Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

[Rann]

Jack,

Your work is looking superb, as usual. Those detailed pictures are worth a 1000 words.

I looked at Paulo Afonso's website in Brazil of his 34 under construction, "Aragem" and he has an interesting series of photos showing how he added a sugar-scoop to his stern while still keeping an outboard rudder. His website has been listed previously on this forum, but here it is once again (only in Portuguese) index . If you click on his link for Novembro 2008, you will find 18 photos of the construction of this add-on stern scoop. He had already built the transom per the plans and decided to add the scoop after the stern was already finished. A very interesting approach to it!

Incidentally, I asked Paulo the meaning of "ARAGEM" in an email in October, and he replied: "Aragem" es lo mismo que Virazón, viento blando de fuerza 2 a 3 en escala Beaufort. Roughly that means Easy Breeze or Light Wind, as I translate it with my limited knowledge of Portuguese.

My wife and I are just about finished with the holiday visit with our respective families, and the weather is beginning to warm up here nicely in Southern California, so I hope to start up again with the resurbishment on ETAK. My goal is bringing the old gal up to your level of quality you have accomplished on CORAZON.

Keep us posted on this forum with more good pictures and results. We all love seeing what you have done.

Rann
(from Hesperia, California where it has been colder than home in Oregon!)

[Jmolan]

Rann: If you like pictures, check this out. I ask the guys at Hampijan if they had any big stuff I could use for a mooring. This is what showed up! It is 25mm Dynex Dux. It has a breaking strength of 82 tons...hahahhaha!

My son is down visiting now so I put him to work splicing it. He is a full share deckhand on our Trawler in Ak. This is how the guys up there splice this big stuff. I have a series of shots on the splice, I may post it on the synthetics page. It is mostly for fun. This is the stuff we use to haul back bags of fish (up to 150 tons)

Any how I did not incorporate it in the mooring for now. Kinda silly but fun. Oh yea, by the way, Dux floats. But I am not so sure with these monster thimbles spliced on it.

[Roy M]

Jack, you might use an alternative to screws for anchoring the bow net strips. I simply drill down through the top of the strip, where one would insert a screw, with a 3/8" bit. Then, mix some epoxy and adhesive filler, add it to the feet of the strip, dip some 3/8" birch dowels in epoxy, and drive them in with a hammer, cutting them off after the epoxy cures. I made my strips out of vertical grain fir, so I was able to epoxy everything afterward, then coat in LPU. They have held for about twentyfive years with zero problems. Considering that the weight of two adults is distributed over many, many vertical dowels and the net strips, the individual load is about ten pounds, at most, per "tree nail", or, "trunnels", as they were called by the boatbuilders of yore. Great ideas often have very old roots.

[Jmolan]

Thanks on that Roy. You are so right, I love to see old stuff put into use with new materials. I should have checked with you first before i drilled all those holes, we'll just have to see how it works out. Got the mast up today. I started a new thread, not sure why but I figure there will be a lot of interest in this stuff.
Come to think of it, look at those deadeyes.....now there is an old school design that we can put to good use with new materials....:-)

Happy new year to all my new (this year) Searunner friends. Thanks for the support and encouragement. Hope 09' See's us all in a center cockpit smiling....

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post238853

[Jmolan]

Well we got her launched and over to the anchorage/mooring yesterday. It was a very full day, but all went well. We got the vented wing nets in at the last minute. I am happy the way they turned out. I will need to taking up slack for a while I am sure. Tony Morrelli built them and has them so I can turn them over and put on the opposite side in 3 or 4 years he said..

I had to go up the mast before launching to get the headstay and backstay switched. I have included a shot of the head stay fittings. It looks like I may have to cut it back and resplice it depending on how much constructional set I get. This happens because the fibers have been upset and need to get aligned back or re-set. No biggie, easy to do.

The backstay came in short. You can see how I made up the difference with long lashings. I think I may leave it as I like to see the fittings from the cockpit, just try that with a turnbuckle

The close up of the bow with the hatch open, that is our home just to the right of the hatch.

As you can see I do not have the boom rigged yet and a million other smaller things to do, but by golly shes floating, and I think she like it. I know I do

[Roy M]

One advantage of the short backstay is that you can add a set of blocks to the two legs and tension them down to form an adjustable backstay device to control headstay sag. One more little goody to add....

[Maren]

Originally Posted by Roy M

One advantage of the short backstay is that you can add a set of blocks to the two legs and tension them down to form an adjustable backstay device to control headstay sag. One more little goody to add....

Ooohh, that's good idea; definitely lemons to lemonade. What do you think you would need, a 4:1 ratio or more?

[Roy M]

It doesn't take a lot. Take a piece of your leftover synthetic, tie it between the two legs, up in the top third of the triangle. Tie another piece around the middle of the span, drop it down to a shackle in one of the lower tangs, then bring it back up to the span, making a trucker's hitch, crank down a little and see the terrific mechanical advantage you get. Then make up a small handy-billy for a permanent backstay adjuster. Multihulls all seem to have a certain degree of headstay sag that needs to be tightened up when going seriously to weather. You can use two pullies, one on each leg, tied together, for the final system. People will think you did this on purpose. I'm definitely going to emulate your "go-fast" when I re-rig.

[Jmolan]

Already got a plan now that you gave me the idea Roy....

This stuff is so slick, and the angle is so slight, I am betting I could eyesplice a loop over each leg (without the need for more blocks, with one line and yank down on it with the vang/billy I have already...yea!

