Low buck projects- Let's see 'em!

[motovationcycles]

Originally Posted by xort

How bright does it appear compared to the other anchor lights you were near?
Does it burn with full intensity all night?

It lasts about 5 hours full intensity. It is not quite as bright as an anchor light. We use it to supplement the anchor light and for cockpit lighting.

[sailingdog]

You'd be better off rounding and smoothing those edges or you're going to go through a lot of rope really fast... the sharp corners will eat line for breakfast, especially on the jam cleat part.

Originally Posted by AllThumbs

Already posted in another thread but I made these fiddle blocks.

Total cost: $18.00 (raw materials, bolts)

[broggerp]

(There's not much of a visual on this one -- unless I take a picture of the water next to my boat, with no diesel slick showing!)

A friend suggested this one: a high loop in the hose can be used to eliminate fuel spillage and seawater contamination through the fuel tank vent.

My SJ28’s fuel vent was routed directly to a through-hull vent just below the starboard toe rail. By lengthening the hose, and looping the extra way up inside the aft cabin corner and back down to the through-hull, I avoid spillage from over-filling my tank, and prevent water entry (and/or diesel drainage) at extreme heel.

Way cool, and I didn’t have to relocate the vent opening, as I’d been planning.

[painkiller]

Operation "Quick Fist" was a success. My emergency tiller is now snugly Quick-Fisted to the cockpit locker "wall", out of the way yet ready to grab in an emergency.

Overall, a very good, though somewhat expensive, solution. I paid $10.99 per pair at the West Marine. I used three Fists to mount the tiller. They're slightly cheaper online at cabelas.com and other outfitter sites, but I prefer instant gratification with small purchases.

Installation was easy, except that I attached the Quick Fists with screws instead of through-bolting them. That's strong enough for my purposes. However, getting the drill in place to drive the screws was tricky, requiring me to spread apart the rubber pincers of the Fist. No big deal, but more hassle than it should have been.

I liked Sap's idea of mounting the emergency tiller to the underside of the cockpit locker lid, but it just wouldn't fit.

My wife has already warned me not to sully the good looks of our cabin interior by mounting stuff all over the place, so I have to limit my fun. However, I'm thinking the berths need some handy Mag Lites mounted in convenient locations....

[timebandit]

Cushions about $60 for materials and that includes the boom box and hanging light.

New table to come made from a folding table from a yard sale.

[ckgreenman]

Nice. If you don't mind me asking, what did you use for the materials on those cushions. How comfortable are they for sitting/sleeping.

[timebandit]

Originally Posted by ckgreenman

Nice. If you don't mind me asking, what did you use for the materials on those cushions. How comfortable are they for sitting/sleeping.

The seats (bottoms) and the birth are done with a 3/8 plywood base painted with polly sealer.

Padding is 4" foam from a water bed place covered all around with batting and covered with denim from Jo Anns.

The backs are the same but just 1" foam was used.

The material is just streched over the foam and stapled with stainless staples.

The plywood was placed with the natural bow up so that when streaching the fabric it pulled up the ends.

I don't sleep in the dinette but the seating is good.

The v-birth cushions were don the same way but with them running accross. Doing this got rid of the "sleeping in the crack" and also gave ez access to the storage area below. It also kept one side from sliding out.

Sleeps great, like on the couch.

To keep thing from sliding around a little velcro stapled to the backs works well and allows ez removal.

[genieskip]

I hope this works since I am having trouble including the photo.

This was a very low budget addition that worked very well when we cruised to Nova Scotia last summer. There is a foul weather locker in the after head of my J40 but it was always a mess and no matter how hard I tried to impress the crew on the importance of keeping organized, things always got out of hand when it got rough.

I made the storage compartments out of Sunbrealla and 1/2 plywood. Each crew member has three of the vertical compartments, the top one for the jacket, the middle for the pants and the bottom for harness/inflatable lifejacket. There is also room for boots in the bottom slot with cutouts for the boots to hag upside down to drain. Nothing dries very well when rolled and stuffed this way but when you're in bad weather on a small boat nothing dries anyway, unless you have a heated space. Ya just gotta wait for the sun.

A couple of yards of sunbrealla and a piece of scrap plywood is my definition of cheap. (the grommets in the photo were put there because I thought I would need shock cord to keep the stuff from falling out when heeled. Turns out I didn't need it because it's tight enough to keep everything in.

[timebandit]

All wood from neighbors discarded Futon. Locker hides 6 gal. fuel tank for outboard.

[Giulietta]

Poor man stand up blocks.

if you need standup blocks, in this case, for the Spinnaker sheets , I don't like to have springs and other systems that more than often end up snagging some of the lines, in all rearwards blocks, and cockpit area...

So, to modify your regular blocks into stand up blocks, I often use the "poor man" standing block...

since 1980 I use tennis balls underneath the blocks to keep them up, and this is a good idea for dinghies where we sail barefoot most of the time and kicking the foot of a block with your toes hurts like a devil, and because its more difficult for the block to snag and hold a line that is accidentaly near it..

So this is what I do:

You will need a block, a padeye (off course attached to the deck, cabin or whatever), and a tenis ball or other soft rubber ball that is hollow and fits the size...



Attach the block as ususal to measure the height between the block and the deck/cabin...



Take a tennis bal and cut a round hole on one side, that has to be wide enough to pass the block shaft...

On the opposite side cut a slot, that is as long as the length of the padeye. Don't be affraid to cut, watch your fingers..



Install the block shaft thru the hole, attach the shackle thru the slot underneath, and attach to the padeye..

BINGO there you have the POOR MAN STANDING BLOCK



You may also cut the ball in half if you need to get different heights...experiment..generaly the more you cut the ball the softer it will be and the more flexible it will be.

This is what I use for my spinnaker standing blocks..

And I have to admit...when you look at a boat, and you see these little tricks applied, such as the tennis ball under a block...one can imediately tell there is someone that knows what he is doing on the boat...I think it also makes the boat look really sporty and racey...

Ahh gets better, you can use many colours, as long as tenins industry paints them, and once dirty, just get a new ball.....

Good luck

Alex