Sizing for Creep

The question of what size should my synthetic stay be to replace the metal stay comes up a lot. As always, there are two methods to figure this one out. 

The first is to calculate your RM30. RM30 is the force that is required to heel the boat over 30 degrees. There are many factors that play into this number, but they will give you a good idea of the loads your shrouds will experience while sailing heeled over at 30 degrees. Once again, there are two ways to calculate this value, one is via an actual test performed on the boat while in the water, the other via mathematical equations. 

With this number in hand, you can safely calculate the size of your standing rigging knowing the loads that it will be subjected to.

The other method is to base it off of the standing rigging that the boat was originally designed to have. Steel standing rigging is sized so that the maximum amount of tension applied to it is 20% of its breaking strength. While your standing rigging should never be set this tight, this is the safety margin in steel rigging. 

If you have 1/4 inch 1x19 316 stainless steel standing rigging and wish to know what size your synthetic stays should be, simply do some simple calculations. 

1/4 inch 1x19 has a breaking strength of around 7600 pounds. 
20% of 7600 is 1520 pounds

Synthetic standing rigging is sized based on creep rather than breaking strength. Synthetic standing rigging will creep less if it is under less static load. Keeping the static load below 15% will keep creep down. If the load is less than 10% of the total strength of the dyneema, creep will be significantly less. 

With our example of 1/4 inch 1x19 SS wire with a 20% load of 1520 pounds, we can safely assume that using 6mm New England Ropes STS-HSR with a breaking strength of 12,400 pounds would be a safe choice. 1520 pounds of static load would be 12.3% of its total strength, keeping the creep to a safe amount. Sizing up to the next size would reduce creep considerably but also increase windage.

7mm New England Ropes STS-HSR with its breaking strength of 18,700 would be loaded at a mere 8.1%. Creep would be significantly lower with a slight increase in windage. 

In the opposite direction, 5mm New England Ropes STS-HSR with its breaking strength of 9,300 pounds would be loaded at 16.3% of its breaking strength. While windage would be significantly less, the creep would be considerably higher than with the other two options. 

Additional windage is from thicker stays is not the end of the world, though they rope itself is more costly. Choosing a size that offers you the resistance to creep and windage you are comfortable with depends on your ability and willingness to tune the rigging. If you choose a very small stay that will creep, you will need to tune it more often. If you choose a thicker stay, it will cost more and be more windage, but it will hardly creep at all.

Dinghy Choices

Most people will quickly picture some kind of vessel when they think of a dinghy. The truth is, a dinghy can be anything as long as it can meet your needs! While some will splurge to purchase a RIB from Zodiak, this purchase should not hold you back from casting off the docklines and living your dream!

We have encountered many cruisers along our short voyage and seen a wide variety of dinghies. While almost all of them are inflatable dinghies with an outboard on the back, there are still many more options.  

A lot of people use kayaks, as they are light weight, easy to handle, and can carry a considerable payload in them. This is great if you just want to get to shore and return with groceries, which is what a dinghy is most often used for!  

Along these lines, we met one person who is using an inflatable kayak that he bought for $50! He needs no fuel, and it deflates to take up almost no space. At the same time, a new 9.5 inflatable from AB Inflatables would cost you $5,000, and this doesn't even include the outboard motor. 

Don't let the debate about what dinghy you need to have to go cruising because any dinghy that gets the job done is perfect! All you need to do is find something that is within your budget and you will be good to go. 

Siding Above the Windows

Planking on bare and straight walls is easy to do. Planking around windows or roof peaks are not as easy to do.

Once you reach this point, you have finished the easy work; now begins the more tedious work.

Planking next to the windows requires factoring in the thickness of the trim. I plan to use a 3 inch trim piece next to the siding, and a 5 inch trim piece over it to cover the sides of the siding. The windows need a 3 inch gap between them and the siding, so the gap between the window and edge of the house adds up to 6 inches. This means:

The space between the window and edge of the house - 6 inches = Length of the siding board

After measuring and cutting, these two rows of planks are set and screwed onto the tiny house, covering the ugly siding with these lovely siding planks!

Once the planks next to the windows are complete, it is time to plank into the peak of the roof. Each of these planks will need to be beveled to keep the 3 inch gap necessary for the siding to fit into.

Each plank is set on the hooks and 3 inches are marked perpendicular to the edge of the roof line. Then the plank is removed and cut along these lines, then reinstalled and screwed into the side of the tiny house.

Once you reach the top plank, it will be cut into a triangle shape which will not offer any place to hang the hooks for the next plank. At this point, you are done!

Dinghy Construction

The port sheer and shelf clamp were a bit resistant to being installed, or I was very tired since it was 5AM. Either way, these two strakes refused to take the shape the frames had dictated for them!

The dinghy now has all three stringers installed, giving the hull its intended shape and stiffening up the frames tremendously. The stringers do extend farther than needed as the stem and transom are yet to be installed. When I go the ends of the dinghy get installed, I will cut the stringers to fit; until then, they can overhand the dinghy just like the keel does.

The reason I say the sheer and shelf clamp resisted being bent to the frames is because they literally snapped the first floor! The floor split along its grain just below where the frame attaches. This floor is rather small and yet I have had remake it already. The first floor got over trimmed on the jointer and needed to be remade, so I made this current floor. 

With a split floor, my options are simple, either remake it again or fix it. Remaking it would be the ideal, especially since the boat will be finished bright and varnish will not hide flaws like paint will. Remaking the floor would require that I also remake the frames that are glued to them and attach the stringers on both sides to the new floor and frames. The alternative is to liberally apply Titebond III wood glue and clamp the hell out of it!

One clamp pulls the chines together to pull in the bottom of the station. The vertical clamp pulls the split section down to the floor, while the third clamp approximates the broken pieces. The split sections were able to be properly approximated and allowed to sit in the pressure of the clamps for the next few days. Once the clamps are removed, strips of wood will be glued to the front of the floor to help resist the sheer forces on this station.

Right now, the floor is under a lot of strain, especially while I was bending 1/2 inch planks to the hull. The tremendous twisting force split the floor right along its grain. Once the stem is installed, these forces will be transmitted to the stem and not falling entirely on the first stations floor. The chine logs will be cut into the stem and set in place along with the sheer, passing these loads from the first stations floor to the much more robust and bookmatched stem.

Sleepy Dog

We are often asked what Morty does while we are away from the boat. The truth is, we don't actually know, but we assume it is something along the lines of what he does when we are there: Relax.

Morty is a connoisseur of the comfiest and coziest places on the boat, as he can typically be found curled up or stretched out in the greatest of comfort. 

He sleeps in the bed while we are away, and he sleeps in the bed while we are still there. In the morning, he will typically curl up next to you and rest his head on a pillow and smile as he basks in the comforts of boat life!

While he may seem like a lazy dog (which is true), he does enjoy his runs in the local parks where he can stretch his legs and scoot around for a bit.

He runs around for a while, and then gets tuckered out. We know he is ready to go back to the boat when he walks up to us and looks us in the eye. When we tell him "Ok, let's go home" he then resumes walking.

Once we get back to the boat, he resumes his regular relaxation in comfort.