Teflon sail slides

During the last sailing of this season one more sail slide snapped. They all are very old and Nylon, after 60 years of service, is giving up. I don’t have any more spares - it is impossible to buy these nowadays, my sail rail is of old and unusual design.
Sail slides which I got with new mainsail do not work smooth enough, even after re-work, so I’ve decided to make my own slides.

To minimise friction I’ve decided to use Teflon instead of Nylon. Not only it lubricates itself but also is hydrophobic, very resistant to heat and UV and is very pleasant to work with.

My first attempt failed - the opening for rail was too small and the whole piece too thin (I’ve made it from a scrap piece laying in the workshop).

The second version works much better: even though I don’t have wide enough router bit to make the cuts deep enough for rail width I used the Teflon ability to withstand temperature and bent it while routing - hence enabling me to reach deeper into the material than the bit normally allows.

Today I tried it on the mast and it fits. Slides as if running on oiled aluminium!

It is still in “raw” shape - edges need to be rounded, track opening made slightly wider and routing for sail shackle is not yet there - but these are small things to be fixed in a couple of minutes.

Right now I just need this one to rise the mainsail but given that the rest of my nylon slides will fail soon I will manufacture the complete set.

Owatrol. Oiling "Glypto"

I’ve started oiling my little dinghy with Owatrol D1.
More pictures here.

Misty waterfront

Night visit in the boatyard. I checked if the oiling proceeds, adjusted the flow and then sat in the boat - just because I could.

The rain stopped but the night is misty and foggy.

The boat is empty inside - before coming work - and I was looking onto all the things I want to repair or modify. At such moments it seems a daunting task to maintain an old boat.

I’m seriously considering building a new boat - a daysailer/beach boat, Caledonia yawl. Not only to have a smaller, open boat for short trips but also to have a NEW WOODEN BOAT. OffCenterHarbour has a 40-part video series about building it. WoodenBoat also covered that in old issues so information is there - just buy the plans and start working.

The only thing which stops me is a concern that having two boats will cause one of them to be seldom sailed.

Before heading home I went to the waterfront, to look onto boats still in water. Weather started to deteriorate and thick fog rose from the ground.

I drove home slowly.

Sjöhistoriska. Boat plans

I contacted Swedish Maritime Museum (Sjöhistoriska) to get building plans of my boat. No problem!

All Arvid Laurin’s drawings have been digitalised and are available in Digital Archive . I found drawings of my boat (SXK Lottbåt 1956 - her sister-boat) and downloaded low-resolution scans. After examining them I decided that I want high-resolution version which I can print 1:1 and use during my renovations.

No problem either! After few days the museum contacted me and I got links to download .TIFF high-resolution plans.

View fullsize

I went to our local shop with engineering supplies and got them all printed on thick, high-quality photo paper. It’s not exactly cheap - Sjöhistoriska is charging for hi-resolution scans and printouts were not free either - but it is one-time investment and I think it’s worth it.

What a joy to study!

Staining Glypto. Oil circulation

Work with Glypto is progressing - more about it here

I hope to be done soon with the dinghy so the workshop can be free for woodwork needed for Meritaten.

After finishing for today with Glypto I headed to Meritaten to check if oiling goes as planned. It turned out that jugs were already almost empty so I had to drain the bilge and re-fill the jugs. At least 1 liter is gone - which means it is now inside wood.

I adjusted the flow - to slow it down even further - and after ritual of burning oil-soaked paper towels I headed home for the night.