Plastic Classic Forum

Triton106

Got my old main sail back from Sailcare yesterday. Wow, it looks like new and crisp (I guess from the re-resining process). Not only are the stains gone they also replaced all of the boltrope along the luff and foot (the main reason for the baggie shape). All of the cringles (including the small one...

Triton106

I am not sure I understand the reason for the two step alignment process being advocated here - once on the hard and once after launch. It appears no one really enjoys the alignment process so why do it twice when you can do it once? Is there a benefit of doing it on the hard that I am not seeing? I...

Triton106

You should not attempt to align the engine and propeller shaft coupling while on the hard because the potential for the boat to change shape however subtly once you launch it. Said it differently you should align the engine/prop coupling after you have launched for a while so that the shape of the h...

Triton106

When you guys have it figured out I am interested too. I recently purchased a pair of opening ports from Minneys with broken dogs. I am willing to pay but just not what Bristol Bronze want for them ($30 a piece, ouch).

Triton106

Thanks everyone, picture links finally work. The problem is that the path is missing .jpg file extension.

BTW, Rachel, I am only guessing it is filberglass by the look of its hull. I did not meet the owner. Hope to one day run into him/her.

Triton106

[Yeah, thanks everyone. Isn't she pretty?] As far as classic boats go Vertue has always been one of my favorites. Recently I was fortunate enough to run into two such legendary boats in the SF Bay area, one wooden (forgot the name) and one fiberglass (Chance). I did not have my camera with me when I...

Triton106

The 51th annual Plastic Classic Regatta was held on the SF Bay near the hosting Bay View Boat Club waters. Blossom (Triton 106) participated in this fun and irreverent event for the first time. My friennd Rob Heggen and I double handed it as the third crew member suffered a pretty serious injury rec...

Triton106

Peter, Looks like you are moving up in size. I have a crazy out of box kind of thought - it looks like you completely gutted the interior. What is stopping you from decoupling the hull and deck? It will not only enable you to get the bulkhead in in one piece but will let you rebuild and strengthen t...

Triton106

Thanks Dave, I spoke with Jerry at Sail Care and according to him the reason my main is so baggied out of shape is because the nylon boltrope has shrunk relative to the luff cloth. He rated my sail condition 7 (out of 10). Hope he is right because I am spending about $600 to clean and repair it.

Triton106

I thought I would add another tid bit of follow up on this topic. On the Fourth of July I went out in about 20+ knots of wind in the slot area of SF Bay. I had a double reef in the main that I borrowed from my friend Rob. As par for the course of summer sailing on the Bay rail was under and white ca...

Triton106

Congrats Doug! You have a good looking boat and a beautiful crew.

Triton106

Thanks Bill, I am fortunate that my main still has some life left so I don't have to deal with the issues of buying an used vs. a new sail. Like buying most things used purchasing an old sail, especially sight unseen as one orders from online stores, is fraught with potential problems. Most of them ...

Triton106

A quick update... Jerry called me this morning and said that they have received my sail. The cause of the baggy shape is the nylon boltrope which has shrunk badly. The cost of replacing the boltrope, including strengthening the luff and foot edges, replacing the grommets is $8.50 per foot. On Triton...

Triton106

Thanks Bill! That's a little out of my reach for the time being. In any case I will need to talk to them about my specific sail. Hope it can be recut to improve the shape.

Triton106

Thanks guys for your feedback on Sailcare.

Bill, if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for the new mainsail for your Pearson Wanderer (assuming that the sail you made is for your Wanderer).

Triton106

Recently I sailed Blossom (Triton 106) with a borrowed main from a friend and observed noticeable improvements in both its pointing ability and weatherhelm. The baggieness in the old mainsail is also noticeable by comparison. I sent it away today to Sailcare to clean and re-resin. I also plan to dis...

Triton106

I finally found something I hate to do more than my tax... Day 4 and I am still sanding the bottom. Of course, I did not spend all four days sending. At least 1/3 of the time was spent on finding parts and tools and helping Rob removing old ball valves and installing new seacocks. It looks like I wi...

