Owens L'ill Slice of the Web » boats

More toys for Coppelia

Owen — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:12:20 +0000

Following close on the heels of the LED navlights from yesterday (which are very bright, I tested them last night) I received my depth sounder and compass today

The compass is removable; has battery powered LED lighting in the handle, and I got two mounting brackets so I can have both a port and starboard position for it. I’m hoping that the keel (which is the only significant ferrous mass in the boat) is far enough away that the compass does not need a compensator. Another nice point is that this can be used as a hand-bearing compass too; for taking sightings when using traditional visual navigation.

The depth sounder looks nice, I was delighted to find that it does not need a huge hole in the cabin bulkhead where I plan to mount it, and the electrical connections look trivial. The hard part is mounting the transducer properly; I’ll probably end up using a tube, filled with water, glued with silicone inside the hull. This allows the transducer to beam through the hull itself without making any holes.. I’ll put out a report on this and the other things I’m fitting once I have the job done and all lessons learned.

New toys for Coppelia

The main unit looks easy to fit to the cabin bulkhead, the sensor needs more effort.

LED Navigation lighting

Owen — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:45:16 +0000

LED navigation lights for boats are now getting affordable..

A few years ago it was a new thing and very expensive. But I just picked up a set of basic navlights suitable for Coppelia; for just over 100 Euros. They look well made; are properly certified (she’s under 7 meter in length), and should only put a very low drain on her battery; plus she has LED internal lighting too!

Now I’m waiting for a Depthsounder and Compass to arrive

Nice solid units; stainless covers and decent weather sealing.

Unfortunately the stern lamp needs a cutout..

Spinnaker

Owen — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:20:10 +0000

Ghosting down the Gaasperplas with a spinnaker and no wind..

The sailseason has begun again, on Saturday we had a day of putting boats in the water at the sailing club; Coppelia went back in of course and is still making me smile, I did not do much to her this winter; only a few bits that are easier with her out of the water and some stuff up on the mast. I plan to work inside her in the better weather; plans include a small electrics system, new cushions and a general cleanup and rearrangement of storage etc.

Last night I got the spinnaker flying on her for the first time since I was sailing her almost 20 years ago.. It still flies and works just fine; if only I had had a bit more wind I would not have had to mostly paddle her back to berth.. I want to practice with the spinny because this year I hope to race her in the club series.

Season End

Owen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:16:14 +0000

Coppelia at her Mooring

I recently joined the sailing club near where I live, it lets me keep Coppelia on the Gaasperplas; I can just cycle down there and sail her when I want to. I managed to do that pretty much every weekend recently; had some great sails learning the lake (it’s pretty small really) and more about how Coppelia herself is working.

Last weekend we got the boats out of the water; end of the season and no more sailing until Spring for me. Just lots of little repairs to do on her!

Hello Sailors!

Owen — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:54:59 +0000

We sailed Coppelia for the first time in 20 years! A couple of lengths of the Gaasperplas and a big smile on my face…

Rigged.

Owen — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:01:08 +0000

I finally got the mast on Coppelia up yesterday, and the sails raised, really pleased!

Still a way to go before first trip on the water:

Sail repairs: cleats on foresails, rip in spinnaker.
Mainsail outhaul (clew) needs strengthening.
Halyards need fittings splicing to the line.
Toestraps to be purchased and fitted.
Deck fittings need sealing in place, keel bolt needs sealing.
Rear lockers need lockable catches fitting.
Sort out the forestay bottom fitting, it’s a mess at the moment.

The list is growing shorter every day

And back again

Owen — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:56:13 +0000

Keel after refitting in boat.

The keel is now back in the boat, and the new winch mechanism works well. Many thanks to Cassje for helping me to get the bolt in place, it was not easy.. The list of things to do is getting shorter:

Seal keel bolt, replace and seal a load of fittings, get some matching locks and some lock-plates for the cockpit lockers.
Paint cockpit floor with anti-slip, make and fit toe-straps, end-stops on mainsheet track.
General hull cleaning and touch-up, seal up some cracks.
Mast and rigging; do a dummy-run on the rigging and work out what needs to be replaced, find any sail repairs that are necesscary.
Test sail on the Gaasperplas..
I’d like to sort electrics and some running lights out too, plus interior fittings and cushions.

Keel hauled up

Owen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:05:57 +0000

I got the keel of Coppelia painted yesterday, two coats of ‘POR-15‘, she needs a final topcoat today (a nice blue to match the rudder) and she’s ready to go back in. Another huge job, hopefully I’ll be doing that later this week

The keel weighs 110 kilo (240lbs) and is made of a single piece of cast iron, it was very rusty when I took it out and has needed quite a lot of cleaning, the paint I used is a specialist rust covering/proofing coating that should protect her for some time. To do the painting I needed to hang the keel by it’s mounting points from the roof of the EHDC clubhouse, this let me paint all of it, but makes me nervous as hell. Despite my best efforts I could not really smooth it off, although it is good enough for cruising. Maybe that is a job for the future; ideally it should be fibreglass clad.

I got a load of other minor things done, the new keel winch is in place, I have now baseplates on the sheet winches so that they can be fitted to the existing holes in the hull, rather then creating new ones. All that is left are the toe straps, painting the cockpit floor and then rigging her. Which will be fun, all the rigging was stored in the dry and looks good, but new halyards and lines will need to be brought. The sails are good, but maybe a bit baggy and I think ther eis a rip in the spinnaker. If she sails OK with the existing rig I might try to get a roller-furling setup for the front and a new mainsail.

Flying Boat

Owen — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:02:19 +0000

Coppelia being lifted

I lifted Coppelia yesterday and removed the keel. A hundred kilos of cast iron, pretty awkward to handle but lifting the boat was actually quite easy once I’d worked out the correct way of securing her.

The keel will now be renovated, it’s the last really big job before I can sail her for the first time in many years.

More photos in my gallery; here.

I’ve brought a Boat!

Owen — Tue, 03 Aug 2004 21:43:00 +0000

Hurrah for Zodiac and Mercury.. She’s rubber, and only 2.8m long, but with a 5 Hp motor she moves nicely. Now to go into Amsterdam..