Jenain anchored in Rio Rosario Uruguay 087
We received this email from Bill on Jenain, just as he landed in South Africa (see below for the story of his crossing):
Herewith follow some of my observations and comments on Alan Pape's Ebbtides. Some of these points I discussed with him, while I was building . Up front, let me say that it is a great design, my comments follow a 4 year building program, 10 years, and 60,000 miles of full-time cruising. My yacht , Jenain, a round bilge 36, follows his design very closely, this includes the interior layout. Over time, I have made some modifications, mostly fairly minor, to reduce maintenance, and increase comfort.
1. The bow anchor roller cheeks, as drawn, are too small. A CQR or
Delta anchor chips paint off the bow. My new cheeks are made of 12mm stainless steel, and extend further forward and higher.
2. The samson post needs to be stainless steel. The anchor chain soon removes the galvanizing from a hot dip galvanized one, and then it starts to rust.
3. Alan designed a wooden rudder, my rudder is hollow steel, with a stainless steel top section where the tiller fits in. It was designed by Dudley Dix . It has survived groundings that would have destroyed or seriously damaged a wooden rudder.
4. The drawings show a rounded section for the base of the keel. I used a 25mm flat steel plate, easier to make and much stronger.
5. The toe rail is shown as wood. Wood onto steel always results in rust. I made my toe rail from 25mm stainless steel pipe. It is painted, but if/when it gets chipped, there is no rust.
6. I insulated my boat with 50mm of sprayed on foam, followed by a lining of 5mm ply wood. I have a quiet boat with no condensation, she is consistently warmer in winter, and cooler in summer than other boats.
7. Weld stainless steel bases for all deck fittings, stanchions, pulpit, pushpit, boom gallows etc directly to the boat. This avoids both rust and leaks.
8. Avoid teak decks, they are expensive, too hot to walk on in the tropics and there will always be rust underneath. My decks are painted white, this shows the dirt, but they are cool.
9. With the long, low boom, a unexpected gybe would be very dangerous. I have a Walder boom brake to control gybes.
10. I have running backstays, instead of diamond stays. In really heavy weather, the extra security is great, and they take only a minute to set up on the genoa winches.
11. I fitted a stainless steel opening port to the front of the doghouse, and another in the forward end of the cockpit. This improves ventilation in the galley and the aft cabin.
12. I fitted a locker into the aft end of the cockpit, this gives access to a lot of storage space.
13. My mainsheet horse is a 25mm stainless steel round bar, and is removable. I made a traveler for it with 3 sheaves , 2 below and 1 above, between 2 triangular plates. This works very well.
Here follow some of the things I wish I had done when building, or plan to do some time in the future;
1. The hull ports are too small, they could easily be 50% larger.
2. I would like stainless steel tops and pipe fittings for the fuel tanks. I do not have much rust, but access is so difficult that it not easy to paint there.
3. I would build the cockpit locker lids from 5mm aluminum. It is difficult to keep paint on the steel ones, and they are heavy. Mine are 4mm steel , hot dip galvanized, and painted.
4. I would like a small hatch in the doghouse roof over the galley, for additional ventilation.
5. I have a Perkins Perama M35 diesel, and a 450mm , 3 blade Max Prop. The engine is too small. For a boat displacing 12 tons, 50 hp would be much better. I hate motoring, but when you have to, it is nice to have enough horses!
6. The Port saloon seat is a bit too narrow for sleeping , unless healed to port. It could have been 100mm wider without restricting the walkway.
7. I would have liked stainless steel chain plates. Alan was against them structurally, so I ended up with steel ones with stainless steel inserts, they rust!
I have Taylors kerosene (paraffin) stove and heater. I am very happy with kerosene as a fuel, it is cheap, economical and safe. The 70 liter tank lasts nearly 2 years.
I have a 90L fridge/ freezer. It operates from a 12volt Danfoss compressor with a water cooled condenser, and also from an engine driven compressor with a holdover plate. We use the 12 volt system mainly when we have shore power, and the holdover plate other times. We spent 5 months in Chagos, and 30 to 45 minutes of engine time every second day, was enough to keep the beer and fish cold, and the batteries charged. We have no solar panels or wind generator!
I have a 130 Amp Balmar alternator and four 235 Ahr 6 volt “golf cart” batteries. The first set of batteries lasted 8 years, and where only really replaced because I got a great deal on new ones in Thailand.
I now have LED navigation and anchor lights, we also have 8 LED lamps below for the galley and reading. This results in a huge power saving.
PS. A few further thoughts.
1. Another problem is the galley sink height of only 760mm. This may be OK for little Cornishmen, but it is much too low for the rest of us! I am not very tall, but I almost always get backache when of working in the galley.(This is a great excuse for not doing any cooking or washing up!)
2. The sheet winch bases, as designed, are real toe breakers, and difficult to paint underneath. I have totally enclosed bases, which not only look better, but are stronger, and simple to paint.
3. I had a lot of problems with the rail around the base of the cockpit to support the grating. It was impossible to paint properly and was always a bit rusty. Eventually I cut it out, and now the grating is supported by a few wooden blocks , screwed underneath.
4. I made the cockpit drains from 70mm stainless steel pipe. The original steel ones were always rusting, and had 4 hose joints in each one, (an elbow was needed as there was no room to bend the hose).
5. I have been using a very old Aries wind vane since I launched. I have now ordered a Orion wind vane from Asmer in France. It is similar to the Monitor, which works very well on an Ebbtide. I will report on it’s performance in due course.