Triton106

Thanks Duncan for your interesting idea. The spade rudder design on an Alberg is daring and innovative. In addition to better steering I believe it also aids in reducing weatherhelm since moving the rudder further aft effectively moves the center of lateral resistance aft. On the other hand, I like ...

Triton106

A quick update. My decision on rudder shaft design has been postponed by the kindness of another Triton owner who kindly gave me his old rudder and shaft. It appears to be in servicable condition after I cleaned it up and examined the shaft. The shaft shows some pink signs of corrosions but overall ...

Triton106

Thanks Britton, Rachel! I spoke with the folks at Svendsens. I cannot seem to avoid using chemical stripper if I don't want to soda blast it. Since Blossom has accumulated multiple layers of various bottom paint I opted for the Jasco Premium Paint and Varnish Remover. I know this stuff will eat thro...

Triton106

Spring is here again in the SF Bay Area. Rain has stopped, sky is blue, flowers is in blossom, boat bottoms are waiting to stripped ;-) This year I vowed to strip the bottom paint accumulated over the last who knows how many years completely, down to the gelcoat. There have been several discussions ...

Triton106

Just hauled my Triton 106 Blossom out at the local Svendsens Boat Yard. There are five large and small jobs that I planned for this haulout: 1. Strip the bottom paint down to the gelcoat (I have a separate post with a question on stripping) 2. Inspect and repair rudder, shaft if needed 3. Replace th...

Triton106

Doug, I had a similar issue a while back with the head thru hull (not a transducer). I fixed it the way you described here. In hindsight I would not do it that way. I would just close off the existing hole and drill a new hole nearby. It's a better fix and easier too. An issue I had with my Triton i...

Triton106

That face reminds me of my kids' Thomas the tank engine toys.

Triton106

Zach, I recently purchased a used Force10 two burner range. Although I don't have any real experiencce with using either the Force10 or the Seaward Princesses what made the decision for me is that the later is not entirely made of stainless steel. The oven is made of porcelain enamel coating. Some S...

Triton106

Todd, You did not say what type of fuel tank you have. Assuming it is a fiberglass tank this is what I did to extract it from under the cockpit sole. West Coast Triton's original fuel tanks are made of fiberglass and tabbed to the bottom of the cockpit sole. When they started introducing E10 gas in ...

Triton106

The companion way is now moved aft about 1 foot and offset to starboard side to accommodate the galley sink. Although, just a note, I think the companionway on the Alberg 35 is normally offset to starboard. That's not to minimize the extent of the mods, of course. Sorry I did not look carefully eno...

Triton106

Rachel, good eyes to details (of course, I already knew that)! The Palmer Johnson remod appears to be very extensive. The extension of the cabin house is most interesting. A few years ago I was thinking of doing something similar to that (see this thread) but I had no clue as to the impact it would ...

Triton106

hriehl1, Here is a link to an Good Old Boat write-up on different types of stoves that I found useful. I went through the same search process you did. My Triton came with an Origo 300 (two burner) non-pressurized alcohol stove. I am in the process of installing a propane stove (Force 10) with gimbal...

Triton106

Welcome Dave of Toronto! Sorry there are a number of Dave's on this forum. It can be confusing at times. Interesting drawing of hard dodger on the Palmer Johnson Alberg 35. Do you have more details? While I think hard dodgers are great for higher latitutes like Toronto (beautiful town BTW - been the...

Triton106

I learned the term from Rachel. But you can google and find many references to the term, mostly on websites in the UK.

Triton106

Thanks everyone for the tips on trimming SS sheets. I actually did not see the postings until today and in the urge to move the project forward last weekend I went ahead and trimmed the SS sheets. First, I tried to grind it using my 4" grinder. I clamped the SS sheet between a piece of plywood ...

Triton106

The stainless sheets have arrived last week. As is warned on the vendor website the sheets which are custom cut are within +1/8" and -0" tolerance. I guess the philosophy is that if it is too long the customer can always cut back. As it turned out every sheet is 1/8" too long and 1/8&...

Triton106

Dave, Actually not that sick... It's a soft bottom Zodiac which I modifed by building a 1/2" plywood bottom. Under the plywood bottom I added a couple of foam swim noodles to creat a "keel" to add stability. With that modification it actually rows really well. I was suprised by how mu...

