The continuing adventures of Koinonia

[Salty19]

Bob,  Good luck with your launch! 

Don't forgot about the note Koinonia sent me regarding polishing and waxing her up this year.    She, afterall, deserves the best!

[Bob23]

Thanks...glad you reminded me!
Bob23- the forgetful.

[Bob23]

   Koinonia got the best waxing of her life with the new Harbor Freight buffer. Good thing it was overcast today...I might have been blinded by the reflection.
   She's ready to go in tomorrow morning. I have spent the last 3 saturdays soley on getting her ready for her 2010 grand appearance. The new rudder is mounted and ready to go. My friend Dennis advises me to remove it from the ship every time I'm done sailing. Thinks it's a thief target. If I ever caught anyone stealing that rudder, well, let's just say they'd beg to be waterboarded! jk....not I'm not jk.
   While I was driving to the marina I noticed someone tailgating the boat. Now I can't stand tailgaters, really. I used to have the bad habit of locking up the handbrake on my old VW bug- no brakelights to warn 'em. I've mellowed out a bit. Now I just slow down. Anyway, here's this guy tailgating me. Then it dawned on my- sure, he want's a closer look at my lady. Not the first guy I've caught staring at her transom. It is a sweet boat, even if I do say so myself.
Bob23...the photo-posting challenged.

[Bob23]

NEW RUDDER REPORT:
   Well, we launched today, in light rain at about 0930 hrs local. (EST). After Vince Jr. from Long Key Marina, with his expert travellift talents lifted "Koinonia" from her trailer, she took her first dip in the water. We walked her back and tied up to the dock next to the travellift tracks. First thing I noticed was that the rudder floats! Yep, you heard me right- it floats on it's own accord. "Catastrophic" I can hear you say. "How in the world will Capt. Bob23 sail with a floating rudder? What will become of him and will the rudder become a coffee table?"
   Not to worry. By my shear engineering genius and forethought, or some stroke of dumb luck (you choose which one) while buildling the rudder, I designed and installed a simple down haul system that could work on anyones Compac. Pushing the rudder down and pulling on the downhaul was all that was needed to keep the blade in place.
   We decided to motor out in the bay a bit to test the rudder against motor-helm. The old one exhibited very  excessive motor helm. The new wood blade- none! I'm expecting performance under sail to be impressive. I plan to sail the boat to Surf City tomorrow afternoon after work. I'll issue an updated report then.
   Till then, this is Bob23, your correspondant in NJ signing off. Good Day!
   

[Greene]

Congratulations Bob.  You'll be the envy of the neighborhood with that beautiful rudder.  I was also surprised to find that both of the rudders that I foiled would float.  I wish you good winds on her test sail.

Mike

[Bob23]

How did you hold your rudders down, Mike? I know you built something!
Bob23

[Greene]

Bob,

I found that simply tightening the bolt a little more held both rudders down all day.  I know some of the guys have installed a shear pin to ensure it stays down, but it doesn't seem necessary so far.  If I start having trouble with it moving then I will probably install the pin.  I know you will be just as happy with the results of your foil as Brenda and I have been.  It is nice to have a light hand on the tiller instead of gripping it against the weatherhelm.  Some day we are going to have to take a trip out your way and talk you into taking us out on your beautiful 23.

Mike

[Bob23]

   No talking into necessary. You have a standing welcome aboard anytime you make it back east. I tried the shear pin with the aluminum blade...didn't like it. Instead I went the downhaul route. If I can't post photos here, I'll email 'em to you.
   Thanks for all you help and encouragement for my rudder project. You, Doug, and others played a real significant role.
   I consider this rudder a test platform for the next one. It will be interesting to see how it looks by the end of the summer. Maybe I should pull it off every month, photo it and keep records. Or maybe I'll just enjoy sailing with it.
Bob23

[Bob23]

ANOTHER NEW RUDDER REPORT:
   Wednesday I motored the ship down to her summer home port in Surf City, NJ. Not much wind and is was on the nose. First thing I noticed is that she no longer wanders when the tiller is lashed while motoring. She stays on a pretty true course while motoring.
   When I finally reached my home waters, I decided to raise sail and really try out this rudder that has consumed much time and $$ and I have to say I am quite happy with the new blade. Yes, kinda like power steering but BMW and not Cadillac power steering- I can still feel the road, If you get my meaning. I still have some weather helm, a bit more than I'd like but I didn't expect to completely eliminate it. A few reasons:
   1. With the outhaul system I devised, I move the pivot point of the rudder aft 5/8"- it was necessary, believe me.
   2. The body of the blade somehow got much bigger than in my plans. Funny how things don't quite work out perfect sometimes. This amounts to more wetted surface at the rudder blade and in my engineering mind, could induce weather helm.
   3. My main is kinda blown out. I'm gonna try Hideaways's idea of changing it over to a loose footed main. Maybe I can eek a another year out of it.
   All in all, I'm happy with how the project came out. I'm hoping this weekend to sail in some highr winds and really give it a shakedown cruise.  I'm considering this rudder as a test platform for future wood rudder blades.
   That's all for now,
Bob23
 

[Craig Weis]

I have read the thread but basically kept out of it till now. A true sailing test report is assuring and interesting. The foil vs blade results show an over all improvement with a foil. The 'power steering aspect' of having a bit of blade under the transom [balanced rudder] is the main enjoyment I have from my foil.

