March Update

It's been a while since I've updated this website. It's not due to a lack of progress on the boat, but rather due to the fact that I've been having more fun getting the boat working than working on the website. Since the last update, I've finished the new rigging, installed the roller furler, and actually taken the boat out sailing a few times, among other things.

The rigging went back together without too much of a problem. I basically guessed at the tensions for the shrouds and stays, but I've had the boat out several times in pretty brisk winds since putting it all back together, and it seems to work just fine. I did tighten everything up a bit after my first guess. I used Bill's boat that's parked next to mine as a reference, but then later on I talked to Bill about it, and he said his shrouds are looser than they should be, so I tightened mine up a bit more. I decided not to reattach the adjustable backstay with the new rigging. It's more trouble that it's worth, and the extra rigging cluttering the cockpit for it was something I didn't want to deal with.

After the rigging was done, I installed the roller furler, twice. I screwed up the first time and broke the extrusion that mounts over the headstay, and had to order a replacement. That was a waste of $180, but at least I know how to do it now. If you're interested in installing a Schaeffer CF-500 furler on a Santana 22, drop me a line, I can give you some tips. Even after I got it on the second time, I realized I haven't done it entirely correctly. I've got it working for the most part, but I have a feeling it's more likely to jam than it should need to be. I may replace the extrusion one more time, sometime in the future, but for now it's working and I sort of feel I should just leave it alone.

Since finishing the furler, I've started on some cosmetic work. Filling in a lot of holes with epoxy and fiberglass, and prepping the boat for new paint. I've decided to paint the boat one section at a time, starting with the cockpit, so that's where I've been focusing my effort so far. I pulled out all the old, non-working instruments, and fiberglassed in all the holes. I also filled a lot of little screw holes left from hardware that I'd removed -- things like the unnecessarily elaborate pulley system for locking the cockpit lockers, and hardware for the adjustable backstay that I'd removed. Even holes for the fire extinguisher mount that went through the back wall of the cabin. That seems like a really dumb way to mount the fire extinguisher, so I'm moving it to the bulkhead that the chainplates attach to.

There's a lot more detail I could go into on a lot of these projects. I'll try to find the time if anyone asks, and I'll probably write up a post on fiberglassing up one of the big instrument holes, because I've got a good set of pictures documenting the whole procedure. I've also got a bunch more uncategorized pictures you can browse through. One other thing I managed to do was take some friends out under the Golden Gate Bridge, which was the maiden voyage with the new furler, and was a lot of fun. More updates to come.

Tyler Karaszewski

March Update

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