Stern tie reel

[WillieC]

Desolation Sound, here we come.

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Old hose reel was ready for trip to dump. It is screwed to 2X2 stick and dropped in pvc tube we use for stowing the dinghy oars under way. It was a bit floppy and impinged on the tight area where the rail mount bbq goes, so...

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Still floppy, but does not need three lines to keep it straight. Pull is in the right direction for reel.

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I cut a spacer block to fit in the pvc tube in order to straighten up the 2X2. Stick will stow in rooftop dinghy rack made of more pvc, yet to be built. Hose reel, all plastic, nothing to rust, was perfect size for 300 feet of 3/8" polypro floating line and will stow easily. I might modify the crank handle so the reel will lay flat.

(Click on pics to set aright...I think I solved the picture issue. The goofy ones were taken with iPhone held vertically. The middle, normal picture, was taken holding the iPhone horizontally and needs no correction.
Hold the phone horizontally!!! Wouldn't it be cool if they made a thing that only took pictures?)

[dkirsop]

Very slick! And a nice clean bottom too.

[DesertAlbin736]

Looks great Rick!

From Desolation Sound Charters crusing notes regarding stern ties;

You will find anchoring this way is very common in the [Desolation] Sound. If there are only two people [on board] then you will have to anchor the boat first and then take the stern line to the shore. Once secure, if the bottom is not quite visible, make up some sort of lead line to check the depth of water at the stern. The bottom drops off quickly here and your sounder may read 30' where it is [like amidships], but you may have only 10' at the stern. With as much as 18' of tidal range you can drop as fast as 3' an hour!

So happens we have an old fashioned lead line made from a hunk of lead pipe (even has a cavity that you can grease to pick up a bottom sample) on a knotted string and also have this hand held digital depth finder that can be used by dipping it in the water while in the dinghy & sliding the switch. No need to rush out & buy one of these when a simple lead line will do, prices range from around $100 to more than $200. I bought this one years ago around the turn of this century when I had a small day sailer that didn't have a dedicated depth finder. It runs off a 9 volt battery, is waterproof & floats. I'll make sure to pack it and the lead line with our gear.

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Stern tie anchoring in Smugger Cove on BC's Sunshine Coast. Doubling the line back allows pulling the line in without going back to shore when it's time to leave. In many places like this steel ring pins have been driven into rocks expressly for stern ties. What you don't see in this picture is when the tide goes out rocks are above water half this distance from where the boat is to the pin the lines are tied to.

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Same spot with the tide out. If you zoom in tight by clicking the photo twice you'll see I had run out two bow anchors set at 45 degrees to each other. The sailboat next to us were our best friends from Flagstaff, AZ who had also trailered up to Washington & cruised with us for the whole six weeks. They're on a different schedule this year & won't be with us this time. In a calm sheltered spot two boats could raft up with each other & run bow anchors & stern ties out & have four point tie up.

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[WillieC]

There is a ton of noise out there about not tying to living breathing human trees. I understand that. Use an old towel, or lifting strap, anything to protect the tree. Then you read some of the stories where the "beach" is a rock cliff, slime and moss covered rocks at the angle of repose for boulders. Not easily negotiated while looking for a suitable tie-off. I read of one guy who uses an 8 pound steel ball welded to 3 feet of chain. He chucks the ball into a crevice and runs the stern tie through the end of the chain and back to the boat. Done. Allegedly easy to retrieve, just yank it backwards and Viola! So I am scrounging around trying to come up with my free version of an eight pound ball, not having any conveniently laying around. How about a warped Toyota brake disk? That sucker ought to hang up on something. I got it! The crankcase off the old Volvo Penta MD3B engine!

[Beta Don]

Thanks for the explanation - I had absolutely no idea what a big hose reel full of poly rope (I never use THAT) could possibly be used for . . . . but now I understand!

For comparison, down here we're currently in the 'neap tide cycle' where the difference between high and low tide is less than 6 inches. Normal days, it's a foot and a half or two

Don

[dkirsop]

Don't sweat the tree thing. The stern line places very little stress on the bark as it is NOT tied to it. Simply run out your line around the tree and back to a stern cleat on your boat. When you are ready to go simply release the line from the cleat and pull it back into the boat. You should always be able to release the stern line quickly in case a change in wind drags your anchor. Have fun.

P.S. Did you sew the side curtains on your hard top? If so, nicely done. I once sewed a camper back on my wife's old Sear's machine but now she has a new one with a proximity alarm so I can't get near it!

[WillieC]

All the side curtains came with the boat. They all raise independent of the isinglass that is there all the way around. There is another set of dark heavy mesh curtains that snap into the same attachments, but we've not used them. There is some wear and tear on these so we took them to an upholsterer for repairs on some of the stressed corners and guess what he said? These are shot you need new ones! Maybe he shouldn't have done such a nice job on his repairs.

