Eclipse #17

[beradthefish]

Eclipse #17 is in my back yard!

I picked the boat up in Orlando from the couple who used to be a Com-Pac dealer in South Carolina.  The next day, we finished up paperwork then I made my way to Clearwater where I met Gerry Hutchins and his son Tyler.  Tyler spent a couple hours with me in the hot sun answering questions and explaining the boat etc.  He knows it well, he built and delivered it!  He also replaced a few pins and fasteners here and there.  They had an older spare tire/wheel for the Performance trailer which they sold me for a great price.  I walked around their facility, saw Eclipse #69 getting its final touches and 23 PH #8 under construction.  Seems like Sun Cats are the hot seller now.  The mold for the 35 hull was sitting in a bay, no orders for that boat as of now.

Everything on the boat was as described and in order.  The interior is flawless and doesn't smell like anything at all.  We pulled all of the covers off of the cushions and washed them anyway.

The exterior is oxidized as expected, I'm going to start addressing that today.  I've already washed all the sheets/halyards/lines, they look new again.  The sails were a little dirty, but a short soak in Oxyclean and a blast of water turned them completely white again.

The boom had a large abandoned wasp nest in it and lots of spiders, blasted them out with the hose.  The mast had an abandoned birds nest in it as well.  The sail track had a good bit of crusty lubricant in it from sitting, simple green and a small bottle brush took care of that.

Now I'm going to go out and test some mild abrasives on the hull to figure out how best to get rid of the oxidation and restore the shine.

Also decided on a Tohatsu 6HP long shaft (20") from onlineoutboards.com.  Gerry H. gave the company a pretty good endorsement regarding shipping time and prices.  Also for Tohatsu motors themselves.  I was pretty set on a Yamaha, but they're $300-400 more.

I have two questions:

I forgot to ask about the main sheet at Hutchins and it's not clear to me where it is - Can one of you snap some photos of yours?  I see the traveller setup of course but I think I'm missing something.

Anyone successfully post photos in this forum hosted on Google Picasa?

[Short Sale]

Congratulations on the acquisition and delivery of your new Eclipse.  It sounds great.  I will add my two cents worth on ordering a Tohatsu outboard from OnlineOutboards dot Com.  I ordered a 3.5 hp with standard shaft (recommended by Keith of The Sailboat Company in North Carolina) for my 16/II.  OnlineOutboards did exactly what they said they would.  The motor arrived in two days and the price was right.  It runs great and a new motor gives me long term confidence.  I recommend OnlineOutboards dot Com.

[Vectordirector]

Congrats on the new boat.  I envy your trip to Clearwater.  I'm sure the information you gleaned from Gerry and Tyler is priceless.  Glad to hear the boat was as described.  There is plenty of information on-line about buffing boats, but I figured I'd let a pro do it. Plus, I really don't have the time.  I'll explain what was done on another thread. 

Good luck with the new motor, I'm sure you will love it.  I have zero experience with small outboards but research indicates that correct installation and break in are of paramount importance to get the best out of them. 

I didn't have a chance to remove the sail cover on the main before I put the boat inside for storage before the rain hit, so I can't offer any insight on the mainsheet.  I assume it is in there somewhere as I haven't seen it elsewhere.  I had a large hornet nest in the zippered end of the bimini, sprayed it good from 15 feet away and I think I got them all.  Haven't opened the bimini, previous owner says he never used it. 

Never used picasa, I use photobucket and after I figured out how the tagging works and the image insert here works, I was able to post some pics.  I think there are instructions in the help forum. 

I'll be updating information and pics on #23 today as the weather is crappy.  I was going to splash her today, too. Hopefully next Saturday.


Can't wait to see pics.  Again, congrats.

