Single handed Dabbing Part 4 Belaying Pins, and Echo Sounders

I didn't expect to be doing a Part 4 but I’ve done a fair bit to the Dabber in the past few months. None of it major but some of it makes sailing the boat more efficient and, more importantly, more enjoyable.

The biggest job was making a Mark III to put right the design miscalculations (cock ups!) in the Mark II.

An echo sounder comes under the category of toy or gadget but it adds interest and, much to my surprise, has changed the way I when in close proximity to the mud flats.

Knowing I was going to write a Part 4 prompted me to do some experimenting with the rig in a variety of wind conditions. The results confirm my high opinion of the Dabber.

I’ve included some very minor modifications because often the benefits and effects are more significant than those derived from major alterations. It’s often the little things that annoy the most and, in any case, attention to detail in a boat is well worth while for its own sake.

I hope you’ll forgive me but Part 4 is interspersed with some rants and observations which are not to be taken too seriously.

There is an index on page 25 Bowsprit The previous bowsprit worked extremely well and it looked good. There was one problem with it though – you had to remove the bowsprit completely to stow it for trailing and you could only step it whilst standing on the beach.

There was a good reason I made it like this. Moving the from the stem to the end of the bowsprit, and fitting a , completely alters the forces on the bowsprit. It increases them significantly and changes them from bending to compression. All the force on the bowsprit is now attempting to move it towards the stern so, with the original design, I created a shoulder on the bowsprit which rested against the stemhead fitting and counteracted the rearward forces.

This was an unnecessary example of over-engineering on my part and I am often guilty of this. I realised that the thwart was more than able to take this thrust and that a minor change to the inboard end of the bowsprit would enable it There is quite a lot to do so. of shape in these bowsprits but The construction was straightforward and you won't find many similar to the previous one. It is simply straight lines on a good three pieces of wood cut to shape, looking boat. glued together and shaped. It’s an enjoyable job and as I had the timber I didn’t mind building another one.

Awaiting varnishing and fittings.

The end of the bowsprit was given a coat of varnish just before tapping on the cranse iron . Locates against The front end - the mast thwart. awaiting cranse iron.

Although I didn't create a shoulder on the Mark III I did give the for'd end a thicker section. With a bit of crafty shaping this now gently "wedges" into the stemhead fitting when stowed and stops a metal to metal collision between the two fittings.

I did attempt to trim a little from the underside of the bowsprit to make the , which is in the middle of the foredeck, a little more accessible. This didn't really work and I resorted to fitting a second cleat which was also a failure but it all got resolved sensibly in the end. (see Anchors) 2 It could be that this whole bowsprit business is just an excuse to order yet another gorgeous bronze mastband from Classic Marine to use as a cranse iron. I have four now and they are all different. One is at the head of the mast and two are on the Mark II and III bowsprits. The fourth won’t go anywhere near a boat – it was bought just to sit on my kitchen table. Bronze Propylene Glycol American ash for belaying pins Teak

There is no food in my kitchen but I believe propylene glycol is edible.

Talking about kitchens ...... As you can see I now inhabit a female free environment. It is by choice and I intend to keep it that way. But maybe I'm wrong. On occasions I really could do with some compliant and moveable ballast . . . Stop right there! I know where this is going and it is not good. However, if she has access to a stock of teak and spruce and comes with her own single phase spindle moulder – I might reconsider.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/rojek-fs550- base-spindle-moulder

But let’s get back to the bowsprit. As with the original, the inner end is slotted into a wooden “locater” attached to the top of the mast thwart – I’ve tried to think of word for it but have failed so I’ll call it a locater. There is a small gap between the bowsprit and the locater. All the thrust of the bowsprit is taken here. 3 This shows the new bowsprit rigged and ready for sailing.

The furling control line runs through a stainless steel eye positioned in the plane of the centre of the drum. The section of the bowsprit is deepest at the stemhead fitting so the eye slips through the fitting without a The problem. bobstay screw The line continues through the is only to adjust the which was the original bobstay length – attachment point for the NOT to set up the rigging tension.

In the stowed position the bowsprit is held snugly by the stemhead fitting in a position that allows the stainless drum guide to safely rest on the wooden pad at the top of the stem.

This is the configuration of the bowsprit for towing and stowage.

It is this part of the bowsprit that locates in the stemhead fitting.

All this means is that I can now stow the bowsprit by pulling it forward a little to remove it from the locator and then sliding it aft. This works so well and it has the additional benefit of preventing the sheets and furling gear from getting out of synchronisation.

Shipping the bowsprit is just as simple and effective.

