35' Steel "Colin Childs" refit

Thanks Mike! The section is in the right ballpark according to Nicolsons' "Boat Data" book, but I must say that it still feels wrong, I think I may end up moving the forestay. I have not plotted a temp dewpoint graph but at least the vapour barrier is on the warm side of the construction. I will lap the foil to encourage condensation to run to the bilges. Part time! I only work on her on Wednesdays

 

Colin Childs Yacht

Globaldude ....You are spot on mate regarding the old Conveyancer.if it's a diesel it will be the Standard 23C diesel ,a good old workhorse ,don't know about the London taxi bit ,but could well be ,by the way is yours fitted with the famous or infamous Brockhouse transmission ,now there is a can of worms
.....cheers

 

Brockhouse transmission !??

She's got an auto box -- if that's what you mean !?. Which, I'd hasen to add, gets a bit temparamental, that is, it's fine when she's cold but when worked for a while doesn't allways want to go without coaxing or "playing" with her . HA HA HA - sounds familiar !!!

 

Talking about boxes.. Can anyone offer anything on mine? Its plate says PARAGON Hydraulic Transmission Model No. HF7D-R. Serial No. 5C 9524. I am about to strip it and know absolutely nothing about it. Any spares lists, manuals?

 

Hi guys,
Just for your interest I have a 31' Colin Childs design Kingfisher 31,
Steel, the hull looks the same or very similar to yours!
I'll try to post a photo, not sure if I can work out how though!
Cheers
Richard

 

sheboo off Flinders

I think this is going to attach the photo, bear withme if not!!

 

Shebootiful

Hi Richard, she looks superb. Please answer some things - tiller or wheel? Where are the foresail sheet winches? and where is the main sheet taken to?. Do you have any likes, dislikes about the layout? is it easy to get to the mast to reef when she is rockin an rollin?

Thanks for your input!

 

Wheelhouse scrapped

Ok I have finally decided, the old salts were right, the wheelhouse goes. After making the full mockup and inviting some very experienced sailors and agonising about this thing for too long I have decided to scrap the idea. I am a little sad because it did have some good points:

You know sometimes you just want to duck under something out of the sum or the wind or the rain
Going from relatively open to relativly closed house was quicky acheived with elastic hatch covers
Equipment like petrol driven pumps and generators could be driven and left in the cockpit
All nav equipment was right in front of me, protected
Everything could be secured from theft easily by closing hatches
Moving from cockpit to deck was safe with hand high rail at exit
The view from the forward raking windscreen was amazing
The mainsheet track was waist height for the helmsman
All lines were out the cockpit conveniently on the house sides

BUT, as with all designs there were cons:

Unable to lean back when heeled
Too tight companionway access
Standing at the helm the boom could catch your head, or raising the boom would shift the foot ( and the sails power) unacceptably high
and the killer for me was the constant ducking under the main track when moving around.

Anyway I did get to play designer for a while and have a tiny inkling of and newfound respect for the task they have

 

Paragon box

Opened up that gearbox - not nearly as scary as I thought. The top cover houses the selector, basically re-directing oilflow to a short fat piston that brakes or releases the "crown gear". Front cover houses the oil pump, when you open it look out for the loose driving pin. Thats as far as I went, then I poked around in the sump with a magnet and, not producing any steel shards closed up. Oh - replacing o-ring on piston

 

Look for the paper clip on the posting page, click on it and go from there

 

A Plan?

So now we are on the "short strokes" I am trying to figure out how to actually launch her. The plan is to put her on some flat water close to me so I can run in the motor and generally complete the odds and ends. Problem is:- this flat water has absolutely no launch facilities, or any wall from which a crane can operate. SO, my plan is to assemble 4m lengths of rail line, without sleepers but with bolted ties, and push them incrementally into the water untill I have around 18m in and my required depth. I have surveyed the slope and substrate seems firm. I have built this "dolly" on which the boat will ride, and the little crawler tractor is going to do the pushing. Taking this one step further, it is possible I could lay my track up the back of a "goose neck" lowbed and we can cut out the crane man altogether. I think my question is.. am I crazy?

 

You need a wheelhouse that you can get out of in a knock down. Other than that ,a wheelhouse is a huge improvement. Comparing a dodger with a wheelhouse is like comparing a lean to with a hotel suite from a comfort and safety standpoint. I'll never have another boat without a wheelhouse. I'm embarased that it took me so long to figure that out.
Leaving oneself no alternative but to be exposed to following winds is just plain bad seamanship, a throwback to days when sailors mostly went to sea against their will.
Having cruised the BC coast in an open cockpit for 10 years gave me enough "Feeling the breeze " to last a lifetime. Freedom to experience hypothermia? No thanks.
That outboard rudder lends itself to trimtab steering for inside steering. After several years of cable steering I went to trimtab steering and it was like going from the stone age to the space age. A tiny autohelm designed for a 5,000 lb boat has lasted me since 1992 steering the trimtab.
I ran a stainless 1/2 inch sch 40 pipe from one corner of the transom , under the cockpit seat to a point under the side deck, opposite the steering seat. An arm 6 inches long pointing downward , hooked thru a linkage to a jog stick in front of the steering seat. Outside , the pipe ran thru a stuffing box on the transom, and a 8 inch vertical arm was hooked thru a linkage to the trimtab tiller, an inch behind the rudder axis, to give a slight negative feedback, to prevent oversteering.
Brent

 

Pengreg what is your " firm substrate " ?, is it firm enough to stand the weight of the yacht and bogey until it's draft ?. I suppose it would get progreively lighter as she went gracefully down the slip !?. You may not have to push her out, you could maybe kedge it out [ good anchor set in line with your " slipway " and winch her out -- or pull using the tractor via a block.
I was just looking at the dates of the prior posts and I haven't been here for some time. I'm sure I wouldn't be alone in wanting to see some updated photos !. .
I get inspired by you as I'm so easily side tracked with many projects -- is making a living and trying to pay off the morgage a project ? --- and my hull hasn't progressed much in a long time .

 

Thanks Brent. That was my thinking but anyway - we must move on, and your trim tab idea is excellent, thanks. I also scrapped my wheel with the wheelhouse and now only have a tiller, but I am sure a trimtab self-steering will still work?

Thanks Globaldude, happy to oblige. The substrate is hard clay, fairly firm as it dries occasionally, which is how I surveyed it. The boat wont need pushing, in fact the opposite, it will need braking. Its the rails that need pushing into the water first, they are damn heavy. All ye olde shipbuilders this was a piece of cake, scares the s@ out of me..

 

Some have put a T shaped handle on top of the tiller hooked up with crossed wires to a cross bar on the trimtab shaft , enabling steering with the trimtab. It makes steering finger light, in all conditions. A wing nut on the top of the T shaft lets you lock the trim in position.
The trimtab lets you have the simplest , most bulletproof self steering arangement possible.
Not having a wheelhouse is a huge mistake.
Brent