Want To Buy: Help Bringing 2 Long But Light Sticks From FL to NY?

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by antoha

Suijin: how do i do that? i can get triaxial cloth, i have west systems epoxy, and i've worked with fiberglass before. i can (probably) make a 12" batten (it may look ugly but so what) - but a 12' batten? how do i make it "to specs" - at least straight enough, without voids, have at least approximately the desired thickness, etc? i have no shop, not even a garage (there might be a stretch of floor space in my apartment that is 12 foot long, but i'd have to move furniture around).

Hmm if you don't have the actual workspace to do it that is a bit of a roadblock. If you did, or could bum some work space at your marina, I would make a form for them out of cheap plywood which would be pretty straightforward, even at 12' long. Then again, by the time the smoke clears in terms of your time and materials you might be bumping up against the shipping cost anyway.

Originally Posted by antoha

sailmakers and other manufacturers: there are options, and the battens themselves "at the source" would be reasonably priced; it's when you include delivery costs (shipping/trucking/whatever it's properly called) that it becomes $260 for a pair, and stops being reasonable.

Call around. You never know who might have a pair of them laying around gathering dust that they are just waiting to unload on someone who needs them. Also, some sail lofts get regular delivery of materials from the warehouse and so a couple of extra 12' battens thrown on the truck might not incur any delivery cost. It's worth hunting around.

[Cadence]

If I understand this correctly? I believe you would be happier paying the freight than cutting and attempting to splice battens. Sounds good on paper? A butt epoxy joint, butt joints seldom work on anything. Rapping with glass, probably not more successful unless you want a tumor big enough it won't fit in the sail?

[Captain Bill 3]

You should contact Boat Transit, Inc. to find a boat carrier. many independent drivers would be happy to make a few extra bucks. They know how to handle your battens. Happy hunting.

[antoha]

Captain Bill, thanks for the hint, will try.
Cadence: these are battens but not sail battens - they are sail bag battens (they go into oversized pockets and are meant to make the lazy jacks + mainsail cover stiffer). so i can probably live with them not being totally straight. but prefer not to cut.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by antoha

Captain Bill, thanks for the hint, will try.
Cadence: these are battens but not sail battens - they are sail bag battens (they go into oversized pockets and are meant to make the lazy jacks + mainsail cover stiffer). so i can probably live with them not being totally straight. but prefer not to cut.

Sorry, I thought you where speaking of sail battens. I'm not sure you may not regret cutting anyway?

[jaybird1111]

there's no reason you can't get some ordinary PVC from any big-box hardware store and use that for lazybag battens

[silversailor]

If necessary, fill PVC with expanding foam.

[Tailwheel]

Guys, although the OP referred to these items as fiberglass battens, they are not "battens" in the way we know them which, yes, one can absolutely coil up and ship for cheap.

What the OP has are tubular in cross section and therefore not flexible to the degree one would expect of a sail batten. Thus they would need to be shipped uncoiled.

Wonder if PVC pipe of the appropriate diameter would do the job.

TW


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[SailingChance]

Here there. I'm in BK (crown heights) heading down to FL this weekend to look at a boat. I might be able to pick them up depending on where they are and bring them back when I fly. OR, if I do ending up biying this boat, I can bring them aboard when I sail her up late March.

Hit me up: 7one8-91three-778six

Cheers, Jason
SV Chance
www.sailingchance.com

[Shawn67]

If pvc pipe isn't strong enough you could likely use copper pipe from Home Depot and sweat solder on rounded ends.

Shawn


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[RolfP]

Sailrite suggests using PVC for their stack pack design. Home depot.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Jim Cate]

I recall seeing a DIY boom bag in Queensland... the battens were indeed PVC pipe, the canvas was dark blue and in the summer sun it got hot enough to sag to the point of uselessness.

Something to th ink about!

Jim

[antoha]

thank you for the suggestions! will see if i need to go the pvc route. for now i'll wail for the snow to melt, at least, hopefully by the end of march either sailingchange (or someone else going from FL to NYC) will bring them, or i'll splice pvc pipes (homedepot sells them in 10' lengths, i'll need to make 12' sections), or a reasonably priced alternative from a local rigger (although "reasonably priced" and NYC seldom occur in the same sentence, unless there's also a negation nearby).

[jaybird1111]

You don't HAVE to have anything at all - the bag will work just fine without. I know, for mine is done that way - didn't want the extra weight, and I wanted them to be more easily stowable for racing purposes

If I recall, the Mack Sails 'Mack Pack' is also built without battens, and if you look at the racing packs that are made of mesh, they have no battens either.

flops about some when not in use and they're not as tidy to look at, but work they do.

[antoha]

jaybird, this design has lazy jack lines attach to these battens by knots or splices (rather to the boom directly), from what i understand. and i'm happy to replicate that - plus it makes installation a lot simpler (fewer holes to drill).