There is a snap shackle at the lower end of the bobstay which connects to the eye. After slackening the rigging screw I can unclip the bobstay and retrieve the bowsprit while still afloat. This significantly shortens the time required on the slipway and means I can be out of the water and gone while the motor boats are still thinking about it. This I like! 4 Mast stowage The new bowsprit has a lot to answer for and now that it stows on the centreline the mast has had to be moved. A piece of teak was fashioned and attached to the mast thwart to support the mast to starboard of the centre line.

This could, and should, have been incorporated into a larger bowsprit locater. The red furling gear line travels under the mast thwart via two small .

Halyard end held loosely under stainless Ready for the road. eye to retain it whilst allowing rotation.

The Optiparts Large Bailer works very well Shock cord as a bailer – it also works very well protecting the mast.

When stowed, the mast head, with attached mastband, blocks, and various hardware, needs to be supported on the stern just for’d of the transom. I looked for a simple solution to this three years ago and The worked out that the jib lies base of a plastic bottle smoothly could be slipped over across the the head of the mast boat during and would protect the trailing with a mast and the deck. It shock cord was a short step to tensioning the head realise that a bailer and the taken could fulfil a second down through the anchor role on board. The cleat. (see Anchors) Optiparts Large Hand Bailer turns out to be just the right size. 5 Setting up furling gear

There is a decision to be made regarding the direction of rotation of the furling drum. If you have ultra violet protection strips on your headsail then it’s settled for you.

If you don’t have UV strips then it probably pays to turn the drum clockwise (from the top) whilst furling. This tends to tighten the lay of the luff wire.

Bear in mind that you are furling the sail by rotating one end of the wire – when you are unfurling, you are rotating the whole of the wire by pulling on the sheet/sail.

Ÿ The size of the control line is critical. I use a Barton drum with 3 mm line – 2 mm is too thin to pull on comfortably and 4 mm will not fit on the drum.

Ÿ Start by pulling the control line until the drum is empty. At this point wrap the jib around the luff wire until it’s completely furled then add three or four more turns. This allows for the furl to tighten a little when in use.

Ÿ At the end of the day I make a point of releasing the jib sheets completely before slowly furling the jib. I prefer to store the jib with a loose, rather than a tight, furl.

Rowing

It soon became apparent that there were advantages in moving the mast – it is possible to row the boat with the mast stowed in its new position on the starboard side rather than down the centre line as before.

I have to add that you cannot properly row the Dabber from the aft position. The seat (the top of the centreboard case) is much too low and the best you can do is to imitate a windmill. However, if you face for’d and push, it all works nicely and you can even sit on the after deck whilst doing it.

The forward position is fine and you can row, with some style, using the removable seat. Rowing in flat calm conditions I can easily manage three knots but wouldn’t like to do it for more than half a mile or so. Dabbers carry a lot of windage and rowing rapidly becomes less effective as the wind increases.

Talking about rowing......

It is very rare to see someone rowing properly these days with oars feathered on the return stroke and blades entering and leaving the water together with hardly a splash.

Everyone seems to windmill – in their defence, there is nothing else you can do in an inflatable dinghy with the oars bolted into the rowlocks.

It’s years since I’ve seen a real rowing boat. They’d need be 14 to 16 feet long, probably carvel built with a fine exit derived from a wine glass shaped transom. I’d love one!

Sculling using a notch in the transom must be almost a dead art. 6 Cleats The original base I’d used to mount the sheet jamming cleats at the after end of the centreboard casing of the Dabber was a prototype built to see if it would work. It worked so well it was given a coat of varnish and stayed in commission. With three new cleats to be fitted a new base was called for which would also incorporate minor modifications to the positioning of the and furling control line cleats which are fitted to the underside.

Old but serviceable. New toys – Yes, I did catch the error!

I’ve been using RWO SC330 Servo Cleats to control sheets in the Flying Fifteen for a while now. With these you don’t have to pull the rope into the cleat to engage it – all you have to do is lower it vertically onto the cleat. To release the rope from the cleat is very easy and this was an important consideration when choosing the mainsheet cleat for the Dabber. Downhaul cleat. I believe the top fairleads (SC334) for these cleats have been discontinued but the RWO Furling R2840 deck clip can be easily bent to fit and is cleat. a better size for 8 mm rope.

The SC330 Servo Cleat is the largest of the three servo cleats that RWO make and the recommended rope size is 10 to 16 mm. I’ve used these with the 8 mm Dabber jib sheets in all conditions without a problem. The SC220 cleat from RWO is smaller and takes 6 to 12 mm rope. I’ve tried both cleats and they are superb.

