a sampling of the projects we completed over the years
Hard Dodger
The canvas dodger had failed after four years and building a hard dodger seemed more sensible than having another canvas dodger built.
Integral Water Tanks
The original water tanks which were under the bunks in the forward and aft cabins were never a good idea. We removed these tanks and built integral tanks behind the mast, under the cabin sole. The boat’s sailing performance soared as a result!
Cabin Sole
The original laminate cabin sole on the boat was impractical and unattractive. We replaced it with a custom iroko and ash cabin sole with practical hatches.
Engine-Driven Water-Maker
We installed an engine-driven water maker capable of producing 150 liters of water per hour.
Bowsprit & New Sail Plan
We originally had a 49.10 m2, 140% genoa. It was too small for light winds and too big for heavy weather. The carbonfiber bowsprit allowed us to use two headsails: a smaller # 3 genoa and a large # 1 genoa.
Carbon-fiber Spinnaker Pole
Our old spinnaker pole was a typical “J” length and also was of marginal strength for heavy, reaching loads. Building a longer and stronger pole solved the problem.
Carbon-fiber Mainsail Battens
Lighter and reliable sail battens was our goal. We built battens with a unidirectional carbon fiber core, 30-40mm vertically, narrower for the top battens, wider for the lower and of increasing thickness for the lower battens.
Park Avenue Boom
After going twice across the Atlantic Ocean our original boom looked tired. We had had to make to many repairs on it already. More importantly we wanted to improve our handling of the mainsail.
Lazy Bag
Now that we had a new boom, we needed a lazybag to take the lazy lines and allow the sail to fold neatly on the boom.
SOLAR Panel Arch and NEW Solar Panels
The stainless steal arch and solid solar panels were heavy. We wanted lighter arch and flexible, more efficient panels.
BIMINI Cover
With the composite solar arch in place, we needed a bimini that attaches to the arch and reaches the hard dodger
Non-Skid Decks
The original Beneteau non-skid was like a skating ring when the deck was wet! We finally decided to paint the deck with KIWIGRIP.
Interior Furniture
There were a lot of small improvements that made the interior more usable. Top-access storage space was converted to drawers, a bookcase was added for easy access to books, a storage cabin was created from one of the aft cabins, the galley cupboards were organized to allow better storage, and the list goes on..
Integral DieSEL TANK
By removing the original water tank from the aft cabin we had created an area that could be used for additional diesel tank. We built a new tank by glassing it into the hull.
WASHING MACHINE
A washing machine certainly made life on board easier. We installed a small washing machine in the aft head shower area, above the holding tank.
Staysail: soft hanks on Removable dyneema stay
For those conditions we never want to encounter, a smaller headsail to better balance a triple reefed main upwind was deemed necessary.