Odds and Ends on Sail
by Alvan Eames

Miscellaneous Bits


Maintenance
Centreboard case painting
Sea Anchor
Thole Pins
Buntline Hitch

Maintenance

The need for maintenance on a wooden boat is primarily for the protection of the wood. When a clinker built boat is new, it is usual for it to be varnished. At this point it should be pointed out that polyurethane varnish is no good at all on a clinker boat. Polyurethane is all right when used on plywood craft, but it is vital to encapsulate the wood completely, or the varnish will peel off in large pieces. It is obviously not possible to encapsulate a plank on a clinker boat due to the overlapping of the boards in the hull, so common yacht varnish should be used.

I found that with a boat kept on a mooring, the horizontal surfaces soon weathered, so I determined that all such surfaces should be painted. One coat of paint is 4 or 5 times thicker than a coat of varnish, so it is a sad fact that paint is better for the job. The surfaces mentioned comprise the benches, gunwhales, and bow and stern sheets.

The paint used need not be expensive marine paint. Any good modern non-polyurethane paint may be used, and I have had good service from Tekaloid Coach Enamel. I use two coats of undercoat, rubbed down after each coat, followed by one coat of gloss. The undercoat is very easy to apply; going on like milk, and when dry, is easy to rub down.

Centreboard case painting

This is a very politically incorrect method, which works very well. When afloat, whilst moored, just before low water, you fill up the centreboard case from the top, with any sort of oil-based paint. Then as the tide goes out, the water level falls and the boat takes the ground. The paint runs away and the inside of the case is painted. There are those that say that you cannot paint wet surfaces, but we have all painted the bottom of a jam jar half filled with water.

I must say here that I used to moor my boat quite close to a sewage outfall, where the mud was much more unsavoury than paint...

Sea Anchor

One way of applying the brakes to a moving boat is to use a sea anchor. A small one can be improvised from a large funnel. A three-leg rope bridle is attached to the rim, and a bit of a tripping line to the spout, to speed up recovery.

Thole Pins

In the absence of rowlocks (oarlocks) I have often used thole pins. To use them successfully you must make up some rope loops to fit over the pin and round the loom of the oar. The oar then is fitted aft of the thole pin so that you pull against the rope and not the pin. You can let go of the oars and they lie quietly against the hull, unlike ordinary rowlocks, which allow the oar to float away... The rope strops are made as outlined previously in the piece about stropping blocks, and in an emergency a knotted bit of rope (about ½ ins dia) can be pressed into service.

Buntline Hitch

In the vast lexicon of knots, ties and hitches, I have found that the Buntline Hitch is the universal wonderknot. Effectively it is simply a clove hitch round its own standing part, but it has to be done the right way round. The loose end has to be against the work, or it can shake loose. Once its tying has been soaked up into muscle memory by practice, it can be applied very quickly, and is sufficiently secure for use on sheets, etc., and I have used it on a kedge anchor without problem.

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