Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

[Boatguy30]

Here is a pic of the SR 34 I'm buying in Nelson NZ. Many probably have seen the pic before as she comes up the first page of a google search for Searunner 34 for sale.

Something of a project, but seems good and solid with some nice gear. I was considering building a boat and this will save a lot of time and money. Will be sailing north in May 2012 to Tonga and Fiji then plan to sail the entire Queensland coast the following year along the Great Barrier Reef.

[Mark Johnson]

Boatguy... Good luck with your project!

When you are cruising the Great Barrier Reef, You may see a small, custom, 33' catamaran called Magic Carpet. Being bright yellow it is hard to miss. It started as (I think) a SeaWind open deck boat, the hulls were extended and a 4.5' headroom cabin was added. They kept it light and it was a hell of a cool boat! I met them in Annapolis Maryland and since then they have headed to the Bahamas, non stop to Panama, through the canal, then all the high spots to their home in Austrailia, thus completing their circumnavigation! They are is Chris and Karyn... truly remarkable sailors, and a remarkable voyage. If you see them, dinghy over and say hello. (cool folks indeed).
Mark J

[Jmolan]

Boat Guy Congratulations, welcome to the Searunner fold. It is a good one

Mark I hope you are enjoying your new Dux runners. Great way to start out with the stuff, get a feel for it and then look out! You willl dream up all kinds of uses for it!

I used your tennis ball trick on my Hobie Power Skiff. Big scuppers with crusty, rusty old cork scuppers. Well you can see the tennis ball worked perfect!

New set up now, all clean and shiny

I have been working on multiple motorcycles, scooters, and this skiff, and now I am ready to go after my Searunner and make ready to splash.

[Mark Johnson]

Jack...Excellent application for tennis balls, I love it! As much as I have appeared to lean toward the complicated, my first approach is always to apply the KISS principal toward sometimes complicated problems. I really love the simple solution best!

Like showering with our black plastic 2.5 gal garden sprayer... (with dish washing nozzel) It is solar heated most of the time, and when it's not, we add a kettle of water from the stove.

Another really simple one that worked great for us is the ama end vents. (Each end, on the inside hull surface, I have an "0" ring Beckson deck plate. These glue to PVC pipe perfectly with PVC cement. I found that a PVC 90 degree elbow with step up sleeve, (only about 2" of it) is a perfect size match with the deck plate's inside trim ring. So, before installing, I glue the elbow onto the deck plate (flare cut off), and on the outside of the deck plate... just after the threads and before the lid, I glue on a circle of nylon screen. Next you install it so the elbow is facing up and is an inch short of the ama ceiling. Ours is 15 years old and even the screen is still in tact. (The screen keeps out varmints). We keep the amas vented most of the time, just like a dorade box no water gets in, and when sailing we put in the deck plates.

I do like the new Dux runners! We went out last weekend and tried them out. They feel better in the hand when I'm hanging on to them, and when in the loose "strored possition", I don't have to have them bar tight to keep them from flopping around, (like the old wire ones did). I can now use a very small 4/1 block & tackle with bunji chord, for this stored possition.

If those photos of Corozon are all tricked out and loaded for cruising, you MUST have the lightest 34 out there. Goodonya mate!

Mark

[Mark Johnson]

Jack, Do you have an opinion about using Dux for a staysail stay, along with bronze piston hanks on the sail? (I'd polish the insides out first). Did you try this before switching to "softies"? Chaif?

Also... any idea about this: If one uses Dux on the backstay bridle, connected to a wire "SSB antennae" backstay, can the lower wire insulator be eliminated? The Dux being a "non-conductor" it would seem OK to do, but I wonder about when it is wet with salt water. Has anyone tried this???

Mark

[Jmolan]

Marc, sorry for late reply, just returned from a 2400 mile road trip to Denver B-r-r-r-r-r.

I had a long and informative post set up, but when I hit spell check I lost it all. Sorry if this is mis-spelled, I do not want to do this over again!

Originally I rigged both staysail and headstay with 9mm. I had it around, I was concerned about chafe. I had bronze hanks also. They were old but I could see no sharp spots.

On the head stay I ran both the Drifter and Genny. I never saw any indication of chafe. I do not believe I ran the Yankee or Mule.

