Port Gaskets and Stiff Necks

[peterg]

Years ago, I was able to order port gasketing material from Defender Marine, but that source seems to have dried up. I was able, in the past, to get red silicone rubber 1/4" square gasketing material from McMaster-Carr, which made great life-time gasketing on my old CP19. The oval ports on the new CP23 require 3/8" square gasket, and I recently was able to procure it from Downwindmarine.com. They have it in three different sizes, and it is the correct hollow core material, and available by the foot. Just thought I'd throw this out there for those of you wanting to re-gasket.
On another note, as I have aged and gone through various back and neck surgeries, it has become increasingly difficult to be looking up at the windex without paying a major price in neck pain. On my past larger boats, I have had the luxury of wind speed/wind direction instruments at the helm, but had some initial reservations about installing this on a CP23. I know that some "purists" on the forum would blanche at the very thought of gauging wind data by anything other than the hairs on their necks. I find joy in sailing by extracting the optimum performance from the boat I happen to be sailing, whether a J-24, heavy offshore cruiser, or a CP23. Staying within a few degrees of optimum wind angle for sail set- hence optimum performance- is a challenge I enjoy. I digress...... While researching affordable WS/WD systems from the majors (Autohelm, Garmin, Nexus,Tacktick,etc), I came across a post on a Nonsuch forum that addressed my problem of constantly looking up to monitor the Windex vane. This Nonsuch sailor went to Walmart and spent a hundred bucks for an automotive wireless backup camera system, mounted the camera under the Windex and the receiver screen in his cockpit, and was able to keep a constant eye on the wind direction, sans neck pain. I will not be putting this system on Beagle 3, but it just struck me as some interesting out-of-the-box thinking. BTW, I went with the Nexus wireless system! Bless you, Santa!!!

[Bob23]

Hmmm...I wonder if Santa uses a wireless system on the sleigh? I haven't investigated the wireless systems. I still use yarn on my shrouds. Yeah- cheapskate old school!
Thanks for the gasket heads -up. Sounds like your project is coming right along.
Bob23

[cas206]

Interesting idea.  Thanks for posting.  I also have neck issues so I gave up on wind vane.  A low tech version of the remote camera might be a small flat mirror like the mechanics use.  My non-CP project boat came with these http://www.downwindmarine.com/Davis-Wind-Tels-Wind-Vanes-p-91000194.html  It's on my todo list to move them to the CP16 and evaluate them.  A slight improvement(?) over the shroud yarn.

[Harrier]

Wish I would have found this last year.  I couldn't locate anything, so I ended up bying direct from COMPAC.  Cost me an arm and a leg.  Dont recall exactly, but I want to say around $200.  Alot of added cost to have them precut and end glued.  Worst part is the material is not even all that great in my opinion.  Hard as a rock.  Reminds me of a v-belt on my mower deck.

[Jon898]

Interesting idea.  Thanks for posting.  I also have neck issues so I gave up on wind vane.  A low tech version of the remote camera might be a small flat mirror like the mechanics use.  My non-CP project boat came with these http://www.downwindmarine.com/Davis-Wind-Tels-Wind-Vanes-p-91000194.html  It's on my todo list to move them to the CP16 and evaluate them.  A slight improvement(?) over the shroud yarn.

I used the Davis items on an old non-CP boat and found them quite useful.  One issue I did find was the tendency of the leeward one to gradually rotate by gravity and then work its way down the slack shroud.  I "fixed" the downward migration with a bit of tape on the shroud, but the rotation was a little annoying on anything but a vertical shroud.  Since the CP16 shrouds are (I think) non-spreader, they won't be vertical so this might be an issue for you.  It did cure the stiff neck problem and they were significantly cheaper than a Windex.  The Green and Red color coding also helped you remember which way you were pointing 

[DougN]

The Admiral is the one with neck problems and is reluctant to take the helm.Being a good Catholic girl she nixed my idea for patent leather boat shoes.I tried the yarn but she had trouble seeing them.The Davis shroud mounts seem the way to go.Plus the price is very reasonable.I can't believe I haven't seen them before and thanks for posting the link.      Now for my early entry in the "Dumbest Idea of 2014 Contest"....I've seen battery powered wireless weather stations priced between $70(clearance)and about $140.This would give wind speed and direction plus current weather conditions.I know this can't work because it would be too easy but I can't think of the reasons why.Any thoughts?.......Doug

[cas206]

The two issues that come to mind are accuracy and filtering issues.  The weather stations may do some sort of averaging to give a smoother output.  The amount of smoothing for a static weather sensor may not be ideal for a moving vessel.  Same with accuracy of the instrument.  

Ok, just thought of a third issue.  Constant rocking of the sensor on a boat could shorten the life time of any moving parts (bearings) that weren't intended for such treatment.

These are just issues that could be a problem.  Not saying it can't work.

[peterg]

I have to agree with cas206. The low cost weather stations (about $100) send signals at about five second intervals and are not really great for real time sailing. Also, they are rather flimsy in construction and would not last very long on a masthead. The best I have managed with a static mounted unit is about three years. I can't imagine one lasting a season on a sailboat.

[Bob23]

YARN, YARN, YARN me laddies! True, it is a bit hard to see so this year I may upgrade to: hold on to your hats: thicker yarn! In red and green.
I like the wireless instruments but while they aren't in my plan nor budget yet, I'll be watching this thread.
Bob23
I wonder how ribbon would work?

[brackish]

Telltales on the sails for trim, yarn on the shrouds, and a windex to determine which way to pole out the jib on my normal wing and wing point of sail up lake.

I've solved the stiff neck problem with the sport-a-seat.  Just rock it back another two clicks or so.