The positioning of these cleats at the after end of the centreboard case does not affect its use as a seat whilst rowing. 7 Stopper knot During the first test of the new cleats, one of the “figure of eight” stopper knots pulled through a so I had to look for another knot without resorting to the usual “figure of eight” with an twist. I found one – it’s called The Ashley stopper knot. How I ever lived without knowing this I will never know. Find it at http://www.animatedknots.com/ashleystopper/ which is the best source of knot and knot tying information I have ever seen. The ultimate stopper knot? Talking about knots, bends and hitches . . . . Of all the knots, bends and hitches there is one which exhibits all of the qualities that a knot, bend or hitch should not have. Unfortunately, it’s the one that everyone seems to know and it appears to have taken hold on yachts and boats. It’s the knot of choice now, even for yachties, and they seem to use it for everything. Someone told me that the RYA promote it – if that’s true the RYA should be ashamed of themselves. It is, of , the clove hitch. Under load it is likely to slip or jam. It doesn’t really have a place on a yacht but apologists argue that it is fine to use a clove hitch to attach a fender. I’ll argue that this is the last place you need it. If, as a crew, you are asked to move a fender “quickly” then that word often carries the implication that the pristine plastic you are crewing in is about to be abraded by some gnarly piece of coastal civil engineering. Or worse, someone else’s pristine and expensive hardware is about to be abraded by your, less expensive, hardware. Or even worse – these things are already happening. In any of these situations you really don’t want a knot that jams or slips. You do not want a clove hitch! Use a rolling hitch if you like the look of a clove hitch or be sensible and use a round turn and two half hitches. This isn't a major problem for Drascombe sized boats but it gets very serious very quickly as the size goes up. It isn’t only me who is not impressed by the clove hitch:

Quote from Ashley (Page 302): “. . there is a better holding knot for about every purpose to which the clove hitch can be put”

Quote from animatedknots.com: “Caution: The Clove Hitch was, originally, included here with the intention of condemning it. It does have two giant faults: it slips and, paradoxically, can also bind. It should be deeply distrusted when used by itself.”

8 There is no problem in using a clove hitch at sea to string up a clothes line between some stanchions but it does have a legitimate use on a larger sailing vessel. A clove hitch is the correct way to attach to intermediate shrouds.

For thirteen years I was “volunteered” to set up the barriers for the annual sports day at the school in which I taught. We had about sixty electric fence posts which were light, highly visible and the steel spike was easy to push in the ground in a dry July. Polypropylene ropes were strung between them using clove hitches. (No, they weren’t connected to a battery!)

Arithmetic tells me that I’ve tied about 800 of the little blighters in this manner but I can also add many hundreds tied while “rattlin’down” the rigging of large sailing vessels. So, for someone who despises the clove hitch, I’ve tied an awful lot of them.

All the knots you really need:

Ÿ Two knots – a Round Turn And Two Half Hitches and a Bowline will do nearly everything on a boat. Ÿ To reef “Drascombe style” you’ll need a Reef Knot. Ÿ Add a Rolling Hitch and you’ll be able to do everything Ÿ Unless you own something with ratlines and then you’ll need a ______. (I can’t bring myself to type it.)

For all those knowledgeable Drascombe owners who are working out what nautical tricks you cannot do with my four knots I’ll claim that if you can tie a Rolling Hitch you can also “pass a stopper.”

Sails

Downhaul mods

In Part 3 I mentioned the downhaul could do with an increase in mechanical advantage. Well it got one. A was attached to the carbine hook on the extended control line. One end of the line was now spliced onto the fairlead at the for’d end of the centreboard case and the other end led through this lead and back to the cleat at the after end of the centreboard case. A definite improvement but since this is now a cascade system of blocks you’ll need to get the line lengths reasonably accurate or you’ll end up “chock a block.”

Furling control line

9 This is how a small adjustment to the tack downhaul can affect the sail.

Talking about burgees ...... The only wind indicator I have on the Dabber is a burgee at the top of the mast. If I arrived at the slipway without it I would probably launch but it would be a hard call. I occasionally see boats sailing without burgees and the skippers will confidently claim that the wind on their face tells them all they need to know about wind direction. It might well tell them all they need to know but apparently they don’t need to know a lot. If you use a burgee, or other wind indicator, you’ll be aware of a change of wind direction far quicker than someone who doesn’t use one. You’ll even find some wind shifts that they never get to know about.

Sail control on inefficient rigs I don’t know much about sailmaking but I am fairly certain that my Dabber’s have about as much shape as a bed sheet. So I can’t mess That doesn’t mean to around “moving the ” etc. to dramatically say I can sit back change sail efficiency and ignore the set as I can in my of the sails. If a other boats. sail is badly set I have to do something about it.