On the stay sail I did see some very light fuzz. Just enough to see if I really looked for it. As well as I know this rope, there is no loss of strength. About half way through this whole experiment,, I replaced the staysail stay with 7mm. The main reason was I wanted to lengthen it to get the Highfield lever closer to the deck, and since then I have seen no chafe, but a lot less usage.
Would it matter in 5 years? Probably, anything chafes eventually. this is as good of chafe rope as the make, but it is still chafe.
I switched to softies for this reason on the staysail. Let me tell you, the difference is unbelievable! The amount of effort required to hoist and drop this sail became child's play. 0 and I mean 0 tension, you can haul it all the way up by hand (easy) and it drops like a rock. I did not plan on that, and was very happy about it. Of course the chafe is all but gone. I see Colligo has instructions on how to make the softies. i would highly recommend them.
I switched to a continuous line furler on the headstay. No more hanks at all. So I never did get a good read on the chafe. But it is almost like it is too easy to get away from bronze hanks and their problems.
On the SSB, go for it. Latest report from the ARC rally was there were a number of boats using SSB strapped to the Synthetic rigging and they reported no problems. Dux will not absorb water, it is like polyester pile coats.
I had the idea to run the small copper wire up the inside of the backstay. John at Colligo did not like it as it will create a "stress riser" when it enters the rope.
I have a guy right now that wants me to make up to short pigtails (eye in each end) so he can use them as insulators and eliminate the costly bulky heavy ones everyone uses. Because he still wants to use his SS backstay. I am against it myself. Why have so many parts? Just use a Dux backstay, and wire tie an antennae it it. Done deal...:-)



I lined up some photos, and now I do not know what order I found them in, so I will give it a shot.

#1 is the Continuous line furler from Colligo, It is on the STB ama here in drifting conditions. We are making 4 kts. I want one for the staysail, and another for a new bowsprit I LOVE THESE THINGS

#2 Is early on, drifter with bronze hanks, had not tensioned the rig yet.

#3 & 4, sorry I cannot resist a good boat pic. Moored infront of our house in Mexico

#5 Headstay set up before the line furler, all synthetic, with softie on the tack, 9mm headstay, doing 4 kts again in drifting conditions.

#6 & 7 Is just for fun. I jerry rigged a back stay tensioner. Notice I can use softies instead of hard blocks. The stuff is plenty slick enough. Easy to get creative with the new ropes...:-)

#8 & 9 softie soft hanks by Colligo. This is when I discovered just how slick they are as hanks. The difference is like night and day. Notice the halyard, was my invention, but is less than good, gotta work on it. Is all one piece of line.

[Mark Johnson]

Really great post Jack, Thanks!

It sounds likt the SSB issue is clear... The Dux can replace expensive insulators. Since I will be changing a lot of things around, that is good to know.

About softies VS bronze hanks. I believe you, but it just seems that polished out bronze would be less friction than the more textured surface of Dux. Is it that the lubricity of the Dux outweighs its texture, in this application? You have NO chafe issues, once you switched to "softies"?

In our local protected sailing I don't use my staysail, I just roller reef the headsail. (although if both sails have up the same square footage, in over 30 knots of wind, the lower hoisted staysail is hands down better for leveling out the boat, than the half rolled up Lapper). Laziness has its price!

When I go to sea I like to drag out the staysail before going out, & have it in its bag and on the stay, ready to raise. To keep the piston hanks from being twisted upside down in the bag, (which would be a mess when I raise the sail), I have all of the hanks clipped onto a 3' dummy wire with stops on each end. I open the front of the sail bag, and one at the time I unclip from the dummy wire and without twisting it I clip onto the stay. This works well. How about with softies? Are they as easy to hook / un-hook as hanks? Once connected but loose & stuffed in the bag, ready to deploy... can they un-connect themselves? How well would they work with our setup?

I like that continuous roller gizmo. Our standard rig is perfect in over 9 knots of wind, but in less than that the sails are so over built that they hang like a sheet of plywood. In years past we were always where we had wind, well...95% of the time. Now, in the Neuse River, we frequently have VERY light air. (This is why I recently made my permanent staysail stay removable.) I sometimes drag out the spinnaker in its sock, but since I must tack down wind every 30 or 40 minutes, the spinnaker is a pain in the ass to raise and tack constantly, just for a 3 hour daysail. A roller drifter on a short sprit would be really neat!

