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A Simple Solution for Cal 40 OwnersMay 13, 2009 – Cal 40 Land
Stan Honey is one of the three most admired and respected sailors to ever come out of Northern California, and he and wife Sally Lindsay-Honey are also Cal 40 owners. So when he says he has good news for Liz Clark, who discovered a mysterious leak beneath the engine of her Cal 40 Swell, and all other Cal 40 owners, you can rest assured that he knows what he's talking about. "Sally's and my Cal 40 Illusion, and many other Cal 40s, have had the same leaking problem that Liz is having with Swell. Fortunately, it's an easy repair that does not require removing the engine. Basically, when the Cal 40s were molded, it wasn't possible for the laminators to get much glass into the really skinny part of the trailing edge of the keel just below the hull and above the propeller shaft log. So the boats sometimes develop a weep there. The fix is pretty easy, but has to be done from outside the boat. For the same reason that the original laminators couldn't do a good job from the inside, it still isn't possible to do a good glass job from the inside. The solution is to haul the boat and, from the outside, grind away all of the dicey glass work that is on the trailing edge of the keel above the shaft log until you get to solid laminate. Then you get West System epoxy, roving, and mat, and laminate it back up to the original shape using plenty of roving. As I recall, it's only a two- or three-day job, but as it's structural, it would be good to have somebody do it who is good with glass. The fact that Cal 40s have solid, rather than cored, hulls makes it pretty easy." - latitude / rs
All the King's Horses . . . and ShipsMay 13, 2009 – The World As if AIS — Automatic Identification System — isn’t already the coolest navigation/safety tool since the compass, we recently found a link that makes it the coolest ‘video game’ since Tetris. If you go to www.marinetraffic.com/ais, you will find that you can track every ship currently broadcasting on AIS in many of the world's busiest areas. (Oddly, some very busy areas, such as Panama, are not yet represented.) With an estimated 40,000 ships now using the system, that's a lot of tracking. If you're unfamiliar with AIS, the Class A transponders that ships are required to carry broadcast an amazing amount of information — name, flag, position, speed, course, type of cargo (some even include a photo of the ship) — in a signal that can be picked up and displayed on most electronic chart systems if you have a Class B AIS receiver, or, in this case, simply a computer with internet access. While it doesn’t eliminate all danger of collision — its raison d'etre — AIS has been getting rave reviews from everyone we’ve talked to.
Class B transponders are ‘lite’ versions of the larger Class A units. They come in both receive-only and transmit-and-receive versions. The transmit function of Class B AIS units does not put out as much information, or transmit as far as a Class A unit, but it uses a lot less power and, most importantly, is more affordable. While transmit-and-receive Class B tranponders have been available to yachts the world over for several years, the ‘transmit’ feature was banned in the U.S. until late last year. The FCC finally gave their blessing in November, so now you can get both types here. Recieve-only Class B units for yachts can be had for as little as $200, while receive-and-transmit ones start around $800. On the ‘Live Ships Map’, yachts are noted in magenta. There were even a few underway in the Bay as this was written. For more on the techie end of how AIS works, visit www.navcen.uscg.gov/enav/ais. - latitude / jr Weekend Racing PreviewMay 13, 2009 – The Bay
While Mother's Day weekend featured a pretty light racing schedule, the upcoming one is anything but. Saturday sees the Singlehanded Sailing Society's 56-mile Singehanded Farallones Race start at 8:30 a.m. off Golden Gate YC. A little later in the day, the Northern California IRC series kicks off at St. Francis YC's Stone Cup, which will also feature one-design divisions for J/105s and J/120s. Dan Woolery's King 40 Soozal will be making her Bay Area debut as part of the 17-boat IRC division — there's already eight J/120s entered, to go with 24 J/105s. Over at San Francisco YC, J/24s, Knarrs, Melges 24s, Express 27s and Etchells will all take to the Circle for two days of the Elite Keel Regatta. Those are the biggies on the Bay this weekend, but there are some other local events — all of which you can find in the 2009 Northern California Sailing Calendar and YRA Master Schedule. One of the things we keep hearing from skippers is the relative paucity of crew on the Bay, so if you're one of those skippers, or someone looking to do more sailing, make sure to visit and sign up for the Latitude 38 Crew List, where you'll find some helpful tips to boot! - latitude / rg |
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