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Electricity from Olaf and Ulrike Opitz Greg’s reflections ex Salterns This start of season edition of MOA NL is usually dated April or May and whilst, strictly speaking, I could claim that still, I’ve decided instead to come clean and label it June 2001. My excuse this time is that most of May I spent looking over boats on the west coast of Italy; well, some of the time anyway. A sea of white plastic, most of it exclusively motorised, which is probably why we’ve had some enquiries dagli italiani via the web-site about purchasing a Memory. But whilst the current strength of the pound meant good days for us at the supermercato, it doesn’t seem to impress the would-be native Memory owner looking for a quick snip at 10 K lira ! Ah well… Before we departed, little had arrived from you to make up a proper NL but upon return, our stalwarts had come up trumps again. Ulrike and Olaf’s venture into electric propulsion for Namib Tern I’m sure will be of interest; it looks so dinky, almost lost in the bilges. The fact that you need a mini power station control board is a mere incidental – and think what you’d be doing for Kyoto. Neil Mordey has done his own thing, again, and equipped Dram with a pram top to dazzle the most demanding of the Norland TC sorority. And Keith and Kate have been at it again – of course. I’ve included the statement of accounts prior to the annual general meeting in Rome and as is usual at this time of the year, you should have enclosed the updated version of the ‘membership list’. It’s not been a particular good time this last year for new Memorys to hit the water – but thank goodness Salterns has successfully diversified into things Greg prefers not to mention – and – Peter Burr will take delivery of a new Memory at the September Boat Show. At the moment the sun is shining bright and a lovely breeze is blowing; go for it; when I’ve mowed the lawn……… Ed. (Terry Collins, Adrienne V) Not heard of for a little while… John Cook (Yasamin) was out in Hong Kong last season and wasn’t allowed to take the boat as excess baggage. Thus not much recent sailing but now thinking of the putting in the famous outboard well, having made at least a winter toodle out on engine. Painting the hull is a possibility (can look real good; see Flugel and Nutkin). John’s also considering a deck strengthening job – and putting in a mast tabernacle to replace keel stepped mast, in order to ease access, dealing with bridges and trailing. And will need to catch up on some more maintenance work. But has to go back to HK some time this summer – so time no doubt for MOAs to tell him how to do it and why not… Richard Dodds has had Elwing laid up for some time now – whilst he’s building a 33 foot steel yacht. Elwing is pretty well stripped down at present, small cabin/big cockpit still, but Richard is aiming to sail off to New Zealand plotting old Viking trades routes – but I think that’s in the big one rather than the Memory, which is definitely to be retained. Richard mentioned that he’d noticed some rather loose usage of good old mariners’ terms like ‘helming’ and ‘lee’ or ‘lea’ in the MOA NL. A glossarificational correction was threatened……. Ed (Terry Collins, Adrienne V) However carefully you write, however precisely you frame your ideas, it is still amazingly easy to mislead your readers. As a result of the contribution to the November 2000 issue of ‘Classic Boat’ I was asked how I dare take Sif so close to a large warship. Since the subject of my article was Sif’s five acre sail – the question left me somewhat at a loss. The five acre sail is our alternative to the common or garden spinnaker. I dislike spinnakers for two reasons. First, the modern spinnaker does not look right on a gaffer, at least not to my eye. Second, spinnakers are headstrong and uncooperative with lives of their own. Unfortunately, the standard Memory jib boomed out for a goose-wing run does not balance the combined areas of mainsail and topsail. Although it is obvious from her hull shape that a Memory with the plate up should run like the wind, in practice she does no such thing. To maintain a straight course downwind, the helm has to be up at a cripplingly inefficient angle. For this reason, it seemed to us that Sif needed some sort of large, aesthetically pleasing, easily controlled sail. We discovered just such a sail in Edwardian photographs of Falmouth Quay Punts. Trapezoid in shape, it was set from a short ‘square-yard’ , tacked down at the sampson post or thereabouts and boomed out to nominal windward. An enquiry to Jimmy, one of the most senior citizens on the waterfront, revealed that these sails had evolved by chance rather than design. In the good old days, when people such as he tugged respectfully at their forelocks and said "Yes sir" (even if done with tongue in cheek and an exaggerated old salt accent), the racing classes threw away their sails at the end of the season. As a rule, these were too large for use on local boats but by cutting the top off a big jib, then rolling it down a couple of turns to form a hem and punching eyelets through to hold it together – one could make an efficient running sail. Jim called it a five acre sail which seemed as good a name as any. Patrick Selman agree to make us such a sail on an experimental basis. I worked out the appropriate dimensions as 5 feet 