What about radial cut sails for the Dabber? 10 Rule of thumb The traditional advice for setting sails (on the wind) without any tell tales or aids: Ÿ Steer a steady course. Ÿ Ease the sheet until the luff starts to stall. (An area of sail close to the mast or forestay “lifts” a little) Ÿ Sheet in until the luff just fills. Ÿ Sheet in a tiny bit more. Ÿ If close hauled, adjust the jib first as the back wind from the jib can affect the main.

Talking about sails ...... When did they start making sails that sound, look and feel like industrial strength greaseproof paper? If I took the sails off the spars on the Dabber they would almost fit in my pocket – if I drop the main on the Flying Fifteen it fills the cockpit and the sail has to be rolled – definitely not folded. The changes in sail control systems and trimming procedures have been dramatic and next time a modern yacht slips by you be impressed by the shape and set of the sails. I know this technology doesn’t apply to Drascombes but it is all around us and easy to observe. There is a downside though – racing has become more technical and more intense – and there is a lot less real seamanship. Reducing sail I’ve done my time in WNA gales and I am now, proudly, a fair weather sailor. It’s still necessary to know how a new boat handles in stronger winds though. Ÿ Force 3 in a Dabber is cool, laid back, relaxing and surprisingly quick. Ÿ Force 4 in a Dabber means you have to do some work. Ÿ Force 5 is uncomfortable and you need to know what you are doing. Ÿ Force 6 is cool, laid back and almost relaxing – under jib and mizzen. This is almost true although a Dabber sailor needs a really good reason to go out in a Force 6. I refer to a real Force 6, not the exaggeration that seems to accompany all rough weather tales by small boat sailors. I’m sure Drascombe owners are not susceptible but it does no- one any service, especially newcomers, to trivially discuss going out in small boats in Force 7 or 8 – as I heard the other week. It seriously devalues the harsh reality of sailing open boats in rough weather. I wonder if these people truly know what a Force 6 at sea is like.

Yacht owners don't seem to do this – I wonder whether it is because most of them have accurate masthead anemometers. This stops me lying. I hope! 11 This is a cross section of my Dabber in way of the scuppers – about level with the after end of the centreboard case.

It is heeled at an angle of 30 degrees and looks very uncomfortable, which it is in reality.

Long legs are a definite advantage.

I tried very hard to take some photographs with the lee rail under Notes on reefing but don’t have enough hands.

Ÿ The Dabber’s main has a single reef. It is a useful reduction in area, and works very well with a . When reefing, it’s important to tie the reefing points under the – not under the boom. The sail is still loose footed with or without a reef. Ÿ I suppose it would be possible to use the jib furling as a reefing system (as the jib is small) but I’ve never found a need to do so. Ÿ You could reef the mizzen by wrapping the sail around the mast but the sail is tiny. I’ve sailed vessels with red-ensigns twice the area. Ÿ Reefed main with Jib and Mizzen behaves as the full rig but is considerably more comfortable. Ÿ Full main and Mizzen (no Jib) doesn’t sail as well without the jib but is self tacking. Ÿ Jib and Mizzen (no Main) is very stable, safe and comfortable in a breeze. The boat will certainly go to windward under these two sails but the progress is not spectacular as you would expect. Ÿ The effect of the mizzen, apart from some balance effects, is minimal. The mizzen has no noticeable effect on tacking under any conditions. These notes probably don’t apply to unmodified Dabbers. Since fitting my Dabber with a larger rudder it has never failed to tack – it's never even exhibited any reluctance to tack except once during testing. (see next paragraph) Bear in mind that tacking is easier for me since I don't have to drag a jib around a forestay and I have a useable mainsheet.

Out of interest I did try sailing with Jib and Mizzen alone in a 5 knot wind. I was able to make just under 2 knots into the wind with the Dabber taking a very long 10 seconds to accelerate after tacking. It was an exercise in “not pinching” and using very gentle rudder movements. It helped to “hold” the jib aback for a moment whilst tacking to push the head around. To my surprise I was able to make sensible progress upwind. 12 On another occasion, I headed up river from the estuary to play in the fresh water. The flood tide was with me but the force 4 wind was on the nose. After about six miles the river narrows significantly and as the banks alternate between high, tree covered hills and open reed beds, the wind became fickle. I swear some of the strongest gusts descend vertically from the hills. I dumped the jib to give me self tacking and reefed the main for two reasons: 1. To slow things down – very short tacking is interesting enough without adding speed. 2. Reefing raises the boom giving me better visibility. Some kayakers don’t know why a sailing boat has to zig zag up the river – and neither should they – but it does make sense to see them early and keep out of their way.

