HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: francis@oas.stanford.edu (Francis Muir)
Subject: Splices vs Bends
Organization: Stanford Exploration Project
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 15:46:45 GMT

My Freedom 21 came with several lines finished with eye-splices. In
aperticular, there was one at the end of the mainsheet that was attached
to the fiddle (?) on the main block. The problem was that that there was
so much length to the splice that the sheet had a problem getting round
another block when I was hauled right in. I then rtealized how much I
really disliked splices in braided line. So, I turned the line around,
rerplaced the eye-splice with a carrick bend, and got margaret to execute
one of her super whipping jobs to the (bitter?) end. It looks better,
and its pretty obvious how good it is; I can never tell with braid splices
just what they're up to. I'm going to go round the rest of the fittings
replacing eye-splices with Carricks. The carrick bend, by the way, is
my favorit (and only!) bend, and I'm surprised it is not more used.

Gybe Ho!

Francis Muir on FELIX
Redwood city
Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: francis@oas.stanford.edu (Francis Muir)
Subject: Loops vs Splices
Organization: Stanford Exploration Project
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 18:16:11 GMT

Let me back up a bit and add some precision to an earlier posting of mine.
My problem is that I have a traveller which is midships, not far below
the boom. The mainsheet was eye-spliced to the becket of a swivelling
fiddle block with built-in cam and hexarachet -- Harken's finest. The 
sheet then passes up to a block on the boom above and slightly behind, 
down through the top pulley, round and up to another boom block just
forward, and finally down and round the lower pulley and out through the
cam -- a classic 4-part setup. The problem was that the eye-splice was so
long that it wanted to run through the aft boom block but could not
because of the extra thickness in the line. This particularly true with
the boom lowered into the lazy jacks.

The loop (ah, at last I have found the proper word!) I used was basedf
on a variation of the Carrick Bend  which first appeared, unnamed, in
the *Ashley Book of Knots* in 1944. In his book *The Alternative Knot
Book* (an excellent little book -- well worth getting), Dr Harry Asher
christens this variant the Corrick Bend, and then discusses its use as
a loop (the Carrick proper can also be used for this purpose), and calls
it the Corrick Loop. It is my one loop and bend. I like the way it
comes back on itself, on the way that it comes apart, and the way it
looks. For permanent situations I always seize the end back.

Now, Loops versus splices. Yes, I've read all the books and I've got Brian
Toss and all that, and I still dont like splices. The figures for strength
seem to have been copied from book to book to book, and absolutely no
evidence of any kind is produced. When I see an eye-splice tightly
wrapped round a becket I know it is not that strong -- nor would a knot
be of similar curvature. But in any case the Carrick and its variants have
minimum bending, which is why they can look a bit bulky.

In afct, the question of ultimate strength very rarely comes up. Spinnaker
controls I guess are one situation. I want just two things from a knot.
First it must hold, and second it must be untieable. The bowline on
double braided line is a disastewr waiting to happen as is well-known to
climbers of any seriousness. Yes, there are bowline variations, but
why bother when the carrick does the job?

Unrepentantly

Francis Muir
FELIX
Redwood City
Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: mbb@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (martin.brilliant)
Subject: Re: Changing a name
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1992 19:40:54 GMT

From article <144@cherise.UUCP>, by bobp@cherise.UUCP (Robert Parkinson):
> In article <1992Sep03.214158.17174@ans.net> hagens@news.ans.net (Robert Hagens) writes:
>>A simple question for all of you: If you buy a used boat, and want to change 
>>the name, is this bad luck?
>>Rob Hagens
> 
> No. I think it's bad luck to change the name after you've owned a boat
> for a while.

Of all the boats I owned, two where big enough to insure.  I changed
the name of the first one when I bought it, the other I left with the
same name.  Both were so badly damaged in accidents that I collected
the full amount of the insurance.  Go figure.

I've never changed the name of a boat after owning it for a while.
Nor have I ever had a serious accident in a boat that wasn't insured.
Maybe insuring a boat is bad luck.