4 inches along the head, 14 feet 9 inches on the luff, 15 feet 9 inches on the leach and 13 feet 9 inches for the foot. This gave an area of around 131 square feet, though Patrick cut the sail very full and the actual size must be somewhat larger. Our whisker pole is a 13 feet length of 2 inch bamboo pole with slots at either end and is bound round to prevent splitting. Our first yard was a 4 foot 6 inch length of broom handle though we now have something cut from marine ply with individual holes drilled to correspond to eyelets on the head of the sail. When hoisting our five acre sail, the second jib halyard is shackled to a short span on the yard. (If you lack a second jib halyard – do note my warning on page 9 of the May 2000 MOA newsletter, before attempting to rig one !) As on the Quay Punts, the tack is made fast to the sampson post. The sheet is clipped to the clew and led through the slot in the end of the whisker pole. It’s then made fast to a cleat on the quarter. Finally, the in-board end of the pole is slotted onto any convenient item of running rigging beside the mast. We are not great racers. As a rule Sif is entered for two races a year and both of these are more like rallies. One of course is the OGA annual race. Last year the wind was light and flukey down the Carrick Roads and the afternoon tide strong in the same direction. In the circumstances we should have left our mooring at about 10 am to reach the start line. But we had arranged to pick up the ‘sooty haired beauty’ (see the story of yum yum) at 10.30 am. She failed to make it of course, so we could have left a half an hour earlier. As the gun went, we could see Charles Taylor’s Lily and the lovely Percy Mitchell cutter Ark Royal a quarter of a mile ahead of us. Neither made a spectacular start but at least they were in the vicinity of the line at the right moment. We reached the line some 20 minutes later and clawed our way across. Five minutes on we found ourselves edging gently through the water but being carried over the line once more, backwards. This raised an interesting question. My feeling was that having started in the right direction we should have had the right to choose whatever subsequent course suited us best. In the circumstances this would have been across the slack water inshore, between the end of the line buoy and the beach. My son maintained however that if we were observed to sail around the end of the start line instead of across it – then we should be disqualified. Is there a Memory owner out there, well versed in racing rules, who can give us a definite answer ? (Answers to Aunty Sif’s problem page please.) Eventually either the tide eased or the wind freshened, I forget which, and we managed to reach the windward mark. By then, Lily was practically out of sight (she went on to come third in her division thereby upholding the honour of the Memory marque) but Ark Royal was a mere 30 yards ahead, almost motionless on the ebbing tide. We hoisted the five acre sail and at once the gap began to close. As we slipped past, Ark Royal’s crew waved their beer cans and shouted rude comments about ‘that thing on a coat hanger’. It was the recounting of this episode in Classic Boat which led to a very occasional fair weather sailor in a pub to assume that we had been racing Sif against an aircraft carrier ! Derek Toyne, Sif Trying to get Kate shipshape this miserable spring has been a case of one step forward and two back - I am hoping that the new raindrop finish on her varnish work will catch on ! On The Great Greg Inboard Outboard Well I took the plunge and have had a "GregWell" moulding fitted by the little boatbuilding firm in Maylandsea that makes the Tideway and Tepco dinghies.( The Boatyard ). (See pictures. Ed.) The Tohatsu 5 fits snugly and protrudes some 8" above the sterndeck. I coated below waterline liberally with Trilux antifoul and fitted a second, larger sacrificial anode to the fin. The existing rudder stock was extended some 6 inches and I will try it out with the old tiller before investing in a cranked version. That may prove uncomfortable? The rudder blade ended up almost touching the prop, so we made a shallow cut out on leading edge. I am a bit concerned about noise / vibration levels and will report back after I have tried it out this season. It’s got to be infinitely better than coaxing the motor into life whilst kneeling over a pitching transom ! On Going About Have you ever felt the need for six arms and two heads when going about in a hurry, singlehanded? With Kate's cutter rig I often find she has paid off too far by the time I have tamed the headsail sheets and the backstays. Or that Sod's Law will also decree that the sheets will foul on the mast cleats causing frantic leaps forward with boathook! I have made two modifications to try to limit these frantic exertions. I’ve fixed jamming cleats (for each sheet) on coaming blocks, courtesy of Greg. Yes, I know it's spoiling the authentic look, but it should reduce adrenalin levels ! And I’ve made an improvised mast sleeve from the trouser section of an old oilskin, like "Letty May's". That should solve snagging problem. More old bilge An afterthought...and perhaps Greg would like to comment on this one... With the well now going below the waterline, would it now be feasible I wonder to devise a self draining bilge for the Memory? Keith Davidson, Kate