Would I have sailed over this if I'd had a chart with me? At this point I waited until the bowsprit was three feet from the stone quay before tacking. Showing off, of course, but I then realised I wouldn't have done it without having total faith in this Dabber's ability to tack on demand – and to do it efficiently. Not sure the family sitting at a table on the edge of the quay were equally convinced. Their labrador became very excited and nearly joined me. This is a bit from the middle section of a fairly long sail that day. With the wind gradually easing, some assistance from the oars was needed later as the river narrowed, primarily to keep the burgee out of the trees. (I don't learn and have damaged a burgee or two in collisions with overhanging branches) The expectation of a gentle run home with wind and tide was not to be as the wind eventually disappeared.

Current It's tempting to take a 360° at 1kn tacking angle from this plot but you'd need to remove the leeway.

Slack water

Adverse Wind current (180°

Course GPS track Calculated course over the ground for different tidal stream flows.

13 Jib gently pushing the head around with whispy clouds above and a soft warm wind.

Approaching the fresh water with steep hills, only ever on one side. Need to start rowing. Kayaks in the distance coming this way.

Anchors and painters It makes sense to create a painter which, if dropped overboard whilst underway, will not quite reach the propeller. On the Dabber however I use the painter also as an anchor line so cannot do this. With the new bowsprit I can now rig, and de-rig, the boat while afloat so if the slipway is busy I can launch and anchor just off the slip to prepare for the day. For short term anchoring like this I use a tiny 1.5 kg folding grapnel which I believe is made for kayaks and jet skis. It’s tied directly to the painter, without chain, and is perfect for temporary anchoring when it’s quiet.

6 kg folding grapnel

1.5 kg folding grapnel

Should I have used a plough under these conditions? 14 This grapnel has another important use when I need to anchor the boat off the beach to go ashore. In this situation the trip line, attached to the crown of the main anchor, needs to be led ashore but on many beaches there is nothing to tie it to. The folding grapnel is ideal for this as you can dig in two flukes and let the remaining pair lie flat on the sands. Children are less likely to fall over it or pick it up. The main anchor is another folding grapnel but, this time, it’s a lot bigger at 6 kg. I don’t use any chain with it and have never, ever, had a holding problem. Needless to say, the longest the boat is left unseen at anchor is probably 45 minutes and there will always be a trip line running ashore. I am not happy to have any line coming aboard a boat (for mooring, anchoring, towing etc) that cannot be released whilst under load. This is not so important on small craft but I do shudder when I see larger yachts with their mooring line eyes looped over cleats on board. For this reason I attached a short strop to the underside of the port u-bolt and spliced a stainless ring into the other end. I now have easy access to this ring and use it to attach the end of the painter which is normally flaked down into this locker. On a Dabber the only cleat in the bow is on the centre line and close enough underneath the bowsprit so that securing a line to it is very awkward. You can, of course, use the belaying pins but these are dedicated to the . A Mark IV bowsprit is not in the schedule so there needs to be another solution. It’s so obvious, why haven’t I thought of it before – I’ll attach a cleat to the port side of the mast thwart. Within an hour of testing there came a moment when I knew why I had not done it before and that was when the jib sheet hooked itself around the cleat. It only happened once but single handed sailing and things that snag jib sheets simply do not go together.

Within ten minutes of arriving home the cleat was off, leaving two holes to remind me of my stupidity.

A jamming cleat was set vertically on the edge of the mast thwart. It’s proved to be the perfect solution for temporary cleating. This cleat just happens to be in the right place to secure the jib while trailing. Belaying Pins and Fife Rails

I might be wrong but I think most Dracombes have belaying pins as a means of securing the halyards. To a new owner they may look quaint and inefficient but they are most certainly not inefficient. Using a set in a fife rail (that’ll be the mast thwart on a Dabber) is a powerful and controllable way to tension a vertical rope. The only way to get more power and control is if you use a .

People who add fairleads, or blocks This is made of oak and doesn't feel right to the system completely destroy but I don't know why. I’ve now got some its effectiveness. American Ash so they’ll be replaced. 15 Sweating up a I make a plea to new Drascombe (for most right handers) owners to take a couple of minutes to learn how to use a belaying pin and fife rail to tension and set your halyards. Get used to it and you 1. Grab the won’t want to be without it. halyard at shoulder Ÿ It’s so much harder to describe height with than to do. Ÿ You can “sweat” a rope with the left precision, a little or a lot at a time. hand and I even do it when hoisting the pull it main. Not for power but for straight precise location. Ÿ It can only be used for halyards, out. and other ropes, that are vertical. Ÿ Remember that to set some sails At the same on a square rigged mast the time tension halyards have to lift a heavy to which the sail is attached – not with the other just the sail. This is why they’re hand so the rope called halyards. does not slip Ÿ Some modern ropes can be very “slippery” – needing more turns around the pin. when "turning up" on a belaying pin. 2. Move the left hand back while pulling down. As you do this, take up the slack with the right hand – then back to No 1 and set up a smooth rhythm.