							Marty
marty@hoqaa.att.com		hoqaa!marty
Martin B. Brilliant		(Winnertech Corporation)	
Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: stefan@leland.Stanford.EDU (Stefan Michalowski)
Subject: Wind - the movie
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 17:11:10 GMT

Anyone who wants to see the new movie "Wind" had better do so quickly.
This tub is about to sink at the dock.  "Wind" (or is it "Gas"?)  has
some great footage of 12-meter boats bashing through the waves like
overwrought rhinoceroses. Unfortunately, these scenes make up a mere
10% of the movie. The rest is devoted to a plot of intense stupidity,
concoted out of pure cornpone and steeped in hogwash like an old piece
of salt horse.  The Hero and Heroine are detestable yuppies, straight
out of "Top Gun" by way of a Lite Beer commercial. They set out to win
the America's Cup. He says things like "If you believe in your
destiny, you just have to go out and believe in it.". She has nice
legs, a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering, and says things like "This
idea is so crazy it just might work." (ok, I made that last bit up).
He's so sensitive that, before deciding on the final shape of the
hull, he goes out into the desert to scream. The audience knows
exactly how he feels. When it's time for the final Cup race, everyone
is rooting for the Australians, whose skipper is (unintenionally) the
only likeable character in the movie

One breast. No dead bodies. Petroglyph fu. Ripped spinnaker fu.
Dry-humping afterguard fu. Gratuitous Puccini aria. Gratuitous North
Sails logo.  Print ad has mast mounted backwards on boat. No Stars 
(great International 14s, though). Joe Bob says go sailing instead.
Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: "JIMI000/Jim Ingraham" <JIMI@UNB.CA>
Subject: Re: Changing a name
Organization: The University of New Brunswick
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 12:37:24 GMT

Two methods which have worked well for me: 1.  For self adhesive
letters, apply some heat (eg. hairdryer) and usually the letters will
peel off with no harm to the gelcoat.

2.  For painted letters, try oven cleaner (the pads work best and don't
drip or run).  It does a very good job with relatively little elbow
grease and does not scratch or harm the gelcoat.

Jim.
>
>No, no. But it can be a problem to get the old lettering off.
>Good hints, anyone? The letters on my (recently aquired) boat
>look like they are of the self-sticking type, but they have
>proven very hard to remove. Of course, one would prefer to
>keep the gelcoat unhurt.
>
>--
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Ole Swang     assistant lecturer, Dept. of Chemistry, U. of Oslo
>oles@ulrik.uio.no
>------------------  ._.. ._ ..___ ._ __..   ---------------------------
>
>.
>.

Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: stefan@helios.physics.utoronto.ca (Stefan Mochnacki)
Subject: Re: Around the world books
Organization: University of Toronto Physics/Astronomy/CITA
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 04:41:49 GMT



Re: Posting from Minh:

>I'm looking for some books relating to around the world voyages made
>by contemporary individuals.  I'm curious about the preparations that
>go into such trips ( mental, physical, materials etc ).  Activities to
>keep one's sanity.


Here are some titles, with comments:

"Sailing Alone Around the World", Joshua Slocum (1899): a great classic,
       beautifully written. (Make sure it's the full version).

"Joshua Slocum", Walter Teller (1956,1971). Biography of Slocum. I think
	it illuminates and enriches one's reading of the above.

"Gypsy Moth Circles the World", Sir Francis Chichester (1968): another classic,
	of a solo cicumnavigation in a fast but vicious boat,
	best read together with:

"The Lonely Sea and the Sky", Sir Francis Chichester (1964). Excellent auto-
	biography of the great adventurer. Includes transatlantic voyages, and
	his pioneering first flight (NOT non-stop!) across the Tasman Sea.

"At One with the Sea", Naomi James (1978). A young woman single-handing a
	rather large boat while her husband skippered in the Whitbread.

"Come Hell or High Water", Clare Francis. A very small woman racing
	single-handed across the Atlantic.

"Come Wind or Weather", Clare Francis (1979). Same author skippering
	a Swan 65 in the Whitbread.

"The Sea Gets Bluer", Peter Heaton (1965). A good survey of cruising
	and circumnavigation literature. 

"Maiden Voyage", Tania Aebi (~1988). Excellent (mentioned already on the
	net). 18-year circumnavigating westward in a Contessa 26.

"All in the Same Boat" and "Still in the Same Boat", Paul Howard and
	Fiona McCall (late 80's). Excellent story of family of four
	circumnavigating in a 30' steel junk-rigged boat. I reviewed
	this in rec.boats a few months ago.