The Starfleet Commander who lives and dies on CL (sorry moderators) found a Thompson walking foot sewing machine that I didn't have to take two ferries and drive four hours to get to, so now I will be learning a new skill. Is foam expensive or is it just me?

We are negotiating with friends in Tacoma for new curtains for the galley and aft cabin. I have done sheet metal work, now fiberglass, and of course carpentry, welding, plumbing, concrete, electrical...Plywood curtains crossed my mind. Sheet metal work is closest to making curtains, so I plan on doing all the cutting and head scratching. Just need to get on friend's dance card before the SC finds me a domestic sewing machine.

Sitting here with my morning coffee enjoying the elegant simplicity of the reel. Took me longer to make the tube spacer block than the whole rest of the deal. Poly is cheap. Looked all over the interweb, trips to HD and Lo's, local hardware store and my old new favorite standby came through in spades. Seattle Marine...7 cents a foot. Shoulda bought the whole reel, like I need more stuff laying around. Beta Don is correct. Who would ever use that crap?! I need to throw a towel over it since the sun is shining and it is deteriorating as we speak!

[DesertAlbin736]

Take my..... I could make a Henny Youngman style joke here, but I won't.

...steel ball welded to 3 feet of chain.

Our Thompson Mini Walker sewing machine has been invaluable. The only thing it doesn't do is the zig-zag stitch normally used for sail repairs. Yes, cushion foam is expensive. Cost of 3 inch thick foam alone for the pair of bench seat cushions I made this year was $56, and that was from a wholesale fabric warehouse that caters to the trade.

Besides Sailrite, my local go-to store for fabric & sewing supplies is H & R Fabrics here in Phoenix. It's a Mecca and Nirvana combined for upholstery & canvas, including a reasonably priced source for Sunbrella fabrics. They also do online sales. Total cost this year for all supplies & materials to make the seat cushions and buy marine grade carpeting material to cover all floor surfaces in fore and aft cabins & cockpit came to $238.70

http://www.handrfabrics.com/products-services/

Here's our stern tie reel set up. This is a photo taken before 2016 when we still had our old dinghy on snap davits & now we have lifting davits instead. Our stern rail is different than the one on WillieC, it goes all the way across the stern, so we have to do the limbo to climb up from the swim platform. But it does provide a means of hanging the reel. It gets stowed in the aft cabin when not in use. In fact, it looks like the dinghy may have to be lowered away before I can hang the reel like this, since the dinghy is now carried horizontally at deck level.

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[DesertAlbin736]

Thanks for the explanation - I had absolutely no idea what a big hose reel full of poly rope (I never use THAT) could possibly be used for . . . . but now I understand!

Cruising the Pacific NW is a whole different world. Should be on everyone's bucket list. If bringing your own boat up there isn't practical, then bareboat charters, either power or sail, can be had. Shared with one or two other couples the 7 day cost is comparable to a Carnival ship cruise. In this world you live & die by the tide & current tables. As can be seen by these YouTube (not mine) videos of boats transiting Dodd Narrows, one of the most notorious passes along the inside coast of Vancouver Island south of Nanaimo. We've done this one ourselves, but right near slack tide, not like some of these guys. We only cruise a 6.5 knots, so if we tried bucking an adverse current we'd be going backwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB7FzBJvMsU

Here's one of a boat going with the current. He's smarter, has his dinghy up on davits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0zdTScULW0

[Beta Don]

It surely wasn't practical back when I did it . . . . but I did it anyway. When I retired from the USAF I trailered my O'Day 25 from Biloxi to Seattle and we spent a couple months sailing Puget Sound and the San Juans. I was raised in Bellevue and we never had a boat when I was a kid, but I knew there was so much to see and do on the water there, I really looked forward to it. We had an excellent time and would have probably done it again at some point if it wasn't for the 5,400 mile round trip

If you want a lesson in tides, currents and times, venture into Deception pass!!! . . . . but do it at your peril if you don't know exactly what you're up against

Now, we much prefer Gulf Coast cruising as you can do it virtually 12 months a year and there are so many more places to go - I'm sure you could cruise from San Diego to Seattle, but there are so few places to go inland and they are so far apart. Here, you can go 10 or 20 or 30 miles and anchor and you will find marinas pretty much everywhere . . . . and if you run aground, it's probably just into the mud - Back up and go again

Don

[WillieC]

Shades of The Boat Who Wouldn't Float, Farley Mowat. Without the mud banks to back up into that filled all the cracks and seams, that would have been a very short book. Now we understand why you left the Puget Sound, Don. HA!

[Beta Don]

The USAF took me away from Puget Sound . . . . and along the way, I found there really ARE places you can live where you see the sun on a daily basis . . . . and it DOESN'T rain on a daily basis - Ha!!

My sister still lives in Seattle. We were up there visiting her for ten very gloomy, gray, overcast days in January

Don

[WillieC]

Well you should let me know when and we'll get you out here on the Canal!