Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

[aquavitae]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies on the issue of bottom paint. I already bought the Trinidad paint in Florida (much cheaper than on St Thomas) so I am committed - will use lots of brushing thinner! Just need the time and the energy, which is slowly returning.

On another note, how are you SR owners dealing with lightning protection, specifically what is in the water? My boat has a stainless strap that is bolted to the mast base and leads down thru the centerboard slot to a massive, stainless battering ram on the leading end of the mini-keel. The whole piece needs to come off the boat, and an alternative installed. Would a piece of copper strap that just exits the CB slot suffice? Or do I need to affix a plate to the mini-keel or hull?
And yes, in the attached photo, you can see how the PO built a lovely tabernacle around the mast base that holds the compass, winches and wheel and then mounted it on a 1-inch piece of Ipe hardwood, without even the benefit of a few coats of epoxy! I am sure it is bonded to the cockpit floor with 5200 but it is not taking the strain and needs to come out and be replaced with an aluminum or stainless base. Ah, the joys of owning a Searunner- there is nothing that can't be fixed - given enough time , knowledge and money!

[Mark Johnson]

Aquavitae,

Bottom paint...

If you are willing to sand 80% of it off at each haul, (to prevent a build up), a hard paint like Trinidad is fine. It is one of the best! It is SO hard, that after a year or so, when it is DEAD, you can put off hauling until it is convenient, as long as you scrub her down every couple of weeks or so. It is hard to scrub it off! IF you use thinner, for a smoother finish, use no more than 10 or 15%, and add an extra coat, as the mills goes down. (3 coats) For an almost sprayed finish, you can use WEST system foam rollers too, but again, the mills goes down.

As far as lightning protection... Well it is a fickle thing, but we can drastically improve our odds against a total melt down, or driving the mast through the boat. Protecting electronics can be done just a bit, by unplugging things, or taken to extremes, put spare GPS type devices in a "Faraday cage", but this gets really iffy and of diminishing returns. I do carry a spare hand held GPS or two, away from metal, but if you take a BIG one, it is quite possible that ALL electronics will be fried. It varies 1000%!

Setting as a goal, a lesser more reasonable level of protection... #1 You need a pointed lightning rod on the mast.

Then, GROUND THE MAST IN A DIRECT ROUTE WITH COPPER. Copper is MANY times better at conducting electricity, where as SS is quite poor. AVOID BENDS!

Searunners are quite good in this respect. Look at my "00" grounding wire coming out of the mast. (through bolted) Just like other important connections, inc batteries, I CRIMP, then SOLDER the crimp, then HEAT SHRINK. Even if the solder is melted by a direct hit, it remains crimped, and until then, the solder keeps the finely stranded tinned copper wire's end, 100% sealed!

It is bolted to the mast, with minimal bends, and I use "Jet Lube" copper loaded conductive grease in the interface. (NOT to be confused with "dielectric" grease, which is NON conductive). After cleaning up the squeezed out grease with mineral spirits, dry and apply 5 coats of "Liquid Lectric Tape" vinyl dip. It is now totally conductive and will stay that way (100%) for 40 years!

This huge wire goes straight through the sub floor, (through a through hull packed with silicone caulk, or a wire gland). From inside, under the cockpit, it goes through the next floor down too.

Now you are to the inside of the hull bottom. I have my 2 sq ft (min) copper plate on the side of the mini keel, and it has a curved copper piece that connects through the hull bottom with a 5/8" silicon bronze carriage bolt. On the inside "wire to bolt connection", do as on the mast connection. Same on the outside bolt pass through, except seal the hull's hole, and bed the plate, in 5200.

With grounding plates of the same sq inches, the longer narrower one is best, as linear inches of exposed EDGE is more important than size alone. This shape I used was a good compromise over a 1" X 288" strap down the hull! Sometimes practicality wins out over theory.

This alone is the most important part, and if you go no further, do this. It allows the hit to pas through the hull to "ground" along YOUR route, rather than the lightning's! Dangling a chain in the water, and such as that, is just wishful thinking!

AVOID Dyna Plates. They are not meant for dissipating lightning, and it's just possible that they'd explode. Even as a radio ground... unless you remove it at EACH haul out, and soak it in acid, the pores fill with growth. SO, it is no more surface area than it appears.


