Centennial

[Desert Rat]

Re: Centennial

A wide mix of rope... nylon, manila, stainless wire... any philosophy on which for which task? Why stainless wire instead of dacron, and so on?

[Daniel Noyes]

Re: Centennial

A wide mix of rope... nylon, manila, stainless wire... any philosophy on which for which task? Why stainless wire instead of dacron, and so on?

yeahhh
so I started with hardware store Manila for most of the running rigging. and on the way to Maine for the SRR we drove through a rain storm, the lines all got wet... which they were bound to do sooner or later, and the 1/4 inch manilla line expanded to 3/8th's -1/2 inch and refused to run trough the pulleys I had on the deck and mast... so I had plenty of spare line and swapped that out for the weekend... and havnt got around to changing it since.

I'd like to get some real 1/4 inch manila that will still run through my blocks once it relaxes, right now i've got a heavy weight sash cord which works and feels great but looks a little... low class...? I may just end up getting some synthetics from NE Rope Co we'll see.

I am planning on getting a length of the Amsteel stuff I think it's a Dyneema for the fore stay line. and had considered it for the rigging but I was interested in keeping pretty close to the look of a 1870's working dory, hence the wire rigging, galvanized hardware, blocks and cleats and the Manilla line.

the Manila main sheet has worked fine it's a joy to handle and is actually the same main sheet I had on the schooner dory 14 years ago.

[Tom Hunter]

Re: Centennial

Just stopping by to say thank you for posting this wonderful thread Daniel

[Daniel Noyes]

Re: Centennial

Thanks, hoping to get another sail in before putting her up for the winter!


guess I could say a little about her sailing characteristics and handling. Her rudder is pretty shallow but has excellent bit when sailing, significant bend to my oak tiller handle. The boat is about perfectly ballanced, weather helm but not hard to hold the tiller, with the jib up she has a very light touch on the tiller and will likely be able to self steer, though I have yet to test this out. The boat comes about reliably and makes little leeway with her centerboard and her hull/chine working to carry her to windward, I have left the board down running as it is weighted and contributes to stability. She rows easily in benign conditions but is an issue against a strong wind or tide.

the boat is fairly high sided and narrow on the water, bottom is 38" so she is fairly tippy at rest, like all banks dories. once you have the sails full and she is heeled over the rail is about the sheer plank from the water where she stiffens up and I have yet to put the rail under.
the narrow waterline means this boat is quicker than might be expected for a sleep aboard short ship. Johnson recorded multiple days run over 100 miles and I imagine a run of 120-150 would be quite possible with ideal conditions.

[Daniel Noyes]

Re: Centennial

another stove trial
Brrrr 26 degrees...



but a tolerable 56+- below decks, thanks to some crackling popping Anthricite!



yum, crackers and 3 kinds o' cheese!

[Daniel Noyes]

Re: Centennial

[DGentry]

Re: Centennial

Salty.
Nice job on the boat, Daniel. She looks great.

[Daniel Noyes]

Re: Centennial

thanks Dave, were having fun... I spent 5 hrs aboard the other evening, eating supper, reading, catching up on some WBF videos (acorn- Arabela) and listening to the ice crunching out on the river and the rigging clacking against the mast in the evening breeze.

[Daniel Noyes]

Re: Centennial

cold wet day on the river...

[Daniel Noyes]

Re: Centennial

Ice on the black grass, just one of many late season joys for the Sail and Oar crowd

a very Merry Christmas to all.

[Daniel Noyes]

Re: Centennial

Brrrrrrr, first order of business, get that stove fired up... then off for a day sail!

[PeterSibley]

Re: Centennial

Daniel, is you Centennial the same size as the original ?

[Daniel Noyes]

Re: Centennial

short answer, yes... I built the hull to John Gardners lines taken off the original pictured above in the 1970's I stopped by the museum to measure the deck, hatches, mast/board location etc... I made alterations to the 1876 layout, including 2 acess hatches forward and aft and modifying the cargo hatch sizes and coaming heights, which I thought would make it a more useful Day Sailer.

the only major mod I made which may affect sailing to a degree was going with an Eel style centerboard arrangement rather than the rectangular board in Johnson's craft.

Also my mast is almost 3/4inch lighter diameter at the deck and correspondingly light aloft.

my boat is up till now considerably lighter than Johnson sailed Centennial, he lists her displacement at 3/4 ton crossing the Atlantic my boat is about 1000lbs+- with about 400 of that in ballast.

the tabernackle Mast set up on the original boat has proved to be excellent, once I have the sails lowered and furled on the boom, it literally takes me 1+- minute to lower the mast for trailering the half mile to my house, and only a couple minutes more tieing stuff down for Highway travel, and she sets up equally as quickly, all stays and lines remain attached, a huge advantage with such a complicated rig.

Bit of a family resemblance.... the apple did not fall too far from the tree!

[PeterSibley]

Re: Centennial

When your water warms up will you try a capsize recovery ? She's a big 20 footer !

Where is the 400 pound of ballast? Inside or bolted on outside ?

[Daniel Noyes]

Re: Centennial

yes once I get her ballast sorted out I would like to try a capsize recovery, which will likely need to be done with her rig folded.

as ballasted currently I (215lbs) can stand on her rail and the gunnel is 3-4 inches from the water. I do plan on adding another 200 +- lbs of ballast before next season, april/may 2018