[Public-List] Some “Innovative” Ideas?

[Daniel Swords]

Dear Moderator,
 I hope this is not too long and boring to post. If it is too long let me know and I will resubmit a condensed version.  These are some things I find useful on my Alberg 30:    
   -  I removed all my amazingly heavy interior boat cushions. The hard surfaces on the settees of my liner boat make much more functional storage/working surfaces then the cushions and now I have much easier access to the locker spaces below. My V-berth area is now more of a utility room storage area and my starboard berth is now an extension of my galley (with an Engel refrigerator which I love) and a chart table. If you don’t need to sleep 4 on the boat why have all those cushions, and I think my boat floats about 1/2” higher without them.  
   -   I replaced the port settee cushion with a Coleman single air mattress (Part #20000216). It fits perfectly, is much lighter than the original cushion, is much easier to move out of the way when accessing the locker space below, and it is great for floating around on when anchored or at a beach. Also, a fitted single bed sheet fits nicely but I use extra large beach towels for bed linens. They also fit nicely and securely and as a bonus they allow the extra flexibility of changing my interior decor by simply changing the covering towel (a nice touch) and of course provide the dual function of being a beach towel.  
   -  I keep an Aere heavy duty inflatable dinghy beach roller on board for use as a fender  . They are very rugged (made for rolling over gravely beaches), about 5 ft long and easily inflated for use or deflated for storage. Because they are long they can be stretched horizontally along the side of the boat and used for protection against pilings without needing fender boards, plus they could serve the dual purpose of having beach rollers if ever needed.  
   -  I use a Leveco dry flush toilet (available from Home Depot by mail order). My boat had a Porta-Potty instead of a holding tank and I don’t believe there is space for a composting head?  The Leveco is connected to my house battery. You can google to get the details on how it functions, mine works great and I have had no oder issues and it is very light. Also it can serve as a food waste garbage disposal. Admittedly I mostly day sail so it doesn’t get a lot of use but I like it much better than emptying the Porta-Potty.  
   -  My lazy jib sheet was never lazy, it was always very industrious at finding ways to snag on the forward hatch or the halyard winches and cleats on the mast when tacking, causing me to have to abandon the tiller and rush to the mast to battle a flogging genoa. So I ran a single 5/16” double braid line from the mast at the height of the halyard winches to the stem at deck level which I keep taught with a truckers hitch. The height and slope of the line keeps the lazy sheet off the deck and away from the mast so it no longer snags on anything when tacking, and it makes a great support when working at the mast (raising or reefing the main) and a secure handhold when making the “leap of faith” from the mast to the bow pulpit.  
   -  I have replaced many of my SS schackles with dyneema soft shackles.  I first replaced the SS shackle on my topping lift to stop the rattling noise when the topping lift was loosened but left attached. Next I replaced the SS shackles on the mainsheet blocks at both the boom and the mainsheet traveler, mostly just as a test to see how strong and chafe resistant the soft shackles are (no problems after a year of use and flogging in up to 40 mph winds). Then I used one to attach my jib sheets to my 150 genoa.  I attach each sheet with a buntline hitch to the soft shackle to avoid using bowlines which would occasionally hang up on the shrouds and yet still be able to easily detach the sheets from the clew without the danger of using a hard shackle. Now I use them anywhere I might otherwise use a shackle and have yet to have any problems or chafing issues. I say “simple soft shackles” because most people tie pretty difficult (for me) and elaborate stopper knots at the end of their shackles due to concern with the slippery nature of dyneema. I use just a simple overhand knot as a stopper knot and mine has never slipped, rolled, or otherwise failed. A figue 8 of course would also work. I wouldn’t use my simple soft shackle to hang a boson chair from but it seems to work fine in every application I have used. BTW, I use super glue on the cut end of the line to prevent fraying, heating doesn’t work.  
   -  I have gotten very good at setting up sheet to tiller self steering and can move about my boat without touching or adjusting the tiller for hours. So much nicer for single handed sailing than lashing the tilller. My system uses only two small dinghy blocks, several soft shackles, probably about 10 ft of 3/16” double braid, and up to four West Marine 12” rubber/plastic bungees (which I highly recommend for strength and durability). Difficult to explain the details but if you can find a copy of the book “Self Steering for Sailing Craft” by John S Letcher, Jr buy it immediately. It used to be available as a free PDF online but I can no longer find it and I may have purchased the last affordable used copy from Amazon. It is a great book and the Alberg 30 is the perfect boat for this.  It takes some practice to become proficient but it works from sailing on a close reach to a broad reach. A wind vane would be better but I can’t afford one. One caution, the boat sails an apparent wind course, not a compass course so you need to keep track of your heading on inland waters.  
   -  Klein Tools canvas bags - I use their model #5471 electrode holders for holding winch handles (perfect fit), their model 5104MINI bucket which I hang inside near my companion way for holding scissors, a couple of screw drivers, pliers, a butane lighter, etc which keeps these often used tools immediately available, and a model 5109 large collapsible canvas bucket (proabably two gallon size?) for everything a collapsible bucket might be used for. These are heavy duty canvas and though not designed for marine use (they use galvanized instead of SS rivets) they hold up very well. If they start to get a little mildewed just spritz them with some dilute bleach and they will look new again in minutes.  
   -  I recently purchased some Davis shroud mounted Wind-Tels #1260. I thought these might be either among the dumbest or among the best things I ever bought. I mounted mine on the aft lower shrouds and I love them. A strip of Dacron or some yarn will do the same job but these last longer, never tangle up, and look classier.  
 Daniel Swords Solitude #523 Mandeville, LA 
 
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