After this level of protection, I ran a #6 wire from ALL of the interior chainplate bolts, (except the runners), to the copper junction plate over the main pass through bolt. This helps prevent side flashes within the boat. ABYC recommends connecting in the engine & stove too, for the same reason, but I didn't. Due to previous galvanic "issues", I isolated the grounding plate from the boat's AC AND DC systems. This solved the problems. This requires, btw, that you rubber mount your VHF antennae, as the bracket is DC -. This is very easy to do.

My SSB radio ground is connected with diodes that pass RF energy, but not DC current, but that's a different subject.

MY mast head lightning rod has the "thousand spikes" in a spiral around it, to "THEORETICALLY" bleed off ions and actually lessen the odds of a strike. Hmmm? It is solid science on cell phone towers all over the world, but on boats, Who knows? Since it doesn't take the place of the lightning rod, and there has NEVER been evidence of it making things worse, I gave it a try. May be coincidence, but a boat RIGHT next to me has been hit, rather than me, on THREE occasions. The water or ground within 150' of us, has been hit on 5 or 6 more! Being hundreds of miles out at sea, was not as scary to us as the Chesapeake or ICW, in summer, due to the powerful thunder storms!

I can't really endorse the "fuzzy thing", may just be BS, but at least ground your mast!

M.

[bluetriguy]

I've owned a couple tris and at one point a cc - which I really did like. It was broken up inside but the brown design overall is wonderfully thought through.
My current is a Nicole 31'. This a little too small for true 'live aboard' cruising but makes comfortable coastal home. The loss in main hull space is I think really more of acc thing as I have bunks in the wings (this is a solid wing) which buy back much of the lost space. When cruising I'd only go for solid wings - but I'm over fifty and done with the romance of salt encrusted sun glasses and lips. I do like open wings for speed runs through...

[Cavalier MK2]

Here is a layout plan of the Hedley Nicol Islander. It was designed at 29' but many Nicol's have been lengthened.

[trisailer]

I just got the modified a-frame back from the welder.
Well, she folds just fine. Yah ha
I have only done 1 side just to make sure it works.
And does it ever. I can raise the ama by hand up about 1/3, then it gives my muscles a little too much work out.
I used my lift truck and she raises all the way with no binding.
I am so happy right now.
The mods to the a-frame were, hinge in lower arm and flat plates in top arms.
Also, reinforced the a-frame by inserting extra tubing inside original tubing.
Only weak point I can see is the bottom bracket where it bolts to the main frame.
Will be beefing that up.
Now to get the other side welded up, and then the water launch.
Thank you all for the best wishes and feedback.
Bob

[rossad]

Nice Trisailer
Great to here your doing what you wanted. And cheers to let us know how that its working out. please post your launch pics and we can all enjoy

[CharleyAnna]

And a video of it folding would be nice!

[Mark Johnson]

Trisailer, Bob...
So far so good. A bit of advise...

Once you have it all rigged up, and are comfortable with it's operation and safety factors, there is the issue of it "standing the test of time". (= > 5 years) IF this is important to you...

After fabrication, It should then be removed, stripped, and preferably anodized, OR at least... VERY CAREFULLY prepped, primed, and LP painted.

Then, on connection & eventually on every set up, caulk the hell out of those SS bolts and the aluminum bolt holes that they go through. These need to be "sealed" to keep salt water OUT of the Aluminum holes, and out from under the washers & nuts. Otherwise the aluminum holes will corrode rather quickly.

If you plan to trailer her so often that this is just not practical, your next best option is to smear the mating surfaces, holes, and bolts with TefGel. That should put off the inevitable for a few years at least.

On your nets... IMO, Individual lashings at each fitting are FAR better than lacing all around the edges with one line, like a shoe. This IS in fact commonly done, but its not as safe, as it relies on a single long line, which can fail. My side deck vent hole tramps, (which I just painstakingly re- lashed), have 25 "separate" lashings on each one, and took two full days to lash in really tightly. The front bow nets have about twice that many lashings, and last 10 years before the lashings need replacement. IF you paint the lashings every 5 years, with "Sunrise Net's" black vinyl dip, they may well go 20! (Do the same to the nets, and they will last even longer). My tramps and nets are still perfect, after 16 years of being ridden hard and put away wet!

Oh yes... If you're going to sea, don't blow off raising that transom tiller arm boot hole, its important!

Best of luck with your experiment, Bob...