Do you raise your roller drifter with your spinnaker halyard? To work for me, I would need about a 2' sprit to get it away from the rolled up headsail. Do you know of Searunners that have done this? I know that a lot of Crosses in the Sea of Cortez have, and they look fine. You're an innovator, I nominate you to go for it first, and tell us how well it works!

Thanks again, Mark

[Jmolan]

Hey friends,
Well after more than a month of "fixing things" around the house (motorcycles, garage doors, cabinets, on and on) I thought I was ready to pull the 34' Searunner out for some clean up and launch.
We made it about six feet when one of the trailer axles broke! They are old mobile home tailer axles. I think they are made for one trip only, these are about 15 years old and bathed in salty brine often. I think I have everything ready to re-install today. Of course family is showing up, and the Holidays are here. Either way I will get her to the work yard!
When you have a "do it yourself boat" like this, you get to see just how many things have to work well to be able to go sailing! No worries, I am glad it happened when and where it did!

[Jmolan]

I took these shots of Trinity a while back, at least a year or more here in San Carlos Mexico. I took the shots for a guy who was interested in buying the boat. I was concerned about a number of things I saw, and could not
advise buying it. See if you can spot anything.




It is the first I have ever heard of a Searunner loosing an ama. I will get back as I can to see what you guys all think.


I need to sit and read up before I begin to process what happened or may have happened.





Drew if you want to use these photos on your thread, go right ahead on it. I wanted to see what the Searunner gang/family thought.

[Rann]

Jack,

It is good seeing you on the forum and hope all goes well with the axle replacement or repair. It is raining like no tomorrow here in SoCal and certainly makes it hard to do any work on ETAK. Progress is slowly coming along, and I am trying to dovetail what I can do in the tiny 8 x 10 ft "shop" where I have some power tools. So far the 316L SS plate material I bought two years ago is becoming new pintles, gudgeons, and chainplates. I found a really good bimetal bandsaw blade company that only makes blades for cutting metal, and this one is great for cutting the 3/16" SS. Now to find a local welder who will do a little work for me at a reasonable rate.

The new rudder only needs a little more glass work before it will be ready for finish coating and bottom paint. But the issues with the skeg still remain until I can either lift the stern (ETAK is still in the water) or haul out. I know I will need to do considerable repair work on the skeg (if I don't have to replace it). Mark of DELPHYS gave me some really good tips on building the rudder, and I am following much of his advice.

Your pictures of TRINITY are helpful. The loss of an ama on a Searunner is definitely rare. Two possibilities: the report from Latitude 38 magazine got it wrong, or their was some issue in the main strength connecting bulkheads such as wet rot or shoddy construction. From your photos, it appears there is a change in the plans from the original deck. It seems to slope off and have a "bend" in it. Plus, there is reverse rocker in the outboard edge of the ama. Unless this is a wide angle camera lens matter, it does not seem as if the ama is built to the plans. As I mentioned on my blog, I passed on the potential purchase of TRINITY when I saw her in Guaymas, mainly due to matters I did not like with the interior and the amount of work it would have taken to get her acceptable to me.

[Mark Johnson]

Jack... good to have you back on line. Bummer about that trailer axle. You're right, they are built for a short lifespan, but perfect for your application. Stateside, a replacement is cheaper than a repair, (almost free), but down there??? I'm sure you'll figure it out.

It is funny the things we come up with out of necessity, and having no "supervision".

Decades ago, on my previous (28'er) trimaran project... The day came to move the main hull out of its building & into my "home boatyard". It was 105 degrees and I couldn't get ANY volunteers, so I had to move it by myself! I hoisted the hull by utilizing a beefed up beam overhead and a come-along. Then I removed the single axle from my utility trailer, and mounted a padded 2X12 to it. I repeatedly lowered the hull onto the padded board, until I found the balance point, except the bow was about 50#s heavier, then I lashed the axle there. This 100' "solo" move was possible, because there was about a 5 degree downgrade into the yard. I tied a rope to the bow of the hull, around a post in front of the hull, and giving the correct amount of slack, I wrapped the bitter end around my waist! Then shoved the huge "wheel barrow" out into the yard. When it was almost there, I lowered my bow end to the grass, and with it still sliding, turned and pulled like mad on the rope around my waist. This jerked it to a stop, exactly where I wanted it!