_______________________________________________________________________

This is a rather eclectic collection, since my local library is limited,
to say the least. There are many interesting non-circumnavigation, non-solo
sailing and cruising books out there, by excellent writers such as Tristan
Jones, the Hiscocks, the Pardeys, Knox-Johnson etc. etc. There's a bunch of
survival books, such as the one by the Baileys ("117 Days Adrift") and
a similar one by Dougal Robertson ("Survive the Savage Sea"), both about
1973. The Baileys built another boat and sailed around Patagonia ("Second
Chance: Voyage to Patagonia"), which makes an interesting contrast with
Slocum's earlier account.
_______________________________________________________________________


-- 
Stefan W. Mochnacki          INTERNET - stefan@centaur.astro.utoronto.ca
Astronomy, U. of Toronto     UUCP - {uunet,pyramid}!utai!helios.physics!stefan
Ph. (416) 884-9562           BITNET - mochnacki@utorphys.bitnet 
FAX (416) 884-2672	     LOCATION - David Dunlap Observatory 
Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: walter@watson.ibm.com (Walter Wilson)
Subject: Re: Bayliner myths: a challenge
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 14:40:44 GMT
Distribution: usa
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
Organization: IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

>> Sailboats are a bit different in this regard, because of their
>> odd shape, low power, etc..

I can't help shedding a tear or two whenever I'm out sailing
with my family and I see the gleam in my 10 year old daughter's
eyes when a big power boat goes by.  She likes to drive, but
only when we are under power. The throttle goes all the way.
(That's usually about 6-8 kts).  It's enough to break
a Dad's heart.

-- 

  Walter G. Wilson  (walter@watson.ibm.com)
  The opinions expressed here are my own.

  "My plans for the year all laid out...
   Ah... A dream in Springtime "
     -- Shodo (Go Seigen)
From: Laughlin.Hughes@f764.n153.z1.fido.zeta.org.au (Laughlin Hughes)
Newsgroups: rec.boats
Subject: advice for Hobie mast rep
Date: 4 Sep 92 09:25:00 GMT

SU/From: GC.SUL@forsythe.stanford.edu (Sullivan)
  /Organization: Stanford University, California, USA
SU/I have an old Hobie 16 I bought CHEAP, that works just fine for me.
SU/I assume (perhaps wrongly) that the mast should not be absolutely
  /water tight.  Upon tipping the boat over, in the time it takes to

        Mike.  I've always believed that a *new* Hobie mast was
watertight.  I DO remember watching a Hobie mast float beside the
dock once.  It was watertight, though that was back in the early
`80's...

        A watertight mast will help resist turtling, and if the
boat DOES turtle, make it a LOT easier to pull up onto its side.

        Cheers
        Laughlin Hughes
        Tornado KC234
        Toronto

 * OLX 2.2 * I may be all wet but I love my Tornado!
From: dbk@phx.mcd.mot.com (Dave Kinzer)
Subject: Antifreeze
Followup-To: rec.boats
Summary: Preferred kind?
Reply-To: teroach!dbk@phx.mcd.mot.com (Dave Kinzer)
Organization: Motorola Analog Integrated Circuits Division
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 20:39:12 GMT

   I seem to recall that there was some discussion about two kinds of
antifreeze, the evil green kind (ethelyne glycol), and the environmentaly
friendly pink kind.  I am interested in the pink kind, where to get it, and
if it helps prevent corrosion (not much likelyhood of a freeze here.)

   There probably should be a section on net.recommended products in the
FAQ.

Thanks for your comments,
Dave


Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: belanger_d@apollo.HP.COM (David Belanger)
Subject: Boat for Sail 
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 13:42:17 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Exeter, NH
Keywords: for sale

            FOR SAIL

22 Foot Trailerable Venture Sailboat

Perfect for weekend getaways

Equipment includes:
   New 9.9 HP Electric Start Evinrude
   Hummingbird Depth Sounder
   Polaris Depth Sounder
   Trail-rite Trailer
   Plus much more!

Price:    $3900

Call Jeff at (603) 433 - 6189

The boat is at Little Harbor in Rye, NH



Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: dbyrne@ldgo.columbia.edu (deidre byrne)
Newsgroups: rec.boats
Subject: knots
Date: 10 Sep 92 21:29:44 GMT
Organization: Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory

This from francis@oas.stanford.edu:

> I want just two things from a knot.
> First it must hold, and second it must be untieable.

Un-tie-able, huh?  Some people like a challenge.  Me,
I prefer knots I can tie!!

Sorry, folks, couldn't resist.