The halyard descends across the front of the fife rail and takes a turn around the lower part of the belaying pin.

16 For a year or so belaying pins and fife rails were part of my working life. With two persons sweating and one tailing you can raise heavy weights surprisingly quickly and with full control. As far as I am concerned it’s the ultimate physical teamwork and if you don’t feel the need to start up a sea shanty while doing it then you have no soul. This system has been tried and tested on all seas and in all conditions. It requires the fall to be vertical and relies on the friction as the rope turns under the rail and around the pin. Maths, and observation, will tell you that the first few inches of “sweating” a rope gives a very high mechanical advantage. It just works so well! It gets even better When you’ve sweated up your halyard, and turned it up on the pin, the ultimate means of holding the coil of rope securely, and releasing it almost instantly, is available to you.

Create a slipped loop Pull the loop through the coil

Hook the loop over the pin. (Often needing a twist on larger vessels) 17 Echo sounders A lot of my sailing in the Dabber is in shallow water. If I’m not off the coast then I’m either dodging rocks along the shore or leaving keel trails in the mud. Having an echo sounder is by no means essential but it does add to the fun.

Clipper Echo sounder in oak case.

Garmin Echo sounder in mahogany case. That's 1.9 feet!

It has changed my sailing though. With an echo sounder I’m more likely to stand on (slowly) in unfamiliar territory with one eye on the display – but it is my mud flat sailing where it literally, and figuratively, scores.

When the tide is in there’s not much of a problem with enough depth almost to the banks but at half tide you are constrained in an invisible channel bordered by acres of very flat mud just under the water. If you do sail into the mud on a full going ebb you’d need to get your act together very rapidly in order to get the boat off, especially if you’ve managed to land on a lee shore. It doesn’t take much to hold you there for the mere minutes required to be marooned. I learned all about this the hard way – at around the age of twelve. Time passes, oh so slowly, on a mudbank awaiting the flood tide.

It is surprisingly difficult to raise a centreboard out of just six inches of mud – almost impossible with any wind in the sails. There’s never enough time to get the sails down, and there won’t be enough water for oars or outboard. Jumping out and pushing is a reasonable option but it’s impossible to get the mud out of the boat for months.

So now there is no hesitation, I’ll tack when the echo sounder tells me to – that’ll be 3 feet on the flood or 4 feet on a spring ebb. Even then I’m certain the keel carves crescents in the mud at each tack. 18 Echo sounders are not expensive and don’t require much power – the problem is installing the transducer. The traditional method is to mount it in a faired block attached to the with a hole through the hull for the cable. There is a better and easier way. A transducer will work happily sending its acoustic signal through a solid GRP hull with negligible loss. It will not operate through air so you must install an oil bath for it to live in.

NASA echo sounder It’s not that often that I’m totally impressed by a boaty gadget but I certainly am in the case of the Clipper Depth Sounder made in the UK by NASA Marine Instruments. It costs a little over £100 and an in-hull transducer kit is available. This is the first echo sounder I fitted in the Dabber and I cheated with the transducer installation.

If you clean and lightly abrade the fibreglass you Not used now but too well can glue the transducer to the inside of the hull glued in to remove. very easily. The secret is to avoid trapping air in the glue so use some slow epoxy. It not really a case of mixing it – more like gently pushing it around! Create a circular dam of plasticene, gently fill it with epoxy and rest the transducer on it making sure it points straight down. Secure until set.

You can do a temporary test for a good location by using well chewed chewing gum – easy and works well. On the Dabber the hull rise in the middle of the boat is low so is suitable for gluing. Tight into the centreboard case gives enough clearance for the cable. The Clipper Depth display is simply superb. It’s over 4 inches square with large and very easy to read figures. The battery consumption is under 20 mA – this means that even a dry battery would probably last all season. I use a tiny sealed alarm battery which takes minutes to charge every few weeks but I’m sure a tiny PV panel would run it.

Even the chaps at NASA are friendly and helpful – and humorous. Fitting the NASA in-hull kit means cutting the bottom of a plastic tube to the rise angle of the hull in the intended location and bonding the tube in place. It is simple to do and I used one of their kits when I moved the echo sounder to another boat.