Then a few years later, on launching day... when I went to back the boat and its VERY heavy borrowed trailer down a launching ramp, I realized at the last minute that the HUGE amount of lumber and padding lashed to the trailer made it BUOYANT! The boat, trailer & all, started drifting sideways in the current! Luckily I had a posse of help this time, and we all wadded out quickly, and climbed onto the trailer. This weighted it down and freed the boat. It was a VERY close call.

Funny the things we come up with... Good luck with it, Mark

[Mark Johnson]

Rann, I agree with your 100% about your observations regarding this 40'er. Haven't read the story, but SOMETHING wasn't right! I see weird humps & bumps, misaligned chainplates, and things that make my warning lights go off.

Good that you're making progress on your rudder. HOPEFULLY the skeg can be repaired without total removal. I'd definetly haul for this one. I think I showed you my extensive transom repair, after hitting a log. The skeg itself was glassed 1/8" thick, with twice that on the edges, so was undamaged!

If your shop is too small... I built the above one as a "temporary" 30 years ago, and it still stands, more or less. Both it and the Delphys Quonset hut cost < $1,400! A little add on to your shop could be done REALLY cheep. Just a thought...

Your SS parts are reasonable fabrications at a fancy modern metal shop. You might consider subbing this out. They use "breaks", "punches" and such, to make really short work of it. (I'd take them full sized drawings and/or cardboard mock-ups for the 3-D parts). If you do the polishing part, that saves you 50%. Be sure that they use 316 compatable rods on the welding. If 304 is used on 316 grade SS, the weld becomes the anode!

On rudder hardware, A 1/2" bolt is a loose fit in a 1/2" hole, and leads to rattling. I used 1/2" unthreaded rod held in with large cotter pins. This is a JAMB fit. I tapered the end of the pins, and after silicone grease I drive them in! With teflon washers between the moving parts, no rattles no leaks.

I started with polished hardware & zincs on the rudder hardware from the transom down. For the last 11 years I have had them sanded, prep coated, and bottom painted. It has solved the barnicle habitat problem. Since SS varies, as do boats, this may or may not work for you...

Hope the rest goes well... The things we go through for our boats, huh!

Merry Christmas, etc, to you, and all of you Searunners out there, Mark

[Jmolan]

Great to see and hear what my fellow Searunner guys are up to. Marc you story about moving the boat by yourself! That should be a Jo Hudson cartoon! Oh man what a hoot!

One question, where can I get the rubber boot that we use for the rudder? I am in need of a new one.

On Trinity, the wings were "bent" like I have never seen on a Searunner, looked like the strength would not travel across the wing like Jim designed it. Just looked "wrong" I also spotted the mis aligned chain plate. When I look at a boat I always tell my self, "this is the stuff you can see, what about the 90% you can't see?"......The first thing John Marples does on a survey is get out the tape measure, and measures the entire boat. Everywhere. If it is not to plans, he gets very suspicious. There are (most) good Searunner out here built to plan, and a few others that are not right.

Well I got the new axle bolted up no problem. You can see how much larger it is, and better steel. So I feel good about gettting that done.



I was leavining the stowage yard and thought I would take a couple pics of what we have here.

This is a 37' or 40' Searunner "Molly Brown" I do not know much about them, bet they have a really nice trailer. My first hint that the boat might be good.



This is a really sweet CC SIB. It has sailed more miles in the Sea Of Cortez than any Trimaran I would bet. It is stone cold simple. He has switched over to Dux rigging, and can never say enough good about it. He sails without an engine most of the year. Summer can be calm with storms, so he has an outboard for then.





Back Shot, this boat is very fair and clean...:-)




Dulce Vida 37' Searunner. Is for sale. Has a cross keel, and I believe the interior is unfinished (or finished bad)






This is Pranava. It is a 70's boat that has very fwd. thinking construction (coldmolded epoxy) and design at the time. I believe it did the TransPac a few times. It is always 1st to finish in our local races. 39' very nice. It is owned by John at Colligo Marine. John is the man for Dux rigging. He is so busy, he told me he would sell this boat, just because he never gets to use it anymore.



Another shot of Pranava, very powerful boat.



