Help inspecting a WWP19

[SkiprJohn]

Originally Posted by ForeverDes

No sea trial today, weather was uncooperative. Hopefully tomorrow.

I'm waiting for a report!!!

[ForeverDes]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

I'm waiting for a report!!!

Well I am tickled to death to provide one!

Sea trial went smoothly, Me + 3 kids + Former Owner (Yes, I bought it!) sailed for about 2.5 hours. I learned a lot, and I feel much more comfortable. I've still got a LONG long way to go, but I hope to be able to safely learn on the inland waters before I tackle anything taxing.

It was really satisfying to put to use the reading I've done, both on Potters and general sailing. The former owner explained things very well, but having the book learning really helped assimilate it quicker.

It took me over 2 hrs to bring the boat 47 miles home, but we stopped for a quick dinner, and I also had to drop 2 off the kids off at their mom's. My '06 minivan had no trouble at all with the weight, either accelerating or stopping.

The biggest problem I ran into at all was backing into the garage. I had to lower the mast from the crutch and move it forward from the pulpit bracket to fit it in. I was helped tremendously by the crazy wheel on the jack, and was able to back and fill the trailer a bit by hand to get maximum room left over for my van.

I've got a few small things I'd like to do soonish, and number one on the list is getting a weathervane. It might not be as big a help as I hope, but anything to help me determine the wind direction more accurately would be nice.

One project I plan to do before heading for the lake is setting all the rigging up while sitting level in my yard. I took a lot of pictures of how things went, and I do have the manual from IM if I run into trouble, but I'd really like to be sure before I get an hour from home and realize I need help.

As far as the boat, it still looks excellent. There are a few scratches, most noticeably one up high on the bow just under the deck, and also some spider web cracks in the gel coat, but nothing to be alarmed about and nothing to prohibit sailing.

The boat performed well in the water, but I did have to dump the mainsail once, due completely to my lack of experience. I got slightly overwhelmed while tacking, and dunked the edge (foot? still trying to internalize some terms!) of the head sail, but no harm done, and I really doubt with ~10 knot winds I'd was in any serious trouble anyway. Credit to the kids, they took it in stride and made not a sound of protest, although my son ( 10 yo) referred to it later as, "That time you almost flipped the boat over."

There was a race at the time, so I even got some practical experience navigating around other boats. As far as I know I didn't get in anyone's way, but to be fair I followed the former owner's directions as close as I was able.

I'm not sure of the speed we travelled at nor the distance, nor do I particularly care at this point, as the largest inland lake near me is slightly more than 10,000 acres and the one I plan to sail on is about 5200 acres and 17 miles long, only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the length will be really open to me.

No pictures now, unless you want to see a lot macro rigging pics, but when I get the chance some night I'll get it out of the garage and snap a few.

All in all I'm really pleased and excited. Sailing my own boat has been a dream for a long while, and it's a great feeling to know I have that option any time I have the time and weather cooperates.

To all of you that offered advice and encouragement and a sympathetic ear, I want you to know how much I appreciate each of you. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is get started, and you've made it a lot easier to take this step.

[Lake-Effect]

Congratulations on your purchase. You sound like the sort of person who's going to enjoy the whole process of maintaining and sailing a trailerable sailboat. Keep your family interested and involved, and you'll make some great memories.

[SkiprJohn]

Well done and congratulations!

If you don't want to have that extra appendage of a windvane at the top of your mast just use yarn or old cassette tape on the shrouds for telltales. Also install telltales on your sails and learn how to read them and you'll sail much better. Easing out your main and jib when heeling too much is a normal part of sailing. The other method is to steer into the wind a bit more when a gust comes along.

Let us know how we can help. I really love the old Potter 19 our club has even though its a bit cramped below for me. I've even got a 14 that's from the 60s in my farmyard. It needs a complete refurb that I'll probably never get to but its fun to dream about.

[ForeverDes]

@SkiprJohn

Thanks a lot! The yarn on shrouds sounds like a great idea. A windvane would make my mast too long to store in my garage. It's a close fit as it is. I did decide to take the shrouds off and remove the mast from the boat altogether. At the moment it's under the boat, but I plan to store it diagonally up the side wall once I move the boat out of the way.

@Lake-Effect

Yes I usually enjoy planning and tinkering as much as actually using any of my toys! The boat needs a good cleaning in some hard to reach places, and I hope to get to that this weekend. Until then it's going to be general poking around to find out what's what.