I was interested (is that the right word?) to read about Letty May's dunking. Interested because I am pretty sure that should the same happen to Talitha, she would not hang around to say goodbye. So I have to ask - just how far forward was Letty May's ballast? We have half a tonne arranged either side of the forward half of the centre plate casing and about 50 kg of anchor and chain in the bow plus the usual excess baggage strewn around the rest of the boat. I had thought that this was not a bad arrangement but I admit that most of my sailing has been within the confines of Chichester Harbour. I am sure it ought to be possible to build in some buoyancy and seal the forepeak and stern locker. Presumably 2 to 3 thousand litres of air would be needed to float a 1.5 tonnes of boat and crew in a way that could be recovered. This is all too much thinking for my small brain so if anyone knows different or has a tale to tell, let’s hear it... Max Manning, Talitha Its already May and we are still not in the water. We were hoping to make the OGA Yarmouth rally but Mike has decided that all the fixings on the boat need to be drilled out and replaced with stainless steel ones, because the old ones are now rusting and leaking. So that’s the rubbing strakes and the toe rails, which needed replacing anyway as the wood was delaminating. Mike has spent every fine weekend since we came out of the winter gloom, working on the boat, enlisting my help when necessary, to help replace the nuts and bolts. After that there is still the painting and varnishing and the engine to put together again - and the undercarriage to anti-foul, and then maybe we can re-launch Scheherazade. We hope that by then the summer weather will not have turned into the autumn. We are booked in for the IFOS rally so we really do have a deadline ! The trouble is work keeps getting the way as we have been extra busy this year, not that we are complaining. But it would be nice to have time to do what we really want to do. And then there is the garden, which I have been trying to get together while Mike is on the boat job. Still we are looking forward to meeting you all out there sometime soon... Jessica, first mate to Scheherazade
After a couple of extended sea passages I decided that we needed a little more protection than just the cuddy on Dram. One of the features of the Memory that has always appealed to me is the large open cockpit and so I did not want to put on a permanent cabin. I thought that some kind of pram-hood might be the answer and for a few weeks wandered around the local marinas looking for inspiration. It came from the unlikely source of the Cornish Crabber 17. This has a natty pram-hood / cover. I did a few sketches and went to see a few sailmakers but promptly decided to forget about it as I could have bought a new mainsail for less! I had just about given the idea up when an advert dropped through the letterbox from Martex*, who had made my winter cover. It was for DIY spray hoods. Whilst this was not in itself an answer, they also supplied various frame kits. I wanted to make a 'square' frame so that it would fold neatly against the forward end of the cockpit. A kit of 'corners', rods and hinges came to about £60. The acrylic canvas was about another £40 from Pointnorth*. I felt that windows were an unnecessary complication as this was really just a bad weather option. I used to manage a sailmakers business at one time and I know that covers with windows are not easy to make unless you have access to an industrial machine! I decided to try an ‘mdf’ mock up. The criteria were to be that the hood should fold down out of the way quickly; that the boat should be able to sail without being compromised by the hood; that the protected area should come back to the centreplate box and that the hood should be strong enough to be able to cope with being used as an emergency hand hold!
To make it up I cut out two side panels - allowing for hems etc. - and one top pattern. Acrylic canvas will stitch up nicely on a domestic sewing machine using a heavy thread. To secure it to the cockpit coaming I used turnbuttons (probably more than were necessary) at about 8" centres. Some shockcord attached to a D ring each side completes the fastenings. The whole thing takes about 2 minutes to put on, and lifts off to stow down below when not needed. It can be 'lowered' to allow halyard adjustments, reefing etc. by undoing everything aft of the hinges. This allows it to fold flat. The photos should make things clear. I have no doubt that this idea could be made rather less agricultural than my attempt, but this system does give a good level of shelter in the forward half of the cockpit, and a degree of strength, without compromising the effective sailing of the boat. I am presently thinking about putting a detachable roll-down back panel onto the hood *Martex can be contacted on 01270 522251. Pointnorth on 01407 760195 Both specialise in mail order. Neil Mordey, Dram Electricity from Olaf and Ulrike Opitz The latest MOA newsletter being -as usual- fascinating reading material, although a little disturbing: stories of NMO's sitting astride their boats
looking at their centre-plates (I must try this one), batteries arc-welding through the bilges, fouling topsails.....it must have been the season, but now
that summer has finally arrived, let's think positive again!
