Swede Updates and work completed

[Noah]

I figured I would post an update on the work that I have been doing on the Swede.

First it was time to install a traveler - the original setup might have been good for 1977, but it didn't cut it by today's standards. You can see the "Y" setup that made the mainsheet 2-1. It had these crappy jam cleats in the middle so you could -kind of- control the main. Anyway, it never worked for us. So I'm installing a new Harken big boat double car traveler.


Once I looked at the bridge deck it was clear that it wasn't up to the task - the trav has a safe working load of 5000lbs and I should make the rest of it up to the task. I refastened the teak that was there, then went and built a new beam out of Sapele to bolt the trav on to - this beam bolts to the cockpit sides and won't go anywhere. It also stiffened up what was there, so it's very robust.





I through bolted the whole thing to the other beams as well. Install was tight, and I wish I could have made it a bit longer but it will do the job.

Here it is bolted in from the underside:


I then replaced all 10 million plugs on the trav and clamped the whole thing down in a couple of places that needed it.



Tomorrow I will trim the plugs and sand it all down.

[Noah]

The other big project I've been working on is the halyard winch system. It used to be that the halyards went around the winches and into these crappy jam cleats. The cleats slipped all the time, and it also meant that the winch was always occupied by the line.

I decided to cut out the portion of the cabin top in front of the winches and add stoppers - a combination of Spinlock XX stoppers for the highly loaded lines and XTS for the lower load lines.

Anyway, I made the cut and was pretty surprised that the cabin top was 1/2" of solid glass. I basically took this piece of glass and dropped it down onto the "sub" cabin top which was underneath it. This was 1/4" solid glass - I now will have 3/4" of solid glass to bolt the stoppers to, which should be plenty and they are will tied into the structure of the boat.

Here is a shot of the old system:


And here is the modified deck ready for some clean-up and final fairing:



Underneath the winches and old cleats the builder installed aluminum backing plates in the glass, so all you really needed to do was drill and tap to install new hardware.

[Robert The Gray]

looks great Noah! those jam cleats at the back of the halyard winch are crazy. How are you supposed to use all of them? I like the size of your beam and the traveler will serve you well.

r

[Noah]

You are correct, you couldn't use all the jam cleats, so there was no point to them. Pretty silly really.

BTW, I didn't mention that the halyards all run under the top of the deck, and will continue to with this system.

I was asked on another forum how the main sheet system worked:
The centre jam cleats ( out of sight) allow you jam one side of the purchase and operate 'half' the system for twist?
Is that how it works?
And you can get away with little purchase because of dedicated winches?

And they were correct, except the system never really worked for a 500sq ft main. The cleats always worked when you didn't want them to, and didn't work when you really needed it. The winches on the bridge were Lewmar 2 speed 16's, and they weren't up to the job, nor were they self tailers.

The new system will be the standard "Admirals Cup" system. It's still 2-1, but will go out to the large Lewmar 44st's. I have removed the smaller winches on the bridge.

Here is a shot from the front:

[Rachel]

Looking good, Noah. I never get tired of photo-updates.

Is it an optical illusion in that last photo, or is something Dali-esque going on with your stern pulpit?

Rachel

[Noah]

Yep, the pushpit bore the brunt of some 30fter that came loose in a hurricane down in Florida, though word is my pushpit won that match.

I have since removed it - I don't want all that weight back there, and there was no real reason to have it. Perhaps someday if we go cruising I will have a new one made, but at this point it isn't needed - plus it helps the lines of the boat.