Mark

[wizard1_us]

Not sure whether I should put this here or in another category, but felt more multihullers would see it here. I have a 1979 Cape Dory 27, well rigged out for cruising for trade for a Searunner 31 or 34. If it's a 31, would want it to be a fixed wing istead of an "A" frame. Please contact me at renloe@bellsouth.net if you happen to know of anyone that might want do this. I had plans years ago for a Searunner 34' but did not build it at that time, and sold the plans. My boat is in Stuart, Fl. Thanks.

[sassarassa]

Sling lifting a searunner 37`

I'm at a marina where they only have a travel lift for lifting the boat out. It has the width but I'm unsure of how/where they should place the sling it for the lift?

Mark it looks like you may be on a travel-lift in your pic below ... or was it just in the background?
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post931939

Also once it is up can a 37` be supported under the wing decks? I've seen pics of smaller searunners but not a 37`.

cheers

Jon

[sassarassa]

Originally Posted by aquavitae

Thanks, everyone, for your replies on the issue of bottom paint. I already bought the Trinidad paint in Florida (much cheaper than on St Thomas) so I am committed - will use lots of brushing thinner! Just need the time and the energy, which is slowly returning.

It sounds like you are sorted but out of interest another alternative I don't recall seeing anyone mention is the lanolin based antifoul. It basically just lanolin grease and nothing grows on it. So very eco friendly.

Maintenance Products Australia Pty Ltd

I used some on my 24` seawind cat in the tropics and it definitely worked. The only downside is that it remains sticky ... so if you use it around your waterline it ends up getting on your dingy and it messy and sticky. BUT in an area where weed and barnacle buildup was apparent within days the hull on my seawind cat was still clean after 3 months. (test cut short by losing it in a cyclone)

It never really "sets". could be ideal for inside centreboard casings ... as long as control lines for the CB didn't get coated in it?

[Boatguy30]

You put the slings on the main bulkhead points, around all three hulls. Maybe Mark will confirm, but this is how I've done Searunner 34s and seen 40s done.

[Roy M]

2007, 40 footer. It's time to do it again. Me on the left, Jeff Allen on the right, discussing sling placement. Consensus: It's not all that critical, and it's easy enough to locate the mainstrength bulkheads, just tap on the hull side 'til you find it.Jeff had a SR40 and was my mentor when I was building.

[Mark Johnson]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

You put the slings on the main bulkhead points, around all three hulls. Maybe Mark will confirm, but this is how I've done Searunner 34s and seen 40s done.

Strength wise it would be better on the main strength bulkheads, but in my case, I use that aft MS one only.

For the forward strap I use the frame "just forward" of the main strength bulkhead. The reason is that the strap on the main strength bulkhead up front, put the strap half way on and half way off of the mini keel's nose.

This has worked well... On my last / current haul, however, they used a HUGE 200 ton lift with 4 huge straps! Rather than pay extra to have it re-configured to two straps, I allowed them to just cross over the front pair, and also cross over the aft pair. This lacked the advantage of putting the load EXACTLY on a frame, but spread it out much more.

Lifting this way is problematic, and I will never do it again. I had no structural damage, but when I needed to be moved during the midst of our almost 3 months in the yard, these HUGE, several hundred pound straps, pulled the bottom paint that I had recently applied, right off. The VERY heavy connecting links made the straps pinch in severely while still moving up into the lift position.

For the big splash next week, I will have them switch to just two moderately sized straps, and place them exactly on two frames, as I have in the past. I will also use 2X4' sheets of 1/16 poly sheet under the straps lift points, to protect my multicoated (hopefully 5 year), ablative paint job. "fingers crossed"...

For more options in the future, I may beef up the lifting chainplates, until I'd trust them!
We'll see...

Mark

[Mark Johnson]

Jon

You CAN support the boat solely by its arm pits, If you pad the supports, spread out the load, and put them on the main strength frames.

BTW... In order to avoid the problem with painting around pads...

For bottom painting, I start out with the outer jackstands under the wings, not the amas. Then I paint the amas completely, as well as keel, drivetrain, rudder/skeg, and main hull transom. Next... I put jackstands under the amas, and remove the wing ones. This gets them out of the way for painting the main hull.

For an all so important SMOOTH job, I either use foam rollers and thinned paint, (with extra coats), OR like this time, I use 3/16" nap phenolic core rollers and lightly sand the resulting stipple later with 220 grit. There is an extra knot of boat speed here!

M.