On the topic of cleaning, if anyone has any good suggestions on airing out and refreshing the cushions inside?

[cheoah]

Congrats on your new boat. I owned one as my first boat, sailed the hell out of it. Great for lakes, I miss access to cool mountain lakes, but they aren't connected to the rest of the water that connects to the rest of the world

It's a really easy boat to work on, much easier to mount your windvane on than a stepped mast.

Rigging will be slow for the first few times. Give yourself hours to do it, maybe it'll go faster. Eventually its second nature, but I tired of the whole routine. That and I was sailing out in the ocean more and it wasn't ideal for that. It is what it is, and it does it well. I packed my little family of four on there and took trips all over the place. Keep fresh tires on it, keep up with the bearings, and install a transmission cooler on your van if you don't have one. Hauling is the hardest part. I farm and haul big loads regularly but had a flat tire, had the boat come through my back window once when wife didn't attach boat to hitch (my fault), and some other misadventures.

But it's a fun, tiny little boat that I sailed down narrow creeks, beached on remote barrier islands, drifted out tiny, shallow inlets to sea, and then parked in my shop.

The windvane is easily removable, just take it off when you decommission. Have a great time sailing this summer.


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[Stu Jackson]

Sounds great.

and number one on the list is getting a weathervane. It might not be as big a help as I hope, but anything to help me determine the wind direction more accurately would be nice.

That's why they make flags.

[SkiprJohn]

I find it much easier to leave the shrouds and backstay attached and bundle those together. You are way ahead of the game when it comes to readying for launching and everything is in adjustment except for your forestay.

C.SHERMAN JOHNSON Quick-Release Shroud Levers | West Marine

Is a lever we use on the forestay to release tension in order to pull the pin. You'll find it really handy. There is something similar but more costly available from Catalina and I think its overkill for your boat.

[ForeverDes]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

I find it much easier to leave the shrouds and backstay attached and bundle those together. You are way ahead of the game when it comes to readying for launching and everything is in adjustment except for your forestay.

C.SHERMAN JOHNSON Quick-Release Shroud Levers | West Marine

Is a lever we use on the forestay to release tension in order to pull the pin. You'll find it really handy. There is something similar but more costly available from Catalina and I think its overkill for your boat.

Thanks for the link, but I don't think I have any need for it. The shrouds are loose once I lower the mast anyway, and they are easy to detach without adjusting. I marked each of the four so I would know exactly how to reattach them, and I will attach them before trailering to the lake, and then detach them at home again before I store the mast.

All in all taking them off is a < 5 minute job, and then I don't have the issues trying to jack the trailer around the garage with an extra 1.5-2' of length to deal with. The mast is light enough to handle alone, and positively easy with one extra pair of hands.

I spent a few minutes looking over the electrical system, which is almost as basic as it gets. 2 batteries, a charger/maintainer, and a selector switch; along with running lights, a cabin light, and a hummingbird fish finder connection with 2 heads. 20 year old technology, but still a nice surprise as the FO explained they didn't work. That could be because the tranducer wasn't attached to the hull! As far as I can see, for the cost of a bit of slow cure epoxy I should get them set up pretty easily. Before I bond it into the hull I plan on a temporary transom mount to test the transducer.

I'd like to upgrade all my lights to LED, especially in the cabin, and add an extra light as well. I know there's scads of advice on not changing anything on a "new" boat for a while, but LEDs seem like a total no brainer to me, especially considering the low cost involved. I could replace the current bulb with an LED, but it costs 1/2 as much as a new cabin light, and it will be easier to match a second cabin light if I start fresh anyway.

One more cheap no brainer type project is to add a motor mount to my trailer. Someone, possibly IM, sells a kit, but I'll make my own using square post u-bolts. That will make hauling the outboard a lot easier, and lessen the likelihood of damaging it, my van, or my boat. I can get all the needed parts for <$10.

Edit: IM does make a kit they sell for $120. It looks like 2 u-bolts and a plastic block.

[SkiprJohn]

"Thanks for the link, but I don't think I have any need for it. The shrouds are loose once I lower the mast anyway, and they are easy to detach without adjusting. I marked each of the four so I would know exactly how to reattach them, and I will attach them before trailering to the lake, and then detach them at home again before I store the mast."