Vectordirector

[Vectordirector]

Well I finally had the sail cover off and had a look at the mainsheet system.  It is not what I assumed.  I had assumed that it cleated somewhere on the rear of the boom at the arch.  Yours may be different.  My mainsheet actually knots at the end of the boom, runs through some pulleys under the boom to the mast, then down through a pulley at the base of the mast, over to one of the turning pulleys on the starboard side and through the inboard spinlock cleat next to the hatch.  It is next to the main halyard spinlock.  Actually a very convenient setup as it is out of the way but easy to get to.  I'm not sure how I feel about these spinlocks yet, they seem a little fussy, not as "sure they are locked" in use as the Harken system I had on my Hobie.  Maybe I just need to get used to using them.  They seem to work better when the line has a load on it then when the line is loose.  Interesting to see how well they work on the water.    Sorry I forgot to take pics of the mainsheet system but hopefully my description above will help.

What is your boat's status?  Have you had her in the water yet?  Let's see her!

Vectordirector

[Eagleye]

.  I'm not sure how I feel about these spinlocks yet, they seem a little fussy, not as "sure they are locked" in use as the Harken system I had on my Hobie.  Maybe I just need to get used to using them.  They seem to work better when the line has a load on it then when the line is loose.  Interesting to see how well they work on the water.   

Vec,
I am just a newbie and don't have much to compare them too but I feel the spinlock cleats are great.  I have used them all season and found that they are so easy to use that I replaced the jib sheet cam cleats with spinlocks.  I have NEVER had one slip and it doesn't matter how much force the sail pull on the lines the cleats release with just a short upward flick of the line and then can be locked with a downward flick.  The lines can also be drawn in without releasing the cleat by just pulling on the line.  The new ones that I just bought have a 3 position setting as to how much pressure is needed to release the cleat.  I would find this handy if the main halyard spinlock cleat had this feature because it is annoying to accidentally bump that cleat and have the main sail drop on you at a most inopportune moment.  It would be nice to have that cleat less sensitive.






Berad,
Congrats on getting her home. Were you able to figure out the main sheets yet?  If not I will get some pics out.

Allen

[beradthefish]

Spashed Sunday afternoon into Lake Murray, SC.  Slipway was crowded so I put the boat in the water, powered out to a secluded location and raised the mast and sails.

Sailed well in about 5-7 knots for a while, then the first rainstorm hit as they often do.  When I tried to furl the jib, I just got line becuase I failed to attach it to the furler.  So I dropped the main, got the outboard running then manually furled the jib.  No sweat!  I anchored at a nearby island and rode the storm out and fixed the jib furler.

I was having so much fun, I decided to anchor near Bomb/Lunch island overnight.  I was a bit paranoid about anchor drag, but the Delta anchor never failed me once in the 10+ times I anchored over the two days.  That still didn't keep me from waking up everytime I thought I heard something, will take some getting used to.  Downloaded an iPhone app called Drag Queen which seems to work well.

My family joined me on Monday, we got nailed by another rainstorm, but they and the boat took it well.  The slipway was very crowded by power boaters trying to get out of the rain, so I anchored adjacent to the ramp and configured for trailering while on the water.  For now, I keep my jib run alongside the stanchions held in place by tarp ties.  Tarp ties are the thing.  I use them everywhere on the boat:  Secure the covered bimini for trailering. Temorarily secure the main to the boom when I don't want to use the cover. Keep the anchor from moving around on the roller.

I also use the boom vang to secure the anchor while trailering, to prevent a 60 MPH deployment - The other end I attach to a stanchion, that way the vang is right there to be used to raise the mast. 


Everything was going great until I got home and started to back up the steep driveway.  SCRAPE...  The rudder managed to work its way down.  I shaved about an inch off, slightly bent and seperated the glass from the aluminum.  No damage to the gudgeon whatsoever.  For the curious, that mistake will cost you $354.

So as usual, I have questions (obviously I figured out the mainsheet):

The hatch and most of the ports leak.  Should I look into replacing the rubber gaskets?

I get leaks through some of the deck hardware screws as well.  What's a method for re-sealing those?

Finally - How is the teak removed?  I remove the screws/hardware, but it's stuck on with sealer of some sort.  Heat gun? Careful prying?  Then how to re-seal - Probably the same method as the deck hardware.

[chas5131]

What is the screen on your sliding companionway hatch?