Triton106

Ray, one other potential consideration for your dodger design (which you may already have in hand): Where are you planning to carry your dinghy? We had ours on the coach roof just aft of the mast, and a 7' just fit. However, the dodger was kind of long and low (which did give it a nice look), and i...

Triton106

Rachel, you are right that is far from an ideal location for solar panels. Only thing I can say is it is better than nothing. The alternative is to mount them on the pushpit rail as James Baldwin has done some of the boats he worked on. I don't think that is a great location while under way. I have ...

Triton106

Chris, Rachel, Those rigid windshield softtop dodgers on Halberg Rassy and Amel are very pretty and although I have seen them before I did not consider them because (a) they are far beyond my skill levels (with five fingers and no opposing thumb and all), and (b) they do not provide a platform for a...

Triton106

Ouch! The experts have spoken out decidedly against the hardtop dodgers. Let's start with what we agree upon - that dodgers of any kind in general detract from the aethetics of sail boats. However, they are functional in that they provide shelter from wind, wave, and rain. In SF Bay I would say dodg...

Triton106

For some time now I have been wishing that I have a dodger for Blossom (well, for me and my crew). As I knocked off various projects the dodger project is starting to rise to the top of the list. I have decided (or it has been decided for me) that I cannot afford to have a canvas shop make it for me...

Triton106

Happy Birthday Tim! I will drink a shot of rum to your health (actually I don't drink rum, more like a glass of Cabernet). Thanks for many years of educational, funny, well written, well photo illustrated logs of your work, and for hosting this forum to all of the unbalanced sailing nuts like myself...

Triton106

Dave, If you intent to buy an older plastic classic there really is no way to estimate the total cost as it depends on the condition of the individual boat. Having said that you may be able to put a bracket around the cost: Lower end = nothing if the boat is turnkey which rarely if ever happens. Hig...

Triton106

Rachel, much appreciate your encouragement and idea on the potholder. I agree the existing ones on my stove is a bit whimppy. I will look into the type you showed in the pictures after I am done with the project. JohnD, the changes I made to the shelves in the galley and the saloon can be divided in...

Triton106

I thought I will post an update on the project which is going at snail pace for two reasons: (1) every boat project will lead to five corollary projects, and (2) I only get to work on my boat one day (maybe two if I am lucky) a week. As you can see the stove enclosure is roughed in. But I am now wai...

Triton106

To most people, myself included, the Americas Cup is for super wealthy people like Larry Ellison and Ted Turner. I usually do not pay any attention to the event no matter where it is held, except this year when the Cup is coming to San Francisco. What a great venue to host the event! The near guaran...

Triton106

Maine Sail,

Thank you again for your expertise on the subject!

BTW, my friend Luke sails a CS36 in the Bay Area too. He likes so much that he bought a CS40. Now he has two boats of similar design, size; one for the east coast, one for the west coast. Crazy guy.

Happy New Year!

Triton106

Maine Sail, I cannot thank you enough for your generosity with your time and knowledge. This information is invaluable and is exactly what I have been wondering all these years! No, more than what I was hoping to learn. One quick question, if I were to buy a used alternator as a back-up what typical...

Triton106

Maine Sail, You made a good point in comparing auto alternator environment in the NE with marine alternator environment. Here in CA there is no issue with road salt to attack our car (unless you drive into the Sierra Mountains) so we don't the experience with the environment an NE auto alternator li...

Triton106

Jimmy, I have also wondered about the same question but never bothered to look for the answer. So thanks for bring it up. I looked up John Payne's The Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible it states that to marinize an alternator you need to perform three tasks: 1. Bearings should be completely en...

Triton106

Dave, the PO of my Blossom installed a Newport cabin heater that was only a couple of degrees out of plumb and it bothered my for years even though it was hardly detectable if you don't look closely. What I am trying to say is that sometimes it will bother you (or at least bothers me) to know it is ...

Triton106

I don't know why builders would put chain plates behind inaccessible linings. Several of my chain plates are sheathed in fiberglass which has the same effect as hiding them behind linings. IMHO if you are uncomfortable (regardless if your fear is well found) you should cut open the lining. The worst...

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