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Main and jib sheets.

D

Darren

Enough to be safely dange
I have a new 110 showing up Wednesday and was wondering what you guys thought about single sheet vs double sheets. I don't plan on changing head sails often enough to consider easy of changing sails to be a benefit. I was thinking about an alpine butterfly with some nylon webbing for anti chafing. Sail is going to be furled up for storage.

Main sheet. I currently have a mid boom traveler that is a few years old and works great. But the location is kinda a pain. Especially when the sheet is under load. I typically find my self standing on the back of the dinette seat and galley counter. It's not a feat for the I'll footed. So I was thinking about putting the trailer in the cockpit behind the tiller. But I don't know if that means I would need to strengthen my boom or not. I understand I will need much longer line and sheeting in will require more pulling. I'm fine with that my concern is damaging something or trading one problem for the other.

Any insight would be great. Boat is an Islander 30-2. 20200522_152036.jpg20200522_152036.jpg20200731_125410.jpg
 
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A photo of an Islander 30-II on Sailboatdata.com shows an aft traveler as the stock setup. Yours looks like an after-market installation. An aft traveler should put less load on the boom itself but maybe more on the gooseneck, depending on the sheeting angles. The traveler hardware won't be cheap but well worth it IMO.

On the jib, I've usually had a single long sheet, larks-headed (cow-hitched) through the clew at its mid-point. This eliminates the two bowlines which in my experience can hang up on the shrouds when you tack. I sometimes wondered if the sheet would slip at the clew but it never has, and I've not experienced any downsides.

islander_30-2_photo.jpg
 
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Thanks. The travel was originally a curved traveler. I added an aluminum beam using the factory mounting bracket. I think mid boom was an option originally. There's another 72 on my dock and it doesn't have the fiberglass standoffs. 20190720_164747.jpg
 
Nice job with the deck painting - that's a big project.

Regarding the mainsheet, a consideration is what you'll do with it after it comes off the traveler. Will you run the tail(s) forward or are you okay with having the mainsheet behind you for trimming? My boat has an aft traveler with a mains'l large enough that the sheet is double-ended and led to cockpit winches. This brings the sheet forward somewhat but I still have to turn sideways to trim it. The traveler controls are at the aft end of the cockpit and not convenient - not a big deal for daysailing but for racing or just keeping your eyes forward for traffic on the Bay, it's a little uncomfortable.

Since you wrote that the traveler "works great," maybe try smoothing out the sheeting with ball-bearing blocks and better line. There are certainly benefits to having it in front of you. I'm kind of traditional and like an aft traveler, and that influenced my initial response.
 
Thanks it's labor of love. I'm 99% done with the cabin I just need to paint the traveler stand offs. Just finished the foredeck. Next is the side deck and cockpit. I'm going to be looking for some advice on possibly moving aft inner shrouds. I don't like the load being on the deck and it looks like it's starting to be an issue. But that's a new thread when I finish putting together the foredeck and adding the windlass
 
I ended going with an Alpine butterfly with a small 2" piece of webbing. Not sure how much protection it will provide but I guess I will find out. I don't think it's going to cause any hanging up issues. But the pockets for the foot and leech tension ropes are for sure going to cause an issue. In the slip they were hanging up. I was thinking about adding some PVC pipe around my shrouds to help the covers roll around them. I remember back in the 80's and 90's people got fancy ones with caps and then there was a debate on them being bad for the turn buckles because saltwater gets in and not out of something like that. I don't remember I was a kid and it was 30 years ago. I guess the question is will the PVC over my turnbuckles cause problems?
 
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Darren said:
I was thinking about adding some PVC pipe around my shrouds to help the covers roll around them. I remember back in the 80's and 90's people got fancy ones with caps and then there was a debate on them being bad for the turn buckles because saltwater gets in and not out of something like that... will the PVC over my turnbuckles cause problems?
Click to expand...

I don't think so. My recollection is that the problem was with tight-fitting covers, often made of leather. The PVC tubes with top caps are loose enough that the hardware inside can dry out. I'd still lift them up and rinse the turnbuckle and shroud ends with fresh water after you sail. I had tubes on just the lower shrouds on my last boat because when I eased the jib, its sheets would chafe on the shrouds.

I'm not a fan of that particular knot for the clew attachment. A simple lark's head (aka cow hitch) works fine, especially if you plan to leave the sheets attached.
 
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I don't know if our server migrated north or south on March 10th (per Joe's post). Regardless, I still can't post photos.

vBulletin's version 4.2.5 was end-of-lifed about five years ago. We're on an even earlier version (4.2.3). So there's that...
 
Send all photos to me via email. If deemed appropriate for this audience I will post them in your name. For example:

Here are three happy men during Big Daddy.

Big Daddy 1.jpg

Here are three happy men just before they all said "Uh Oh".

Big daddy 2.jpg
 
I'd also like it on the record that Surprise! caught up with Arcadia. Briefly but memorably. Yes, that's Synthia looking back every once in awhile. Did I hear her calling "Faster! We must go faster!"?

Gordie Ruth and friends.jpg
 
We did pass Arcadia on the reaching leg from Alcatraz to Raccoon Strait. But we were too busy going fast (and avoiding all the boats coming at us) to take pretty pictures.

(That was a blast!)
 
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Islander 30-2 traveler

Darren said:
Main sheet. I currently have a mid boom traveler that is a few years old and works great. But the location is kinda a pain. Especially when the sheet is under load. I typically find my self standing on the back of the dinette seat and galley counter. It's not a feat for the I'll footed. So I was thinking about putting the trailer in the cockpit behind the tiller. But I don't know if that means I would need to strengthen my boom or not. I understand I will need much longer line and sheeting in will require more pulling. I'm fine with that my concern is damaging something or trading one problem for the other.

Any insight would be great. Boat is an Islander 30-2. View attachment 7263View attachment 7263View attachment 7264
Click to expand...


Hi, after I broke my boom gybing too fast under the GG bridge I put in a new boom and added a traveler at the end of the cockpit of my Islander 30-2 Sweet Pea. I like the setup way better than before, especially for single handing. I will try to make some photos of my setup next week (of course, I spent 7h next to the traveler today...).. Essentially a new Ballenger boom and a new Garhauer traveler. Main disadvantage is that the traveler twists a bit under load, making the traveler jam. They have one with a base plate that does not twist so much, would take that one next time (the guy at Garhauer told me that was not needed). Install was easy but painful to get to the screws on the starboard side. Other disadvantage is that the traveler moves the boom less to leeward. On the other hand I think the sail trims better

Two more tidbits: The boom of the old Islander 30-2 with end boom sheeting was actually longer, with a larger main sail and a different PHRF rating. I decided to go with the same length that my mid boom traveler boom had, because my mainsail was newish. Steering with the large main can be a problem. Now I think more sail area would maybe be nice...
The sheet also less likely to catch your head with the longer boom.

Cheers

Jan
 
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