To keep a long story short, it works better than I've imagined! The complete system (engine, shaft, prop, stern-tube + electric "black-box", including 20 Amp charger) comes from an Austrian firm at Lake Constance, where they seem to have a lot of experience on electric drives, due to a ban of combustion-type engines. Everything fits below the custom Greg-made floorboards, without any serious alteration. The Lynch-type engine has 2 kW (3.5hp), the 4 gel-batteries provide 100 Ah (5 hours) each resulting in 200 Ah at 24 V. The 11x8 inch 2 bladed prop. can be arrested in a vertical position to minimise drag. The boat has been in the water now for 3 weeks....in quiet conditions, force 1-2 wind. We achieved a cruising speed of 3.5 knots using about 30 amps, which works out to a cruising range (fully charged batteries) of at least 12 miles, although I haven't tried that out yet. Last weekend we had lots of wind (5-6), 6 persons on board and water streaming
away fast. We were using 60-80 Amps/h heading straight into the wind with set sails
(2 reefs though). So sufficient power appears to be no problem even though the prop's size is limited by the available space ("Propeller-Brunnen" - I
don't know the English term). Ideally should be larger. Loading 25% discharged batteries
took us about 2 hours. We are fascinated by the ease of handling and, of course, silence...just a
slight whining noise. It is really a rather simple set-up. Also reasonably easy to
install. It took me about 2 weekends plus the 4 day Easter holiday with a lot of
snow ! The batteries , 40 kilos each, are set in a steel frame on both sides of
the centre-board case. They are supposed to be OK still if installed upside-down and
under water, although I don't really want to try..... We found out about one disadvantage though. Any boats struggling to keep up with Namib Tern comfort themselves that we probably have our "silent-atomic-power-engine" running all the time. Maybe then, in a few year's time, we shall (Heaven forbid) saw off the mast, set up four posts and a canopy, and disappear into the European hinterland. But not yet.
We had a mooring under Hengistbury Head in Christchurch Harbour. It was a beautiful spot overlooked by far off red and blue rhododendrons. We spent many evenings snuggled in pullovers watching the sunset turn the sky and the harbour into shimmering fire. During summer afternoons we chuckled at the antics of children at Mudeford, larking and splashing around in dinghies and rowing boats of all shapes and sizes. It brought back memories of when I had played and worked in this shallow harbour as a boy. Two young girls raced by in Toppers…a far distant memory shot into my head, of my friend Dan and I when we were in the sea scouts. We had had a different kind of fun in those days. After heaving a very heavy old ex-navy boat down to a shingle beach, we would shove it into the water and clamber in over its high sides. We raised every piece of sail we could find and with sufficient wind to give us enough speed we would run straight at little grassy islands to see if we could go right over them! Didn’t James Bond do this in a speedboat? The hardest part of having Merlin on this mooring was having to cross the whole width of the harbour from Mudeford Quay to the Head in a small tender powered by a Seagull engine. It was hard work steering when filled up with provisions, freezer box, bags and bodies. I used to curse the ferry if it passed by. The wake would roll the little boat up and down and if some innocent person was sitting up front he or she would get a soaking wet bottom before the journey even started. One morning, Liz and I left our mooring two hours before low water to battle the last of the tide going west and to catch the water running through Hurst at slack. The intention was to have a full flood tide all the way up the Solent as far as we could get before it turned against us. With a a favourable South Westerly behind us, it all seemed perfect. When the wind is light I like to put the mainsail and the topsail up while the boat is still on the mooring. I then scandalize it by pulling up the boom on the topping lifts as far as possible! The tackle flaps angrily, but it saves struggling to do this job while bouncing around on a sea. Therefore, up went the sails before the outboard was even started and before we dropped the mooring chain. Merlin shivered before gathering speed enough to turn between the moored yachts and enter the main channel. A breeze caught the topsail and tipped Merlin slightly, seeming to wake her from a deep sleep. She rounded a green buoy in her final approach to the ‘Run’, now fully awake and ready for this challenge. For those who have not been to Mudeford, which commands the entry to Christchurch Harbour, this is a narrow channel through which all the waters of the tides and the Rivers Stour and Avon pass. Being fairly shallow too, and with a sand bar just outside, the waters here can be dangerous to the ignorant. However I have seen tourists swimming across! Merlin is able to get in and out at most states of the tide but few attempt to fight against the full flood. I tried once and found I was going backwards towards a rocky groyne! I stuck the engine in reverse and swung the tiller far over, sweeping the bow around within seconds to face the open sea again. I have also managed to get into the harbour at low water, being washed over the bar by the surf ! The waves were pretty rough but propelled Merlin like a missile over and into the ‘Run’. Not to be recommended but exciting! On this particular morning though, the ‘Run’ was gently flowing out and the sea outside looked choppy. When clear of the outer marks, Merlin fought