A 35' or so Piver. It is very well taken care of by two geys in partnership, I think it was for sale and am not sure what hapened. It is nice to see the older boats be taken care of.




Banbale, a 30' Cross flyer. Very light, very fast. Used by a local couple for day sailing. Is perfect for that. I like this boat.



The cross keel on Banbale, nice trailer etc.



Cross keel on 37' Searunner Dulce Vida




Here is the whole line up, about 1/2 mile to the water, down the street. Nothing in the way. They use nice Catapilar equipment to move us....:-)

[Mark Johnson]

Jack, Thanks for the pics. I wonder sometimes about when we retire... Is the Sea of Cortez a possibility. I know so many expats have done it. The formalities must be a matter of primarily, an outside income??? Could you live there exclusively, if you didn't have your place in Oregon?

Attached are a couple of pics of our trip from the barn & (our boatyard), 150 miles to the sea. It was 75 miles by land & 75 miles through a series of stump riden, ultra shallow lakes / swamps, canals, and a 75' lock down to the Cooper river. It was the most unlikely to succeed haul I have ever heard of! It is a long story, and I have written a book that includes it. Now to get it print worthy!

The boot on the transom is a Mac Truck gear shift boot. I just asked to see what they had, and bought 3 of them. (two for spares) It has been 15 years and I am on #2 now. I'd say that they last 10 years...

Since the opening I cut in the top of the boot was round, and the rudder straps to quadrant arm was square, I had a problem. I cut a 2" long section of, I think, 3" (might be 4") Sch 40 pvc pipe. I epoxy filleted this, centered on the square SS tiller arm. Then it was just a matter of attaching the rubber boot to the PVC pipe, with a large hose clamp. It works great!

The Phenolic sheet oval... This is a great material. It last indefinetly without paint, is super strong, and epoxies well. In my yard, I had a problem with my quadrant hitting the transom on the inside, just at the end of its swing from left or right. I had rudder stops, but the quadrant wanted to hit the transom first. I ground away a trough on each side of the transom hole. Each was only about 4 square inches, but it was super thin at the edge, next to the hole. I glued on the oval to put back the strength that I had ground away. Over time, I have grown to like the asthetics of it, but it was actually an after thought.

OK, get her launched! Mark

[Mark Johnson]

Now the trip... And it WAS a trip! It entailed 5 years, (the 5 years of the project done in Central SC), of regularly running the 75 miles of rural back roads, and clearing overhead limbs & side brush. I took my truck (with "official looking" yellow light, and a 12' PVC pole stood up in the back. My wife rode behind and called on a CB to let me know when the pole hit a limb. Then I'd stand up a step ladder in the pick up & use a pole saw on the low limbs. The object was to bluff my way into NOT getting shot, run over, or arrested!

This was after "originally" having been told by the head lady at the SC DOT, that there was NO WAY I could get permits for this. It was NOT going to happen in SC for this distance!

After 5 years of construction, the route to the sea was becoming too developed. This forced us to launch the boat as a bare hull with a motor... ONLY!

When the time finally came, I had some serious begging to do... I convinced them first that it was not to be CALLED a boat, but a house. They said OK, but a house move in SC could only be for 25 miles. Then I convinced them to give me three separate "house move" permits of 25 miles each. They went for this!

Next I had weeks of meetings / begging with the head engineer of the three counties I was to go through. (More permits)

After this I arranged a truck, crane, and escort service. I was supposed to make this 75 mile land part over three days, putting up this entourage in motels, but when we hit the road, we went straight through. (I'd go for forgiveness)!

Then the 3' deep "bass boats ONLY" lake was the beginning of the water route. Within the first hour I hit a log on the bottom so hard, it lifted the boat about 2'!

Then, as it got late, I anchored that night in an empty, BARE hull with no lights, food, mosquito screen, mattress, or even my regular glasses. (I had taken off with only my prescription sun glasses.

The next day I picked up Mariam, got a Coleman "anchor light", my glasses, and some food. Well you get the picture...

It was three intense days from my boatyard to the sea. For the previous 5 years I'd given my odds of success at this route as 10%. (It made our tens of thousands of hours of labor... worrisome). After I made the trip, I think the odds of success were actually more like 1%.

This was to be followed by a couple of more years of work, before the first sail.

All's well that ends well!

Mark