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Greg, There is one on Helene. It is a small one I picked up at the boatyard. No disadvantages, and adds little if anything to the weight. I will send a photo, Jim
Greg, Helene’s lives under the aft end of the port-side cockpit bench, accessed via the aft cabin. Jim
Doug,
Helene’s ladder has an extension that gives an extra two steps. Very easy to board (and store). I will send a picture later in the week,
Jim
Greg, Last week I moved Helene to a swing mooring off Wrabness, about half way between Manningtree and Harwich. There is plenty of water and it moves quite fast. Over a couple of days it became very clear that when the rudder is left fully down it is much less active — quiet even — compared to when the blade is lifted. So my question to you — Do you raise your rudder when the boat is left on the mooring?
Jim
Greg,
This is an interesting challenge. A couple of points:
- Judging from the materials in the archive, reports of failed steering control cables seem to be quite rare (and I don’t imagine that is because they have always been replaced in a timely fashion).
- Over the years, many other boats must have been kept on swinging moorings, so that in and of itself is unlikely to be a major factor.
- Have you considered the potential role of the tension under which the cables are kept? Could too little or too much tension be part of the problem?
Jim
Mike,
And there is more to this story. Being based in Manningtree, I can go out for a sail around HW, and if I stay away from the channel below Mistley, I will never have much more than 2m depth (and at times, and in some places, quite a lot less). My strategy is to lower the keels only partially, on the basis that some additional leeway is better than going aground. On the water this morning I got to thinking… The keels are there for both ballast and leeway control. So, in a light to medium breeze, given that there are two keels, and that the depth is adjustable independently, how much would we expect leeway to increase if one or both of the keels are raised (i.e. by a third or by two thirds)? Would there be some way to test this using a chart plotter?
Jim
