#1085 Pagan under sail.

[prjacobs]

A friend shot these for me while out for an afternoon sail:







Pagant is sheer pleasure to sail, and is steadily evolving into my "perfect" boat.

[Bob McGovern]

Oh -- you've renamed your Ballad. Wasn't aware of that. Love the transparent spray cloths. That's a new idea, and it makes lots of sense. Leftover Plastipane from the dodger?

Still cold & wet up there, huh. Good looking boat, Peter!:)

[prjacobs]

Hi Bob,
The transparent spray cloths (an experiment) are inexpensive vinyl trimmed with scraps of Sunbrella. On the dodger (spray hood) I used Strataglass , a lot less distortion than the vinyl. I like the transparent cloths as I can see out when standing in the galley and also, when healed over, my windward side visibility is unimpeded.
As usual, nothing is new these days ... i saw a picture on the web when I googled for images of spray cloths and liked the idea ... works for me

[Bob McGovern]

Nifty. You could even use plexiglass for that; maybe even tinted. Hmmm.... We'll need to think about that. Our solar panels are likely going back there somewhere, too.

One thing to watch for with the plastic is any lensing effect: I've seen actual gelcoat & laminate melted by a pair of glasses or a drinking glass set on a cockpit seat! Would be sad if your tiller pilot cooked. The vinyl siding on my father's house was literally scorched by the reflection off a neighbor's storm window! Looked like someone hit it with a weed burner.

Edit: You have any plans for a genoa sheet fairlead of some kind? You can see on the edge of our coamings where the jib sheets wore grooves in the gelcoat, & some Ballad owners have wrapped the coaming edge in stainless to protect it. I'm thinking a bullseye with stainless center might do the trick just as well, and it would ensure the ideal lead angle into the winch, too. Prevent overwraps.

[prjacobs]

Genoa sheets:
The starboard side is not a problem as the sheet wraps clockwise around the outside of the winch. But on the port side it winds clockwise around the inside of the winch. My Ballad came with a piece of metal covering the port combing edge, but it still cuts into the back flap of the dodger (spray hood). One possible solution is to add a second lead block on the port side and move it as far aft as possible, threading the sheet through both blocks. I may try that.

The side curtains interfere a bit with spinning the winch handle, but as they're vinyl and quite flexible they allow me to grind away. I built them as an experiment and am surprised how well they do the job. They're held on at the corners with black velcro tape and along the top lifeline with a couple of flaps with snaps. I left the bottoms loose to start with, but they don't flap so that's the way they'll stay. I also made a clear companionway cover that works well in port on rainy days.