Herewith follow some of my observations and comments on Alan Pape's Ebbtides. Some of these points I discussed with him, while I was building . Up front, let me say that it is a great design, my comments follow a 4 year building program, 10 years, and 60,000 miles of full-time cruising. My yacht , Jenain, a round bilge 36, follows his design very closely, this includes the interior layout. Over time, I have made some modifications, mostly fairly minor, to reduce maintenance, and increase comfort.
1. The bow anchor roller cheeks, as drawn, are too small. A CQR or
Delta anchor chips paint off the bow. My new cheeks are made of 12mm stainless steel, and extend further forward and higher.
2. The samson post needs to be stainless steel. The anchor chain soon removes the galvanizing from a hot dip galvanized one, and then it starts to rust.
3. Alan designed a wooden rudder, my rudder is hollow steel, with a stainless steel top section where the tiller fits in. It was designed by Dudley Dix . It has survived groundings that would have destroyed or seriously damaged a wooden rudder.
4. The drawings show a rounded section for the base of the keel. I used a 25mm flat steel plate, easier to make and much stronger.
5. The toe rail is shown as wood. Wood onto steel always results in rust. I made my toe rail from 25mm stainless steel pipe. It is painted, but if/when it gets chipped, there is no rust.
6. I insulated my boat with 50mm of sprayed on foam, followed by a lining of 5mm ply wood. I have a quiet boat with no condensation, she is consistently warmer in winter, and cooler in summer than other boats.
7. Weld stainless steel bases for all deck fittings, stanchions, pulpit, pushpit, boom gallows etc directly to the boat. This avoids both rust and leaks.
8. Avoid teak decks, they are expensive, too hot to walk on in the tropics and there will always be rust underneath. My decks are painted white, this shows the dirt, but they are cool.
9. With the long, low boom, a unexpected gybe would be very dangerous. I have a Walder boom brake to control gybes.
10. I have running backstays, instead of diamond stays. In really heavy weather, the extra security is great, and they take only a minute to set up on the genoa winches.
11. I fitted a stainless steel opening port to the front of the doghouse, and another in the forward end of the cockpit. This improves ventilation in the galley and the aft cabin.
12. I fitted a locker into the aft end of the cockpit, this gives access to a lot of storage space.
13. My mainsheet horse is a 25mm stainless steel round bar, and is removable. I made a traveler for it with 3 sheaves , 2 below and 1 above, between 2 triangular plates. This works very well.
Here follow some of the things I wish I had done when building, or plan to do some time in the future;
1. The hull ports are too small, they could easily be 50% larger.
2. I would like stainless steel tops and pipe fittings for the fuel tanks. I do not have much rust, but access is so difficult that it not easy to paint there.
3. I would build the cockpit locker lids from 5mm aluminum. It is difficult to keep paint on the steel ones, and they are heavy. Mine are 4mm steel , hot dip galvanized, and painted.
4. I would like a small hatch in the doghouse roof over the galley, for additional ventilation.
5. I have a Perkins Perama M35 diesel, and a 450mm , 3 blade Max Prop. The engine is too small. For a boat displacing 12 tons, 50 hp would be much better. I hate motoring, but when you have to, it is nice to have enough horses!
6. The Port saloon seat is a bit too narrow for sleeping , unless healed to port. It could have been 100mm wider without restricting the walkway.
7. I would have liked stainless steel chain plates. Alan was against them structurally, so I ended up with steel ones with stainless steel inserts, they rust!
I have Taylors kerosene (paraffin) stove and heater. I am very happy with kerosene as a fuel, it is cheap, economical and safe. The 70 liter tank lasts nearly 2 years.
I have a 90L fridge/ freezer. It operates from a 12volt Danfoss compressor with a water cooled condenser, and also from an engine driven compressor with a holdover plate. We use the 12 volt system mainly when we have shore power, and the holdover plate other times. We spent 5 months in Chagos, and 30 to 45 minutes of engine time every second day, was enough to keep the beer and fish cold, and the batteries charged. We have no solar panels or wind generator!
I have a 130 Amp Balmar alternator and four 235 Ahr 6 volt “golf cart” batteries. The first set of batteries lasted 8 years, and where only really replaced because I got a great deal on new ones in Thailand.
I now have LED navigation and anchor lights, we also have 8 LED lamps below for the galley and reading. This results in a huge power saving.
PS. A few further thoughts.
1. Another problem is the galley sink height of only 760mm. This may be OK for little Cornishmen, but it is much too low for the rest of us! I am not very tall, but I almost always get backache when of working in the galley.(This is a great excuse for not doing any cooking or washing up!)
2. The sheet winch bases, as designed, are real toe breakers, and difficult to paint underneath. I have totally enclosed bases, which not only look better, but are stronger, and simple to paint.
3. I had a lot of problems with the rail around the base of the cockpit to support the grating. It was impossible to paint properly and was always a bit rusty. Eventually I cut it out, and now the grating is supported by a few wooden blocks , screwed underneath.
4. I made the cockpit drains from 70mm stainless steel pipe. The original steel ones were always rusting, and had 4 hose joints in each one, (an elbow was needed as there was no room to bend the hose).
5. I have been using a very old Aries wind vane since I launched. I have now ordered a Orion wind vane from Asmer in France. It is similar to the Monitor, which works very well on an Ebbtide. I will report on it’s performance in due course.
posted by Ellen Landrum at 12:04 PM
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