Trailer Sailer Place

Tube bender...

I've settled on the "flat pancake" style horizontal surface mounted combined port/starboard light to be mounted on a flat plate to be welded into the front of the pulpit: https://www.whitworths.com.au/media/catalog/product/cache/1/small_image/400x400/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/5/4/54145_rwb451...

From Transport Safety Victoria: https://transportsafety.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0018/120816/Ch3-Handbook-light-degrees.JPG Vertically mounted side lights must be fitted with the back of the light parallel to the centre line of the vessel so that the light will be visible in the correct sector...

For completeness; I've found another way to mount nav lights; a combined R&G light on a removeable pole: https://bla.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/121302.jpg Supplier is here: https://bla.com.au/product/attwood-lightarmor-removable-navigation-lights/ ebay too: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1632417...

Ahh the problem with a mast head tricolour is that when motoring the white all round light is required to be at least one metre above the red and green side lights. Also, my boat is set up so I can launch it with the mast tied down and motor for the occasional river trip etc. Nothing needed for moto...

I could mount a small horizontal plate just above the base of the pulpit for the first, flat type, but between the furler, the anchor, the forestay, that's a pretty busy bit of real estate in there and I am loath to complicate it further. I could mount the same type on a raised surface on the anchor...

Having just installed a new stern light (which isn't working yet, GRRR, ran out of daylight for chasing that up), I discovered my starboard (G) nav light isn't working, probably because someone has crushed it against a jetty. At least that's how it looks... Bloody jetty drivers. So, finally I'm goin...

Aluminium, unlike steel or stainless steel, has no fatigue limit. You can stress steel (including stainless) to about half its ultimate tensile stress an indefinite number of cycles without suffering fatigue failures. With aluminium, less stress allows more cycles, but there is NO level of stress at...

You turn right as you go backwards? PS I had a lead acid powered wheelchair go over my foot in the 1970’s and I almost needed one afterwards..... Paul wins the prize! Forward left = right wheel moves forward. Rearward left = left wheel moves aft. And the reason this system is better? Joystick strai...

How long until we get a replica that ‘almost’ works as well and ‘almost’ lasts as long but has a few issues as they didn’t quite copy the old design exactly and used materials that look like the real thing but don’t quite work as well and bend when you use them? I couldn't find a copy on AliExpress...

Interesting data point, the original Mackay trailer used for Noelex 25s is only 2200 across the outside of the mudguards (picking up a pair of axles for one tomorrow!) The most intimidating object I've ever towed was a 25,000 litre plastic water tank on a car trailer behind my old Rodeo. The tank an...

The ones I have been making have been 3 layers of 12mm marine ply clamped firmly together with Sikabond TechGrip waterproof polyurethane glue , then cut to size and the edges chamfered. Mine is currently hanging up in the garage having just had two coats of Bote Cote; it is 220 x 200 x 36. It has be...

Your strip of "pure aluminium" will also be some sort of alloy, not pure. For example, on the Capral website , the vast majority of extrusions are 6060 T5. So the $64 question is whether the two parts of potentially different alloys present a problem. If it were my rudder, I'd be happy to go ahead, ...

With petrol or diesel, if you want more power, you need a bigger motor. A bigger motor weighs a lot more, which costs fuel. A bigger motor costs more to build (unless it's just the same motor with bigger holes!) A bigger motor (particularly petrol) is much less efficient when run at a small fraction...

I used to have an RL24 that developed a leak. I tried drastic ways to find it such as filling it up with water and tilting the trailer. Then once, after months of bailing it out and using a syringe into the under floor cavity, I noticed a slight trickle of water coming from where a trailer roller w...

How big?
Whenever I have leftover marine ply I make a handful, but I've only got one smallish one left at the moment; 195x140x52

I am reminded of electric wheelchair controls! Generally a joystick is used. Push forward to go forward, pull back to go back. Push forward and left to go forward and turn left, etc. Now here's the interesting bit. What should happen when you pull the joystick back and left? Why? (Clue #1, the obvio...

For cockpit drains my Ultimate 18 had PVC pipes between the transom and the cockpit just siliconed in. I replaced with skin fittings and hose. Silicon rather than rigid epoxy/polyester resin would be a step forward but even the silicon has limited flexibility. There's not enough room in a Castle fo...

Here is a photo from Cruisers forum of the sort of thing I have in mind. Any ideas where I'd find one (or get one built). Ideally 400mm long, 300mm wide (deep as built), 250mm high (as mounted), with the open side 400 x 250, but hey, if someone's already making something close... Fibreglass tanks.jpg

What I want at this stage is a fibreglass box with a lip, big enough to fit a petrol tank into, to set into the port side of the cockpit, which I can remove to access all the horrible things down there! Anyone know where the mould for the stern petrol tank recess for the Ultimate 18 ended up? Oh, an...

Not sure if the sonata 7 has an internal roof moulding like our Sonata 26 but I'm going through the same issue. It boat is leaking freshwater and because of the internal moulding( hollow between the deck and roof lining) i can't find the source of the leak because it appears the water is coming in ...

Clearly any breach of the surface of the hull is suspect and sometimes the problem is not visible even when you're staring at it. When you're struggling to find the leak, it's got to be somewhere the gelcoat has been breached; a fitting, a screw hole, a through hull, a join with a crack, (a removab...

4. Accommodation - I like the idea of sailing somewhere, staying a night or three, before sailing back , however, not looking for any fittings, just space to relax, a good feel to the inside. I don't rate fully fitted camper vans, whilst handy, they take up too much space with all the cupboards and...

... take a look at an rl24 ... ... Not as nice inside as a castle, but when the wind picks up so does the adrenaline - take a look at the photo gallery on that website, they're a planing hull with skiff rig. Great for surfing down port Philip chop. Greg's drop keel MkIV had a more useable cabin spa...

Which battery do you want to be last to go flat?
Ordinarily a VSR (voltage sensing relay) is used to make sure the starting battery in a 4wd or inboard boat is charged before the house battery gets any power.