------------------------------------------------------------------
"There are more things in    dbyrne@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu  
Heaven and Earth, Horatio,   Deirdre Byrne
than are dreamt of           202-A Oceanography  
in your philosophy."         Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory
                             Palisades, NY 10964
Hamlet I, v, 166             (914) 359-2900 x545
From: bwb1@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (BRENT W. BENSON)
Newsgroups: rec.boats
Subject: Re: Overheating problem
Date: 7 Sep 92 23:28:48 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

In article <1992Sep7.152134.6105@cs.brown.edu>, jfh@cs.brown.edu (John F. Hughes
) writes:
>I have a problem. Perhaps describing it as an overheating problem is
>prejudicial, so let me just describe the circs:
>well---it's nice and tight, and there's no trace of looseness in the
>wire-terminal joint either. Looks good.
>
The temp gauge has a sender as well as a meter, with connections also at that
end.  Check these as well as the ground.
From: stripes@eb5ts4.EBay.Sun.COM (Greg Butterfield)
Newsgroups: rec.boats
Subject: Plastic Gas Tank.
Date: 9 Sep 1992 19:47:46 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.  Mt. View, Ca.
Distribution: usa
Reply-To: stripes@eb5ts4.EBay.Sun.COM (Greg Butterfield)
NNTP-Posting-Host: eb5ts4.ebay.sun.com

Stupid question for you folks out in net land....

 I just bought a plastic gas tank for my boat and noticed when I have it 
stored and siting in the sun, the tank gets ALOT of air stuck in it and bloats
the tank out to a big round pregnant tank. should I keep the air valve
open while storing the boat or will the air affect the gas in any way?
Is it dangerous to keep the air valve open??

Thanks!!

-Greg

Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: spencer@panix.com (David Spencer)
Subject: Re: Changing a name
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 17:26:25 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC

Francis Muir writes:

>David Spencer writes:

>	On the other hand, a US submarines sank the Japanese freighters 
>	_America Maru_ and _California Maru_. They were US-flagged ships 
>	siezed in far eastern harbors at the start of the war -- and not 
>	renamed.

>What! You mean they were named * Maru in America! I am incredulous. I
>suggest that if the Japs had not tacked on the "Marus" they might be

Sorry for my terminological inexactitude. I should have said, "sank
the Marus _America_ and _California_"

dhs
Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: dmb@IEDV4.acd.com ( Dave Barker )
Subject: Book "Maiden Voyage"
Organization: Applied Computing Devices, Inc., Terre Haute IN
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 21:46:23 GMT

	I have just finished reading a book called "Maiden Voyage",
	about a (then) 19 year old girl who sails around the world
	by herself. The voyage took about two and a half years total
	and the book was published (I think) in 1989. 
	I was just wondering if anybody else out there had read the
	book and what their impressions were. To me, it was a very
	inspiring account of a brave, but unsure (of herself, or at
	least what she wanted out of life) young girl. There was a 
	ghost writer for the book, but I had the feeling that a lot
	of what was written came directly from Anabi's(sp?) head. The
	book mentioned she was/is an aspiring writer and the quality
	really came across in the book.

	Any comments?
From: tarkkone@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Lauri Tarkkonen)
Newsgroups: rec.boats
Subject: Re: Splices vs Bends
Date: 9 Sep 92 17:10:27 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki

In <1992Sep9.131028.12680@prl.dec.com> bonnet@prl.dec.com (Christophe Bonnet) writes:


>> I would think that the appropriate knot (or bend) here would be the Bowline.
>> Personally, I would use an eye splice - it is stronger and neater than any
>> knot.  If you are really concerned about it slipping, you can put several
>> stitches through the splice, and a whipping over them.

> I guess strongness is the real point here. A bowline knot can stand 50%
>of the maximum load of the line, when a splice is around 80%. That could
>make a lot of difference in critical situation.
> The problem is that it's quite impossible to do splices on "modern"
>ropes (polyester ones). In this case (for example, to put a snap hook at
>the end of an halyard), I use another knot, stronger than the bowline.
>The black point is that, after several days of use, this knot is really
>painfull to undo (just like splices, after all). Unfortunately, I don't
>know the English name of that knot.. the french one is "noeud de Capucin".


>      Christophe.

>===========================

>Christophe Bonnet
>70 bld de Port-Royal
>75005 PARIS (France)

I do not understand the problem with the splices. I use knots (often
bowlines) on temporary fastenings, but all snapshackles and end of
ropes to blocks etc. that are of more permanent nature are spliced,
never has a splice failed so far. 

In the literature the splices are regarded stronger than the knots.
This is of course a argument, but to me they are neater and more 
seamanlike so I prefer them to knots. The only real problem with
the splice in a modern polyester rope with two layers is that
if you make a proper splice it is impossible to undo, you must 
cut the rope to remove it from the block or snapshackle.