It sounds like you're well on your way to making the boat your own. It has a lot more electronic gear than we have on ours and we hardwired terminals on the stern to attach a Minn Kota electric motor. It pushes the boat in and out of the slips and up a short river just fine if you ever need a backup.

LED is the way to go.

Are those through hull transducers or inside transducers?

I didn't mean that you should use the shroud adjusters for your shrouds but for your forestay. It's very handy for taking the tension off to pull the pin so you can lower your mast aft. That way you don't have to loosen a turnbuckle then retension it again after raising the mast. After you raise and lower it a few times it'll be something to consider. If you do decide you might want to try one let me know I've got a couple around that I'll let you have for half price of what West Marine charges.

Happy sailing!

[ForeverDes]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

It sounds like you're well on your way to making the boat your own. It has a lot more electronic gear than we have on ours and we hardwired terminals on the stern to attach a Minn Kota electric motor. It pushes the boat in and out of the slips and up a short river just fine if you ever need a backup.

LED is the way to go.

Are those through hull transducers or inside transducers?

I didn't mean that you should use the shroud adjusters for your shrouds but for your forestay. It's very handy for taking the tension off to pull the pin so you can lower your mast aft. That way you don't have to loosen a turnbuckle then retension it again after raising the mast. After you raise and lower it a few times it'll be something to consider. If you do decide you might want to try one let me know I've got a couple around that I'll let you have for half price of what West Marine charges.

Happy sailing!

Oh in the case of the forestay they could be really really useful! When we lowered the mast on Sunday, I pushed forward enough that the FO could take a pin out, but it was a pretty tough push. I can see how useful a quick release lever would be.

I think the transducer is capable of thru hull. I read through the manual, and it looks like hummingbird offered several different transducers. Here are a couple pics.


I hoped there would be a model number or other designation on the transducer, but all I saw was the digit "2" and that doesn't look like enough info to narrow it down. Complicating the issue is the displays are different models, and one is "Wide Vision" that uses two transducers, which I'll assume are housed in one casing. Since the casing only has 2 wires, I also assume that it's a digital signal and the data from 2 transducers can travel it as easily as one.

Honestly an on the water trial will tell me a lot, and if weather cooperates I might do that Saturday.

[SkiprJohn]

Some old depth sounding transducers required drilling a hole in the hull. Just don't want you to have to do that if you can get around it. Less holes in the hull the better.

We're on the same page with the shroud/forestay adjuster. Try it a few times without one and I think you'll agree it's easier with one.

Our club has tried to make our WWP 19 easy to launch and rig so that more members will use her. Her name is Whippy. We've done a jerryrig mast raising lowering system that works pretty good plus the forestay adjuster. That makes it a one person job. Easier with two of course.

kind regards,

[cheoah]

Looks like a transom style transducer?

An in hull transducer works just fine through the potter hull. Just mount the base to hull, add mineral oil, and there you go.




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[ForeverDes]

Originally Posted by cheoah

Looks like a transom style transducer?

An in hull transducer works just fine through the potter hull. Just mount the base to hull, add mineral oil, and there you go.

You are right about it being a transom style mount. The manual from hummingbird makes it seem like it can also be used if it's epoxied inside the hull correctly. I haven't had any luck finding exactly what transducer I have yet, but I'm still working on that.

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

Some old depth sounding transducers required drilling a hole in the hull. Just don't want you to have to do that if you can get around it. Less holes in the hull the better.

I totally agree! If this transducer won't work by transmitting through the hull I'll try to get a different model that can.

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

Our club has tried to make our WWP 19 easy to launch and rig so that more members will use her. Her name is Whippy. We've done a jerryrig mast raising lowering system that works pretty good plus the forestay adjuster. That makes it a one person job. Easier with two of course.

kind regards,

I love the name! Seems like there are a lot of well-named WWP's out there. Mine is nameless right now, but the kids and I are brainstorming names. I don't want to rush into anything until I know I'll like it.

The manual is pretty unclear on the mast raising system they offer. It states that with roller furling, which I have, there have to be two people to raise the mast. I can't put much stock into that; I must be missing something somewhere.

For now I want to learn to raise the mast with help, and once I'm comfortable with it I'll develop a mast raising system. I know I'll get a lot more use from the boat if I can rig it solo!

[markwesti]

If you decide on the LED , I can highly recommend this Co . http://www.alpenglowlights.com/vmchk...ht-vision.html
We bought the Tuscany NV (night vision) X's three . She is your new girl , it's only money !