Hey Reuben,
Thanks for sharing the project. We finally pulled Xenos today. The high was 28 with a 15 knot wind. Too cold here in Kansas. We will try to do the mods before spring sailing. Hope to see you in a month or so.
Chris G

On Sat, Dec 18, 2021 at 4:21 PM Reuben Mezrich <reuben.mezrich at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I finally got to work and shamelessly copied the changes to the furling and
> unfurling (outhaul) lines described by Peter in episode 30 (
> https://youtu.be/YS1MIEcvkPs) of his S/V Silverheels series and by Jesse
> in
> his email of May 19, 2021 and document what I did in the attached. This was
> all done with the mast and boom standing and the boat at its slip in the
> water.
>
> The modifications to the methods used by Peter and Jesse include:
>
> ·      widening the existing slot for the furling line to accept a Garhauer
> exit block rather than creating a new slot for an exit block. The Garhauer
> has attachment holes at the sides rather than the ends and so it could fit
> in a widened slot. I used a cutting wheel on a Dremel tool followed by a
> grinding wheel to widen the slot.
>
> ·      Butt splicing (end to end splicing) new lines to the existing
> furling and outhaul lines. Using new longer lines to replace the existing
> lines would involve taking down the mast which didn’t want to do. I found a
> nice description of how to make an end to end splice in double braided line
> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ZpfeyXKZo) on YouTube. The method
> involves taking out the core and then using a FID to insert one outer braid
> into the other outer braid. Turns out the strength of double braid is in
> the outer braid, not the core. The braids don’t slip apart because of the
> same mechanism that traps your fingers in the “Chinese Finger Trap” (
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_finger_trap). One important note:
> don’t use the simple FID sold by westmarine but rather use a Selma FID that
> holds one securely as you thread it into the other line. It's available
> on-line (eg Amazon).
>
> The attachment with the images of my setup are in Word format so I hope it
> is readable
> Reuben Mezrich
> Pelican Cove in Sarasota and Back Bay, Boston
> Cell: 410-499-8922
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 8, 2021 at 7:29 AM Jesse Shumaker <
> jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Good luck at the races!
> >
> > On Wed, Dec 8, 2021 at 6:06 AM Reuben Mezrich <reuben.mezrich at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > I've taken out, and replaced, a few screws on the boom and they look
> like
> > > simple sheet metal screws (i.e. threads all the way to the head).
> Having
> > > few mechanical skills and with a high degree of laziness I"m going to
> go
> > > with metal screws, probably the "self-tapping" variety. I'll report on
> > the
> > > outcome. Probably do the work next week since our club is racing this
> > week
> > > (its good to be in Florida!)
> > > --Reuben
> > > Reuben Mezrich
> > > Pelican Cove in Sarasota and Back Bay, Boston
> > > Cell: 410-499-8922
> > >
> > >
> > > On Tue, Dec 7, 2021 at 9:18 PM Jesse Shumaker <
> > > jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > I decided to tap the threads because of my experience the prior
> summer
> > > when
> > > > I added more small cleats to the bottom of the boom.  That time I
> > drilled
> > > > pilot holes and used stainless sheet metal screws but it was hard to
> > > avoid
> > > > stripping them.  That inspired me to get a tap and die set (an excuse
> > for
> > > > more tools!) and give that a try.  I may have done more work than
> > > > necessary, which often seems to be the case :)
> > > >
> > > > On Tue, Dec 7, 2021, 8:09 PM Peter Nyberg <peter at sunnybeeches.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > I'm pretty sure that's what I did, or I might have even used wood
> > > screws.
> > > > >
> > > > > I probably got the idea that this would be OK because every piece
> of
> > > > > hardware attached to the mast or boom that was put in place by
> > General
> > > > > Boats that I have removed was attached by screws, not bolts. I can
> > > > identify
> > > > > with the notion that because tapping threads into the boom is more
> > > work,
> > > > it
> > > > > must be the better solution, but I'm not at all certain that's
> > actually
> > > > > true.
> > > > >
> > > > > Also, I don't know if it's significant that in this case the forces
> > > > > applied to the screws (or bolts) would be sheer, not tension (I
> think
> > > I'm
> > > > > using those terms correctly).
> > > > >
> > > > > Perhaps Roger would care to comment.
> > > > >
> > > > > --Peter
> > > > >
> > > > > > On 2021-12-07, at 18:49:55 EST, Reuben Mezrich wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Glad you mentioned this… I was just going to use sheet mettal
> > screws
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Reuben Mezrich
> > > > > > Cell: 410-499-8922
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>