[beradthefish]

What screen?

As far as my questions, I did some reading and now all my deck hardware and the offending porthole are off the boat.  The teak is sanded, will clean with Xylene today in order to apply Cetol Natural Teak then Gloss.  It looks so much better, it's amazing.  Also got a tube of LifeCalk and some butyl tape to rebed everything.  I find that citrus adhesive remover works well to loosen caulk.

[beradthefish]

Removed videos.

[Glenn Basore]

Good video,

I'm sure it will be helpful to other Eclipse owners.

I'm guessing the round object on the port side of the companion way door is a depth gauge. perhaps an Uniden QT206 model?

I have one but have not installed it yet, just cant seem to get around to installing it?

I know we all have our different ways of rigging and prepping for towing, I leave the shrouds on and bungee them off to the bow area, one less thing to remove.

I also bungee the headsail to the mast so everything is nice and straight.

What kind of bilge pump do you have?

Is the mast post base plate metal ? I need to look at mine.

My reefing lines run a little different than yours. They are tied off at the back of the boom, go vertical through the reefing hole, back down, forward to the next hole, back up and down again. all of which is controlled from the goose neck area. once you pull the reefing line, it takes all the slack of the sail and holds it down to the boom tight.

Glenn B.

[Eagleye]

What is the screen on your sliding companionway hatch?

Chas,
I apologies for not catching your question.  When Brad asked, "What Screen". I must have assumed you were asking about a window screen and I couldn't figure it out either.  It takes me a while sometimes... but it just occurred to me you were commenting on my pic.  Huh Duh!

The screen on the hatch is a GPS.  This being my first season I have not yet determined what kind of GPS will suit me best so I have been using my auto Garmin.  It records our miles sailed for the log, gives me boat speed (just for giggles) and I can get a snapshot of our sail path, again, fun to look at when we get back home.





We will be considering a GPS or chart plotter in the future as priorities and finances dictates.


Allen

[Eagleye]

I made several videos of my Eclipse:

Nice job on the videos, Brad,
It is interesting to see all the details and comparing the small differences in the different vintages.  It has given me some ideas about future posts.

Sorry about your Mastendr incident.   That was my first repair when we purchased the Madame, as the PO really mangled the sail slot.  Just take your time and make sure that all the edges inside and out are rounded and tapered as much as possible as you can see from my post.  Also make sure the gooseneck slug can pass by the reinforcement plates. 






BTW...
Does she have a name yet?  Your signature still says, "Eclipse pending"

Best of luck,
Allen

[beradthefish]

Glenn - I don't have a depth gauge.  What round object do you mean?  I will try your way of securing the shrouds to the boat as well as the headsail to the mast next time around.  The bilge pump is a Bosworth Guzzler 500V.  The mast post base plate, you mean the one under the hatches in the cabin?  Mine's metal.  On the reefing lines, yes, that makes a lot of sense.  What I did in the video was exactly how they showed me at the factory.  Interesting!  I will be trying to rig it the way you mentioned.  If you could sketch that up for me when you have time, I'd certainly appreciate it.

Eagleye - I use an iPhone with MotionX GPS and Navionics.  Both programs are fairly good.  Yes, the gooseneck slug.  Mine doesn't make it past that piece I put on there, it's too thick.  The slugs don't go past easily either.  That's why this weekend I'm re-doing it.  Mine's not too bad, just a bite out of the very bottom.

[beradthefish]

Glenn - Now I see what you're talking about reference the depth gauge.  The picture you're talking about above is Eagleye's not mine.

[Eagleye]

I'm guessing the round object on the port side of the companion way door is a depth gauge. perhaps an Uniden QT206 model?

I have one but have not installed it yet, just cant seem to get around to installing it?

Glenn B.

Brad...I just figured that out also.  Rereading old posts.....it must be a winter thing.

Glenn,
Yes that is exactly what it is.  A Uniden QT206.  The PO had it put in when the boat was new.  I tested it with a sounding weight and it seems right on.  I have found it very useful.

Allen