Reuben, thanks for sharing.  Glad to hear things came out well.  Clever work on the splicing.  That is a skill that I have yet to acquire but it is on the endless list of things I want to learn.

Chris, are you spending more time in Kansas or will you be heading back to your big boat down South for the winter?  Please tell Nick I said hello. It was fun to meet up with him last summer.

Jesse Shumaker
S/V Zephyr

On Sat, Dec 18, 2021, 8:33 PM Chris Geankoplis <chrisgeankoplis at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>