June 2011
PS Reviews the Presto 30 Trailer-sailer
Thorfinn, the Presto 30 sailed for our test, serves as a platform for coastal adventure charters in Maine and Florida.
Subscribers Only Rodger Martin’s Presto 30 is clearly a descendant of the round-bilge sharpies made famous by Ralph Munroe’s Presto and Egret. The origins of the hull and rig date back to a classic American oyster-tonging boat, the New Haven sharpie, which first appeared in Long Island Sound around 1850. Martin wanted the Presto 30 design details to include trailerability and shallow draft. The Presto is 30 feet long and 8 feet, 6 inches wide. With the centerboard up, it draws just 13 inches; with the centerboard extended, it draws 5 feet, 6 inches. The 320 feet of sail area is evenly divided between two sails set on wishbone booms, and while the designer calls it a schooner rig, the maker, Ryder Boats, has deemed it a cat-ketch rig. The Presto’s 1,000 pounds of lead shot in the keel help address this shoal-draft weekener's tender handicap, but like any shallow-water boat, the Presto will need to be actively sailed in a blow.
Construction Details Presto 30
The cored hull (above) offers stiffness and strength while keeping weight down.
Subscribers Only Built by Ryder Boats in Bucksport, Maine, the Presto 30 is a lightweight performance craft built with modern composite construction and assembly techniques.
Smooth Runnings: Bullet Blocks Battle
Practical Sailor evaluated more than a dozen blocks from eight manufacturers: Barton, Garhauer, Harken, Holt, Karver, Ronstan, Schaefer, and Seldén.
Subscribers Only Practical Sailor tested more than a dozen bullet blocks (sized 40 to 45 millimeters) from eight marinedeck hardware manufacturers: Barton, Garhauer, Harken, Karver, Holt, Ronstan, Schaefer, and Selden Mast. The units tested were ball-bearing and roller-bearing designs, and the growing trend toward more composite material and less metal construction was evident among the products. Blocks were loaded to 200 pounds—well within the safe working load for the test blocks—and testers measured the amount of force required to move a line in a closed loop set up. Once the efficiency test was complete, the blocks were subjected to an aerated saline bath to gauge corrosion and oxidation tendencies. Weight, price, safe working load, cheek material, and attachments were also evaluated.
From the Bench to the Bath
Subscribers Only With some modification to our bench-test jig, we were able to place two blocks in opposition to each other, attach them via a closed loop of ultra low-stretch line and place the system in tension. The load-inducing mechanism was a vertical capstan Ideal anchor windlass capable of incrementally adding tension to the mix. A Dillon AP dynamometer was placed in series with the tension-creating tackle, and during each test, the load on the closed loop was closely monitored.
Route-planning Software Review
Wind roses bloom along possible routes taken by Joseph Conrad’s Otago.
Subscribers Only Practical Sailor editors evaluated Digital Wave’s Visual Passage Planner software, which is based on the U.S. Pilot Charts and lets users plan a voyage based on historical weather patterns. Testers used the software to recreate the 1888 historical passage by Joseph Conrad. Conrad’s passage from Bangkok to Singapore, aboard the iron barque Otago, took an excruciating 21 days. By plugging in waypoints, location and time of year, testers were able to see wind, current, sea state, water temperature, and air temperature along Conrad’s route. Visual Passage Planner showed the average wind speed and direction, as well as the number of days of calm, for the area and time of year. The software is an interesting tool for passage planning, but because it uses historical rather than real-time data, it shouldn’t be compared to true weather-routing software like the weather-routing module from MaxSea, which uses a boat’s polar data to evaluate real-time routing.
Rope Test Yields Rope Hernias
Despite what some might tell you, washing machines and braided ropes don’t mix.
Subscribers Only Researching an upcoming article on the effects of various cleaning chemicals on ropes, our testers scrubbed and machine-washed mountains of nylon and polyester rope of every description. Samples ranged from three-strand dock line encrusted in marine life to brand-new polyester double-braid line. Our testing for that article continues, but we want to report one immediate finding relevant to any sailor who is wondering how to deal with old or dirty lines. Fully 70 percent of our test samples, including new and used line from New England Ropes (NER) and Samson Ropes, experienced failure of pre-spliced eyes; the buried portion of the core worked its way out of the main line and into the eye, where it carried zero load. In some cases, these failures were scarcely visible, while in others, the tail was exposed.
Replacing Teak Decks, the DIY-er's Way
The stern area, complete with a much smaller king plank, looks great after all the deck hardware has been re-installed.