Another lighter less cumbersome/cheaper/better way to get the job done.

This boat is definitely livelier. It has been choppy last two days. I put the board down today and that helped some. But it looks like the 35 or more pounds we took out of the rig makes the boat want to get up and go, even on the hook.

Here is a shot of the grand-dawg we had down for the holidays, checking things out....

[Jmolan]

Thought I would post a few shots that I snapped rowing out to the boat this morning. I am a sucker for clean lines....:-) Hope you enjpoy the shots!

[Jmolan]

Some shots from today's sail just for fun. I was out on the bows removing anchor bridal snatch blocks and replacing them with a soft shackle. I was so impressed by how smooth the boat was going, not making any fuss or spray etc.
Anyhow some of the shots are on the high side, and some from the low side, all on the bows of the ama's. We were in flat water making a steady 8 kts. for the whole run. We took out two 75 year old folks who have never been on a sail boat.....can you imagine doing that on a monohull? I mean they had no idea how dry and flat and smooth things were. As we rowed them in they are saying "maybe we should get a sailboat".....

[Cadence]

Jmolan'

Tanks for the pics. Looks like she should fly.

Is she strickly a speed machine or are there so creature comforts?

[Jmolan]

Originally Posted by Cadence

Jmolan'

Tanks for the pics. Looks like she should fly.

Is she strickly a speed machine or are there so creature comforts?

It's a stock Searunner designed to carry a ton or so. We have the cushions and stove and all onboard. No fridge or water-maker. I took the radar off (traded it for a giant fortress anchor) Sleeps 4 in two big bunks and two more in a roll out bunk in the back by converting the galley table. (never made it up)
In these shots I am not carrying any water or heavy anchors. I normally have a 9.9 hp Yamaha on the stern but I left it off for local day-sailing. Ditched about half the heavy lines and will continue to lighten up with new synthetic stuff. No dingy on board, no out board for the dingy (I prefer to row) One small solar panel will keep the LED lights on. Got a regular seawater flushing head up front. All the sails on board, le....that's pretty much it......You can see in the shots, she is sitting pretty high in the water, the ama's are just kissing. With light Ama's it takes almost no breeze to get the one ama out of the water, then you are only pushing two hulls through the water, I am on a weight reduction mode. We are going on a diet for a while. Rather than see how much we can have, I want to seee what we can by without..........Sailing on and off the buoy is good sport

[Jmolan]

My 34' Searunner Corazon is sitting on the trailer right next to a 37" Searunner . I have never had the chance to compare boats this close. It was interesting what I saw. Maybe you can spot other things also. This 37' does not have a minikeel and in fact has glassed the board up inside the boat.
As many of you know the 34" was last boat in the Searunner series. In "The case for a cruising trimaran" Jim brown talks about the 34' being a bit wider overall, a bit deeper, and narrower. From these shots I also see much more free-board, especially fwd. The wings are shallower and tuck up higher into the ama. Like a higher armpit
The 34' looks very much deeper and narrower on the main hull. The ama's look narrower but It may just be a smaller boat on that one.
The Piver next to the 37' shows the progress made in getting the beam wider and the hulls narrower.
It is all stuff through the time line. Of course new Tri's have a huge bean and narrower hulls still. And taller rigs and lighter in weight and on and on.....

[Jmolan]

Some interior shots just because I want to

The first one is with the sterncastle with the table slid back. It slides like a big bread board. Second shot is with the table extended. There is a gnarly ol' cable with a snap shackle (guess where I am sending that) that attach's to the end to keep it up. This will help when I get to building the icebox/fridge in the floor right below it. Next shot just shows it in a different light and shows how you have such a great view all around while sitting at the table.
Going Fwd. Port side is cooking area. New stove and cover which is need of screwing down. Cutting board (old) and a lot of shelve space out to the cabin sides/window.
All the cabinet covers are real thin veneerer, very light for the materials. Also all the drawers are drilled out and very light. The builder put a hole saw and router to good use building this thing. Try to ignore all the crap I have in here, I was packing up to leave it for a while.
Next shot is Stbd side. Double deep SS sinks, tilt out garbage bin and access to plumbing below. Drawers and cup holders and all. You can see the switch/breaker panel to the left. Again tons of space for stowage.
Stepping up into the cockpit, this is how it looks when sailing. Cockpit is over 6 feet long and one can lay out (I know I was laying down sailing solo under self steering under the dodger when I ripped the main) Motion is centric when you sit here, at least 8 feet from water on any side. Great for kids and dogs and old folks (like me) Mast is stepped on centerboard trunk and there is a lot of stowage under the floors that surround the mast. Things like Propane, gasoline etc. It all vents directly overboard. Double compass's port and stbd. (removed in this photo) Steering binnacle is great to stand on when flaking down the main. All controls are into the cockpit, and you stay in the protection of the cockpit when standing at the mast. I think it is very interesting that the Chris White Cats have this same feature. Chis built and sailed a Searunner early in his sailing life. I cannot imagine being up on a rolling pitching roof top to reach the mast
Next shot is the "on the hook" mode. Removing the wheel and dropping in a table, make for easy passage between cabins and really expands the boats utility.
Next shot is sitting on the head looking aft. To port is sink with seawater and fresh water (separate tank from aft) Settee to Std. Bunks both sides aft of this. Heavy stowage under cockpit, is also the case in the aft cabin.
Last shot is stowage in the fwd. area. You can see where I painted the panel on the left before I put in the new windows. Lots more to do!