the tops of the waves as they met her bow. She thumped through an hour of this and then the bullying sea surrendered to the wind. It calmed down and began to work with the westerly breeze, pushing Merlin forward. I pulled out the foresail and she lifted to the extra power. Poole and Christchurch Bays together make up a fairly boring coastline. Unlike the West Country where there are cliffs and coves and caves and trees, here is a desert of brown low cliffs topped by hotels and guest houses all looking the same. Even a fast trip across can seem tedious. However Liz amused herself with a mackerel line for a while, but caught nothing. Then we boiled a kettle and had breakfast…and all the while Merlin plunged and soared her happy way. Two hours later we reached the slack water, resting but confused between the forts at Hurst. The bewitching swirling waters looked up as if to say "Do we go with you or do we go out to sea?" This way, that way, they circled around in whirlpools large and small. Merlin joined in the confusion with excitement. The bow veered starboard, then to port, thoroughly enjoying the naughtiness of the situation. But then we were through and into the expanding blue of the Solent. The tide was beginning to increase its westerly flow and soon we found that we were surfing by Yarmouth, past Newtown and on towards Cowes. The GPS registered 8 knots (overland) so Merlin must have been going at top speed through the water. I had thought to reach Wootton Creek by the time the tide turned, but we made such fast progress that the forts guarding the Eastern approaches to Southampton water were rapidly nearing by early evening. With every following wave Merlin would lift her stern and slip down before levelling up waiting for the next ride, like a child on a slide in a park - up the steps, down the slide, up the steps, down the slide. Every time Merlin slid down she gathered speed and the water would hiss like a snake in her wake. We set a course between the forts and towards Bembridge, aiming to reach there at high water. However, after an hour it became clear that the tide had turned and the evening wind was dropping, leaving us in the lea of the island. I pulled at the outboard engine cord five or six times before it whined into life. It was as if it resented spoiling the peace of our sail. I rolled up the foresail and pulled in the main tight before heading for the outer marks to Bembridge. People worry about Bembridge, but after Christchurch it seem no problem. However, it is disconcerting to be so close to shingle banks going in and out. I wished I had taken the mainsail down when a few light gusts tried to push Merlin nearer to these than I liked. Tired and hungry, we finally tied up alongside other yachts on the pontoon and got the sail down at the same time as the sun was sinking far off to the West. We had made the passage from Christchurch to Bembridge in just 7 hours ! Not bad. Ted Mason, Merlin Greg’s reflections ex Salterns Boatbuilders Outboard Motor Wells
So, it looks like the outboard well seems to have been a resounding success. As well as using a short shaft motor on the Flugel, we recently converted Greensleeves (a cabin version Memory we built last year) and as George Jackson had just bought a new long shaft Mariner 5, we used that. If anything, it seems better than the short shaft engine. The propeller is deeper in the water but still protected by the keel skeg and the handling is just like an inboard engine, i.e. difficult to go to starboard when motoring astern until you have got some way on! I am going to try a rubber flap seal around the engine to smooth the water flow around the opening in the well. Just a piece of fine tuning; will keep you posted. Electric power I was very interested to read the piece from Ulrike and Olaf as we have had an enquiry for a Memory with an electric inboard. Curiously enough we had also been in contact with Bossums, who use the Lynch motor in their river launches. The cost of the electric installation is very similar to that of a small Yanmar (or similar diesel) and in many respects a much nicer alternative. Well done Olaf ! I really like the idea of being able to engage the ‘stealth drive’ – perfect for stealing a lead in a windless OGA race….. Ex Keith’s query – I have looked at this but I’m afraid that the cockpit sole would have to be so high, to be above the waterline, that it would be like sitting in a tea-tray – just like the new Cornetto S - - - - per. My view would be I think that the danger of falling out of the cockpit would outweigh the self-draining advantages. Just to reassure Max – yes, Talitha would sink like a stone if full of water ! And yes, your ballast is in the right place; it was further forward on Letty May. More importantly, use cam-cleats, which you free off instantly, unlike the traditional horn cleats. You should then be able to spill the wind before ending up on your side – and don’t sail showing to much bottom ! The buoyancy required to keep a Memory afloat is approx. 1.25 cubic metres. We test sank Dram and oddly enough it was more stable when full of water, weird ! All the new Memorys are supplied with huge Zeppelin type air bags that fit under the side decks. Unless you have proper air-tight doors to the locker and the cabin, it will not form viable buoyancy zones. The good news is that several Memorys without any buoyancy have survived knock-downs and seem to pop up again quite happily for their startled crews to start bucketing out and proceed on their way Neil’s spray hood This seems like a really good idea – and we are thinking about it… Greg Dalrymple, Flugel (Salterns Boatbuilders)
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