I don't think a pivoting blade is necessary as generally the rudder sticks no further into the water then the bottom of the keel. I do have a 'keel Boot' protecting my fiberglass from the Door County rocks that I sometimes find. My rudder is bolted down with a snowblower sheer bolt. Just in case. And I do keep the aluminum casting locking bolt and handle tight to keep the blade from rattling.

One night I was sailing along the sea wall at Stone Harbor Resort and happened upon two couples in wedding garb and I hailed them with a 'Good Evening' greeting from five foot away...one gal let out a cream and they all jumped. The boat is very quiet.

skip.

[Bob23]

Skip:
   Actually, my rudder sticks down an additional 10 inches or so. When I first boaght the boat, I thought this might not have been a factory rudder so I emailed a photo to Gerry, who wrote back that it was indeed thier rudder.
   For my next rudder, I'll make it shorter and a bit narrower.. also I'll shift more of the body forward to lessen the weather helm.
   I've done away with the lever handle to tighten the blade in the rudder head. Due to some corrosion (I sail in salt water) I had to drill out the 3/8" hole to 5/8" so I just put a bolt in thar. My downhaul keeps the rudder down...good thing, too- it floats pretty high. All wood and foam, she's made of!
Bob23

[Bob23]

THE FOG!
  After work Wednesday afternoon, I decided to go out for a sail. Sunny, warm winds from the SE about 10-12. In other words, perfect. After rowing out to Koinonia and performing the usual pre-voyage rituals, I was ready to go. As aside here: Some say that I have a way of overcomplicated just about everything I do. It takes me about 20 -25 minutes to set up for a sail. Yes, all the extra lines are necessary! Now back to our story.
   I decided to sail North along the ICW in Barnegat Bay up toward Lovedladies, turn about and tack back. It was a good plan. Upon reaching Harvey Cedars, looking back, I see a fog bank approaching. Now I don't have any accounts at fog banks so this was bewildering. Just as I was enjoying the bewilderment and getting ready to come about, the fog swallowed me up. Yup, visibility went down to 50 feet in the time it took you to read that the visibility went down to 50 feet. Also the wind direction seemed to have changed a bit, necessitating motor sailing back. Of course, my depth sounder has ceased to work at all.
   Anyone reading this and not familiar with my local waters should know that  with an average depth of 2 feet out of the channel and Koinonia's real draft of about 2 1/2', there seems to be a conflict. Yea, indeed, me interested in avoiding such conflict, known as grounding, enlisted the services of my trusty Garmin, a gift from a friend a few years ago.  The Garmin map 182 is an onboard companion, used only up till now as a knotmeter but now he would have to earn his keep. I guess now 's the time to see if the charts inside that mysterious black box really do work.
   To make a long story longer, I steered to home port under instruments alone, carefully watching the moving chart and keeping her in the channel. Still, it was disheartening to see the markers suddenly appear out of the fog, just where they should be. Sort of. Fortunately, there were no other fools out on the water that afternoon to come in contact with. After an hour or so, I reached home port, secured the ship and then realized I was soaked with fog-rain and cold. I was so engrossed in the experience that i didn't realize I was cold.
   All in all, it was an interesting sail. They all are, aren't they? Isn't that of of the unique things peculiar to our sport- no 2 voyages are ever the same. Even is we sail the same waters, say after day, the journeys all have something different to offer.
   Now the more astute reader may be wondering why a traditionalist like myself would resort to a space age GPS instead of compass headings and paper charts. Not one to divulge secrets easily, I leave you to guess where my charts were not when I needed them! Till then, I wish you all fair winds, clear skies and dark rum!
Bob23 the unlost.

[Salty19]

That sounds pretty exciting.  Do you think you could have found your way back without instruments?   Just curious.

[newt]

Looks like Bob gets his instrument rating...

[Bob23]

Mike:
   I could have found my way back but with my charts sitting home in my office, a grounding would probably have occurred. Considering the tide was falling and night was approaching, I didn't really want to risk spending the evening aboard with no food and, HORRORS- no coffee!
I sail these waters all the time but it's wierd how familiar waters are foreign in the fog. I guess if it were daytime, I'd have given it a go.
   If you have access to charts via the NOAA site, look at chart #s 12324 and 12316 to get an idea of the water depths we deal with here in the South of NJ.
   Newt: Thanks for the IR. Hope I don't have to use it again.
Bob23