If you want to learn to do the splices buy some books and the 
splicing tools. I have used a couple of plastic splicing tool
sets, but fortunately I learned that you can get some made of
aluminium or stainles steel, and even if they cost about
four times as much as the plastic ones I am going to buy them.

Make you boat shipshape with proper splices!

- Lauri Tarkkonen
Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: GC.SUL@forsythe.stanford.edu (Sullivan)
Subject: Hobie mast repaired - thanks much!
Organization: Stanford University, California, USA
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 15:08:02 GMT

Thanks a lot folks for the mast repair advice.  I bought a rivet gun
for $8.75 and a couple different rivet sizes.  the 1/2 inch 3/16
rivets did the trick quite nicely.  It was as easy as you all said
and certainly going to be more effective in the long run than my
mistakenly planned welding job.

Now if I can hang on to my drain plugs I'm ready to go again.  (I
lost one this weekend going to nearby Clear Lake on a fantastic
Hobie day. The wind was too strong to take any chances jury rigging
something for it.  I could see myself foundered 4 miles from any
shore. Dang.)

Mike

From: ben@hpcvra.cv.hp.com (Benjamin Ellsworth)
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 17:21:42 GMT
Subject: Re: Loops vs Splices
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Corvallis, OR, USA
Newsgroups: rec.boats


> ... The figures for strength seem to have been copied from book to
> book to book, and absolutely no evidence of any kind is produced.

I don't know what you classify as evidence, but Mr. Ashley mentions
actual testing of the knots in a jig of sorts.

> When I see an eye-splice tightly wrapped round a becket I know it is
> not that strong -- nor would a knot be of similar curvature.

My reading of Ashley brings me to a differing conclusion.  Read the
part where he describes *where* the knots fail.  It seems to be the
constriction as much as the curvature which weakens the line.

> In afct, the question of ultimate strength very rarely comes up.

Thank goodness.  However I would question just how rarely.
Unintentional jibes put some amazing shock loads on the mainsail
rigging.  Halyard loading on foresails can also get pretty
significant when high power backstay tension is used to straighten the
luff.

---

Ben
From: bobp@cherise.UUCP (Robert Parkinson)
Newsgroups: rec.boats
Subject: Re: Around the World books??
Date: 4 Sep 92 13:44:02 GMT
Reply-To: bobp@sandr.com (Robert Parkinson)
Organization: S&R Software, Incorporated

In article <1992Sep2.163910.1@ttd.teradyne.com> nguyen@ttd.teradyne.com writes:
>Your recommendations are appreciated.  BTW, I once noticed an autobiography
>about an 18 yrs old girl making such journey in a 26' sail boat a couple of 
>years ago.  However I don't remember the exact title or the name of the 
>individual.

Her name is Tania Aebi. The boat was a Contessa 26, which looks like
a good strong boat to me. She made it around the world, and learned
celestial nav on the first leg. Simply amazing; I'm not sure if
she ever really mastered navigation, but she got home.

Bob
-- 
[ Bob Parkinson                                 S&R Software, Incorporated ]
[ bobp@sandr.com                                              410.628.9241 ]
Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: harlan@crchh347.bnr.ca (Bruce Harlan)
Subject: Re: blow_____ (boats)
Organization: BNR, Inc.
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 22:07:57 GMT

I think the general idea here is:	
Regardless of your particular method of enjoying the water,
don't be a jerk. Use your head. Think. Learn. Enjoy.
Any Questions?

Bruce
Standard disclaimers, etc. You know the routine.
Newsgroups: rec.boats
From: gerard@progress.COM (Gerard Bras)
Subject: Re: A Boat Book
Organization: Progress Software Corp.
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 17:28:55 GMT

jfh@cs.brown.edu (John F. Hughes) writes:

>I've just picked up a new book about boats, called "The Nature of Boats,"
>by Dave Gerr, International Marine, an imprint of TAB, a division of McGraw 
>Hill, $29.95 ISBN 0-87742-289-3. 

>It's great.

I'll second that.  I got it as vacation reading and it's really a remarkably
well done book.  If you like boats, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
BTW it covers power and sail about equally so this is really a general 
interest kind of thing.

While I'm at it, I also got "100 Small Boat Rigs" by Phil Bolger.  It describes
pretty much every way of putting sails on small craft that can be made to stand
up.  It's not very analytical but there is a wealth of anecdotal material.
I got lots of enjoyment and info out of it.  The author is a local (Gloucester, Ma)
who's doing boats since Noah's time.

cheers,
gerard
>-John