|
Refit: Winter 2008-2009
|
Winter 2008-2009 Refit | Saturday, November 15, 2008
When I obtained our radar pole
in 2002, it came along with a plastic clamp to support it at
the stern rail; the plastic two-piece fitting, which fit
around the 1" stern rail, featured two stainless steel
U-clamps to secure it in position . This worked
adequately for many years, but for one reason or another the
bottom part of the plastic fitting broke either this past
season or last winter, or sometime. With two U-clamps,
and the top part of the fitting intact, I was able to use
the fitting during the 2008 season, but its life had clearly
come to an end. |
|
|
Not really knowing what to call this fitting made finding a
replacement a little more challenging. My initial
thought was to bring the old fitting up to a nearby machine
shop and have them build a new, identical piece--but out of
billet aluminum rather than plastic. But despite my
Google-ing limits imposed by not knowing exactly what to
call the fitting, I found something on the Garhauer website
designed for this express purpose. Listed under the
heading "Radar Tower Accessories", the piece I found was
called, logically enough, a stern rail tower clamp.
There was no picture of the item, but I took a chance and
ordered it sight-unseen. (Note also that I
subsequently found stern rail clamps similar or original to
my old one in the Edson Marine catalog as well.)
Installation was
straightforward--four bolts on each piece to clamp to the
respective tubes. |
|
|
I set up the dodger once again, as I had an appointment with
Hallett on Monday to determine how to approach my desired
dodger modifications, intended to make the dodger more
convertible and generally handier overall. Mainly, I
wanted to have the dodger changed to incorporate removable
wing panels; removing these panels would provide better
visibility and better airflow to the cockpit and make the
dodger less in the way on those days when we really don't
want it there at all. Additionally, there were a
number of minor stitching and related repairs required. |
|
|
Afterwards, I cleaned up and
sanded the shaft coupling and flex coupling, masked things
as necessary, and sprayed on primer and paint, this time in
a yellow color for something different.
And so it went in the
enthralling world of minor sailboat refits. |
|
|
Total time today:
1 hour
Previous | Next |
|
