboard. After 10 min hanging at the righting-line and several attempts to get aboard, I decided to fire a smoke-signal wich is always in my life-vest.
Watertemp was 10degr C and Airtemp 11degr C .
Was rescued by a friendly skipper who even gave me a tow back to the cat-beach.
An elderly skipper at the cat-club (67), showed me his setup how to climb on board.
He tied a 12 mm line to the front crossbar hull to hull, the slack on the line is just deep enough in the
water to put a knee or foot on it , while you're in the water.
When you try to climb onboard this line will go under the tramp and is not very helpful.
Now here's the smart-part, he braided another line to center of the boarding-line, ran it through a block
attached in the center of the bridle for the forstay. Tied a stopper-knot behind the block to prevent the
boarding-line from going under the tramp.
The stopperline is braided to a shock-cord witch is ran under the tramp, it keeps the whole setup out of
the water while sailing.
Here's a drawing,
Fiddled a bit with line-lenght on my P18-2, and now it works perfect and makes my wintersailing-project
a lot safer.
If somebody is interested, will post some pics.
I've been trying to sort out a boarding problem on my boat, too. Nothing nearly as serious as the one you experienced, but it looks like this might be what I'm looking for.
Thanks!
Tom
-- Tom Benedict
Island of Hawaii
P-Cat 18 / Sail# 361 / HA 7633 H / "Smilodon" --
I needed to replace my righting line. Looked around for appropriate size line and found it more than $1 per foot. Went to West Marine and found a 25 foot nylon double braid line with a 12" eye splice in one end, cheap with a coupon.
Back on the cat, I tied three half-grapevine knots on the line, spaced to be used during righting, and set the overal length so that the eye splice was just in the water when the cat is on its side. My foot goes in the loop and I use the knots to pull myself up, and the hull over. Car manufacturers and stereo installers use a coiled plastic wrap to manage lots of wires together into a bundle. I used 4" of that same stuff to hold the eye splice open into a step. Otherwise the loop just closes when wet.
Usually my crew is on the bottom hull as the top one comes down, and so climbs to the deck of the hull as it rotates. If he gets left in the water between the hulls, I wrap the righting line around the mast base a few times and drop the foot loop in the water for him to use to climb back onboard.
If you can make your own line, you could incorproate a curved piece of PVC or electrical pipe to form the foot loop, just make sure it is small enough to fit into your tramp pocket.
-- Sheet In!
Bob
_/)_____/)_/)____/)____/)_____/)/)__________/)__
Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA --
[quote=DamonLinkous]
Thank you Damon, don't know what went wrong but maybe you can pm me this...
Tom, I am working this weekend, so will make some pics next week, cat is not in my backyard.
the drawing should explain most of it. So if your cat is in the backyard, fiddle around with some
lines and a block attached to the bridle .
There have been previous threads on aids for getting back on the boat. I built one that you access from the sides because I figured most people who have trouble getting back on the boat will be approaching from the side, and you don't want to be running them over to get them between the hulls, or you don't want them to have to hand over hand from the side around a hull to the middle while the boat is bouncing around. However, I can see that if you are righting the boat, you end up between the hulls, so that would be a nice place to have an aid to get up over the front beam.
I put this together for around $100. Ladder from Westmarine and 8 stainless bolts. On my new boat I used 4 zinc coated muffler brackets. Works a treat. http://www.thebeachcats.c…ictures/?g2_itemId=80556
There is a elegance to the simplicity of your solution.
I like it!
-- Sheet In!
Bob
_/)_____/)_/)____/)____/)_____/)/)__________/)__
Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA --
I put this together for around $100. Ladder from WestMarine and 8 stainless bolts. On my new boat I used 4 zinc coated muffler brackets. Works a treat.
Wolfman,
I don't think the integrity of the front-beam would be the same after drilling
8 holes for your stainless-steel boarding solution, I do a race or two and try
to keep the weight on my cat down. A couple of lines , a block and some
shockcord do the job just fine.
@Bob,
For better and worse, gonna take the cat out soon and make a video.
Temp is not bad over here (though its winter) but windforce is a bit strong
for almost weeks now .Ruined the x-mass and new years sail. I will flip the
18-2 and demonstrate soon.
I remember the video of your Christmas sail from last year.
It was well done.
Sorry you could not go this time.
Happy New Year!
-- Sheet In!
Bob
_/)_____/)_/)____/)____/)_____/)/)__________/)__
Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA --
It looks like you added some photos here but if you didn't already you should put it all in a tech gallery with as much detail as possible. I for one will likely give it try this spring as this is always a problem and concern for me. I have had thoughts along a very similar type system for some time but have not really done anything to put it into effect.
-- Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association 1982Prindle 18 1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook. --
Take look at the video I posted in this discussion, can't make it any clearer at the moment.
Like I promised Bob, if the weather and work let me, I will make a video
flipping, righting the cat and boarding it.
Its winter overhere , so it might take a while.
So, just when I thought the weather got better, winter started again,
temps around 0 c , and snow. Went to the cat to do a check on the
straps holding her down. Because it has been windy lately.
The ice is gone, wanted to take out the cat for a short sail, but wind was
down to zero. Water-temp is 1.8 dgr Celsius , so I didn't put the cat in
the water to show the boarding-solution , instead made the long- promised
video...