I spent a good portion of yesterday making copious amounts of sawdust as I whittled the laminated wood into something that looks like a self-steering gear. There’s a lot to be said for an angle grinder and a flapper sanding disc. Talk about a mess. Honestly, the best part of the day was jumping overboard …
Today the plan is to glue up the self-steering rudder, continue thinking about a hard top Bimini and dodger. The current Bimini is fugly and not strong enough to carry solar panels. I have a few ideas but it remains to be seen whether they are cunning or “cunning” if you know what I mean. …
I’m currently waiting for a dry day so I can glue up the three boards set to become the new self-steering gear for the Islander. I’ll be upfront and say that I currently have a severe case of workshop envy. Which is not to say you can’t build a self-steering gear or dinghy on a …
I currently have three 1 x 12 planks sitting on the starboard side deck which are slated to become the Islander’s new self-steering gear. While I find the cost of the planks ($37 each) a bit depressing the upside is the entire self-steering gear will only cost somewhere around $300 dollars and a few afternoons …
I’ve always been intrigued with the idea of windvane self-steering. In fact, my first interest in sailing or cruising came about when I read about Robin Lee Graham’s quest to be the youngest circumnavigator in National Geographic. The hook for me was a picture of Robin Lee Graham fiddling with a self-steering gear and something …
Being that I keep a weather eye out for used self-steering gear it’s hard to ignore that the current pricing for thirty year old wind vanes are just nuts. The other day I was quoted $2,200. for a 45-year old Aries which appeared to be in horrible shape. But, what the hell, boat folks are …
I’ve always liked this windvane self-steering gear… Back in the day it worked very well for a lot of cruisers. Sure it can be improved by making t more complicated but for a well balanced boat and a sailor who knows what they’re doing it does the job just fine. Pretty much anything you need …
Two exercises in simplicity that won’t cost you $5K… Read More »
So, what is an affordable boat? While the prevailing wisdom appears to be that a boat should cost everything you have and more I’ll suggest a somewhat different formula… If you can’t pay cash for it and the required needful work, it’s too frelling expensive. Fairly simplistic is it not? For those who don’t quite …
Regarding budget and a couple of points that should have been on my list… Read More »
Over the last five years or so I’ve regularly watched a YouTube channel of a guy who’s bought a boat and embarked in a restoration. On one hand it’s been very entertaining as the guy in question makes good shows and does a better than most exposition of how to do stuff. While on the …
The idea of self-steering is, for all practical purposes, a pretty simple concept and most all self-steering systems reflect that. Or at least the good ones do. The problem with the idea of home building a self-steering gear, for most people at least, is that they tend to have a certain amount of mechanical parts …