Practical Sailor contributor and world cruiser Joe Minick details the steps he and his wife took to replace the wornout teak deck aboard their Mason 43, Southern Cross. Minick breaks down the major tasks of the three-month project and explains how they saved a lot of money by doing some of the work themselves. The article looks at the pros and cons of a do-it-yourself teak deck refit; planning and budgeting; step-by-step removal of hardware and the old deck; and the detailed installation process of the new deck.
Quick-dissolve Toilet Paper Test
According to a study by independent market analysis firm RISI, the average American uses 23.6 rolls of toilet paper per person each year. None of the brands we tested made environmental group Greenpeace’s recommended list of eco-friendly paper.
Subscribers Only Just when you thought Practical Sailor had covered all marine head topics, we found another subject our readers are interested in: toilet paper. We followed up our reviews of marine toilets (PS, March 2011) with a look at some of the toilet tissues available for use in marine toilets and on-board sanitation systems. Practical Sailor evaluated 10 TPs from seven manufacturers: Coleman, Dometic, Kimberly Clark (Scott Paper), Thetford, West Marine, Camco, and Charmin. The test centered on well and how quickly the different toilet paper brands dissolved in water. TP that doesn't readily break down can eventually clog marine toilets, holding tanks, and the rest of the sanitation setup. The toilet tissues also were evaluated on tear strength, weight, softness, sheets per roll, and price per square foot.
Shaken and Stirred - Toilet Paper Test
After five minutes, each jar was gently stirred again and left standing.
Subscribers Only This toilet paper evaluation aimed to find out three things: how quickly the different TPs dissolved in water, how strong they were, and how soft they felt. Each brand was given a number (1 through 10) for blind judging. Four sheets from each roll were crumpled and placed in a clear plastic canister with two quarts of lukewarm water and were stirred for five seconds, or five swirls, with a plastic straw.
Mailport: June 2011
Subscribers Only Letters to Practical Sailor, June 2011. This month's letters cover subjects such as: Barnacle Barrier Success, Pump Switches, Antifouling Field Report and more!
West Marine Updates Recalled Tether
Subscribers Only West Marine has released a new, improved version of the safety tethers it voluntarily recalled last summer. As we reported in the August 2010 issue, West Marine recalled its model 9553512 (single) and 9553504 (double) safety tethers—which featured Kong hooks on the boat end and snap shackles on the user end—over concerns about the durability of the split ring connecting the snap shackle’s release pin and the lanyard.
Where Credit is Due: June 2011
Reader Walt Wyatt and his family take a leisurely daysail near Cincinnati, Ohio, aboard their Precision 23, Seaduced.
Letters to Practical Sailor, June 2011. This month's letters cover subjects such as: Precision Boat Works, Groco, and More!
Chandlery: June 2011
Subscribers Only Although the ease and convenience of electronic chartplotters has ensured their place aboard most every vessel these days, the punch-and-go navigation that makes them so popular has also spawned a generation of slack-jawed zombies when it comes to even the most rudimentary of navigational skills. Prudent mariners continue to carry paper charts, both as backup to chartplotters (and their “one diode away from disaster” nature) and to have the big picture view that a plotter just can’t match.
PS Advisor: Rotten to the Core
Do you have any suggestions on a book or manual that explains how to replace a cored deck where most of it is soaking wet? I replaced a 1.5-square-foot area and was surprised to see that it was so wet and rotten that I could grab the wood core and squeeze it like a sponge.
The Magic of Munroe’s Sharpies
The editor enjoys a light-air reach across Biscayne Bay in a replica of Ralph Munroe’s Egret.
Subscribers Only There is magic in sailing. What is sometimes harder to grasp is the magic in boats. But it is there. It is undeniably there. It is there when first you step aboard and feel the boat come alive underfoot. It is there when the sails fill and quiet as you come out of the eye of the wind. And it is there when you take the tiller under a dome of stars and realize you’re connected to something much, much bigger than a rudder. There IT is, as persistent as a heartbeat: a pulse, a throb, a jolt of I-cannot-explain-this magic.
Inside Practical Sailor Blog
San Fran 'Stand-down' = Government Meddling?
by Darrell Nicholson on May 15, 2012
The Coast Guard’s request late last month that sailors “stand-down” and suspend any offshore racing outside San Francisco Bay in the wake of last month’s tragedy in the San Francisco Yacht Club’s Farallones Race rankled more than a few Bay area sailors. The response was not surprising. Critics decried the move as draconian, driven by overzealous safety mavens, an example virulent government intrusion, trampling of personal freedoms, etc. etc. etc. It is a…