Garmin echo sounder I now have a Garmin Echo 100 Fish Finder in the Dabber. The depth indication is via small digits at the top of the screen which are just visible from right aft and the power consumption is 5 times that of the NASA. The reasons I changed to the Garmin were that I already had one from another boat and, more importantly, the shallow depth performance is amazing. It works accurately down to 1½ feet whereas the NASA goes down to about 3 feet. If I was not concerned about the extra 1½ feet I’d have certainly stayed with the NASA. 19 There is another reason to favour the NASA – the Garmin transducer is made for mounting on the transom and requires a custom oil bath if you fit it inside the hull. “Custom” is often a synonym for aggravating, time consuming and expensive but not in this case. Moulding an oil bath for the Garmin transducer was quick and easy.

The mould is a piece of plywood screwed Mould on a piece of 3 x 2 with body filler tooled along the join to form a curve. The whole thing was then covered in resin proof tape. Spare I used white gel coat so that the fluid level would be easier to see when the top was removed. off-cut Laminating resin is translucent – without Filler the white I would have been able to see the level from outside. Failed again!

I managed to locate this transducer well forward – if you use a depth sounder for shallow water pilotage it is nice to know the depth before you get to it.

Mast step The lid, made of hardwood, and with the transducer attached, is bolted onto the well using a neoprene . Always remove all antifouling on the hull in way of any echo sounder transducer.

You don’t need much fluid as you can see.

The cable normally wraps around the oil bath.

The liquid you put in the oil bath is not critical, water would do the job but it will evaporate. You can use baby oil, olive oil or almost anything but the best choice is propylene glycol. It’s the most innocuous fluid I have ever used, apart from water. It’s clean, doesn’t stain or smell and is even eco-friendly. Don't confuse it with ethylene glycol which is none of these things. Getting some propylene glycol was to prove interesting. I could get commercial quantities easily but only needed a few hundred ml. My search led me to a Vaping website which, I suspected, was devoted to deviant practices. It was – but not the ones I had in mind. Apparently propylene glycol is used with electronic-cigarettes and I bought 250 ml at a sensible price. I was asked to give a review and did just that, basing it upon, "The acoustic coupling properties of propylene glycol with respect to marine echo sounder transducers." I'd love to know how this went down with the Vapers – or should they be Vapours? 20 Shallow water makes life interesting.

You need to know what it's like underneath . . . . . before you can sail through with confidence.

This is a GPS plot at around half tide on the flood with the wind and tide against me. I was tacking the instant that the echo sounder showed 3 feet. I’ve always wondered just how accurate these dotted channel indicators were – they always look a little “guessed” to me. Now I know and I’m very impressed.

For the background to electronic charting AND all of the chart symbols I highly recommend this book.

Tacking angles cannot be taken from these tracks without removing tidal stream set and leeway. 21 Outboards The first outboard I had for the Dabber was a new Mercury 3.5. It fitted the boat perfectly and the increase in power, compared with the usual 2.5 hp, was occasionally useful when combating the Dabber’s windage. There was an intermittent fault with it which I don’t believe to be inherent with these engines. I’d buy another one. The new Yamaha 2.5 is a tight fit in the Dabber and cannot be set vertically – the bottom of the engine is too far back but only by about 2 degrees. This is not enough to affect performance but it is visible. The propeller is well clear of everything, including the rudder, but there is only about half an inch clearance between the shaft housing and the trunking. The support strut needed shortening by 8 mm before the engine would latch up.

This all means that the engine needs to be located exactly when clamping it on to the boat.

I turned up two nylon discs with recesses to fit the clamp washers and screwed the discs to the outboard bracket. They work wonderfully and have these advantages: ŸExact location of the engine every time. ŸNo clamp damage to the bracket. ŸThe clamps would have to undo many turns before the outboard could lift.

These engines do not fit down through the trunking so no security line is needed. The Yamaha moves the Dabber at 5 knots for about an hour on a tank of fuel. (0.9 litres)

Fuel cans These 2 litre plastic fuel containers are perfect and they come with a built in spout which works very well. They also clip neatly, and out of the way, on the for’d bulkheads of the bow storage. The engine fuel tank takes 0.9 litres so I have about 5 litres on board when I sail. I’ve only had to top up from these containers once so I assume that fuel is going to be there all season. For this reason I add fuel conditioner and only change the fuel once a year. 22 Stowage There’s not a lot of stowage space on my Dabber – modern ones might be better but I have two open compartments on either bow and a stern locker. Some people call this stern locker a lazarette but all the lazarettes I’ve had to crawl into head first had an access hatch on deck. This locker has a lot of volume but much of it is unusable because of the shape – a collection of plastic containers makes it useable though. Don't put a cleat here

Large fender Large fender

Fuel can Fuel can

Small anchor Forward lockers Large anchor

With a monstrous lump of outboard weighing down the port quarter, and mucking up the trim, any heavy stores need to be forward and preferably to starboard. The heaviest things I carry are anchors and fuel. Anchors drop into the for’d stowage compartments with the larger one stowed on the starboard side to counteract the outboard. Fenders are great multipurpose items. Apart from protecting topsides they float and can buoy trip lines or snagged anchors. They could also serve as lifebuoys. I’ve had to deploy a lifebuoy twice (from ships not yachts) and I like to have quick access to something that floats and is easily thrown. I carry four fenders, two 4 inch and two 6 inch. The bigger ones are each held in place by a single piece of shockcord attached, diagonally, from a mast thwart bolt to a shroud bolt and are very easy to remove and replace. The 4” fenders (Plastimo 10 by 40) fit under the bottom boards in the stern – they don’t get in the way and are quick and easy to get to via the removable mid board. It does pay to secure the ends of the lanyards to the fenders to prevent them blocking the limber holes through the floors. Burgee Stowing the burgee while trailering is a problem. I could put it in the car but I’d forget it. While they are reasonably robust you can’t place anything on top of them. The stowage solution for me was to fit a second clip to the makers name board on the inside of the transom. This works perfectly. 23 I should have stirred myself to take more photographs in windier conditions but it's so much easier to be bothered when the weather is like this.

We're on the way to play in the fresh water.

In these quiet conditions the wind disappears as you move into the narrow river valley and good exercise ensues.

A rowing boat.

The boat is tidy, everything is stowed and it’s probably moving at around 3½ knots.

I’m in the middle of half a square mile of mud flat with two feet of keel clearance. There would not be a lot of water here at low tide.

The only human activity, even in the holiday season, will be the occasional tractor visible on a distant hillside or someone in a kayak.

24 Final thoughts on Dabbers Ÿ I wouldn’t normally choose a gunter, lug or except for the fact that the mast is short enough to lay inside a boat whilst trailing. Ÿ I did consider buying a yacht but all the harbours are ruined. You can’t nip in and anchor for the evening any more. You’ll be assailed by a harbour master’s assistant trying to control your life and asking for money. I called into lovely Dartmouth the other day (by road) and discovered it has become one big, hideous, marina. Ÿ If I ignore the cost of petrol for the towing car, which isn’t much in any case, the Dabber is the cheapest thing to run that I own. I pay no fees or dues and use less than a gallon of fuel a year. Outboard servicing doesn’t get any simpler or cheaper – plug, impeller, oil and a gasket or two. The valve clearances need checking every couple of years but it’s Japanese so they never go out of specs. Ÿ The modifications I’ve made to this Dabber cost a little but that’s all done now. Ÿ It is just so darned convenient. It lives, under cover, alongside my workshop. Ÿ The Dabber is such a doddle to launch, recover, tow and move around on land. Ÿ The Dabber is a pleasure to sail and is surprisingly speedy. Ÿ The Dabber is well made. Ÿ The Dabber is a very good sea boat. Ÿ I’ve never owned anything that gets photographed so often. Ÿ The Dabber is so versatile. It rows, sails and motors and I can tow it where I want. Ÿ I am most impressed with it and I will keep it. However, I would not want a Dabber with the original rudder, tiller or mainsheet.

The End

Anchors 14 Fenders 23 Outboards 22 Belaying pins 15 Fuel 22 Painters 15 Bowsprit 1 Furling Gear 4 & 6 Reefing 11 Burgee 10 & 23 GPS plot 13 & 21 Rowing 6 Cleats 7 AHalyards rowing boat. 16 Sails 9 Downhaul 9 Knots 8 Short tacking 13 Echo sounders 18 Mast stow 5 Stowage 23

If you ask someone who knows me, they will tell you that I have enjoyed doing the work on the boat. This is true. If you ask someone who knows me well, they will tell you that if I am working on the boat I don’t have to do any building work. This is also true. For example, there are two ceilings which have needed plastering for four years – this is the length of time I’ve owned the Dabber and it isn’t as if I don’t like plastering. Oh well! 25 If one person has found any of this useful then it was worth doing.

If I can add any detail or help anyone then please contact me.

I’d welcome constructive and reasoned comments. (but not about women or plastering) Part 1 Rudders Part 2 Tillers and Booms Part 3 Belaying Pins, Bowsprits and Echo Sounders

David Tornberg – [email protected] 26