Re: [Cal_Boats] sailing again!

In a message dated 5/7/2010 10:47:07 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, cl… [at] charterinternet.com writes: HERE'S A QUESTION for you brilliant minds. My old hard dinghy, one of those little 8' fiberglass ones that is probably splashed from some famous little hull, has aluminum oarlock sockets. The oars have those clamped-on steel oarlock pins. If they are not greased, they squeak badly and the sockets wear (one is oval-shaped now). If they are greased, the grease turns black from aluminum wear products, and of course everything ends up touching the black grease. It's a mess. I'm wondering if bronze oarlock sockets would be a better match. Maybe I could get by without grease? HELP! Chris Campbell Not saying I'm brilliant by any stretch but I have stumbled across a clear, heatproof/waterproof plumbers grease for use on radiators. It comes in a small can the size of a snuff can with a lid that is near impossible to get off so make sure you have everything greased before you put the lid back on or you'll never get it back off with greasy fingers ;-). I use it all over the place on my boat. Paul West Adventure Kwest '80 Cal 39

pw… [at] aol.com wrote: > > > > > In a message dated 5/7/2010 10:47:07 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > cl… [at] charterinternet.com writes: > > HERE'S A QUESTION for you brilliant minds. My old hard dinghy, > one of those little 8' fiberglass ones that is probably splashed > from some famous little hull, has aluminum oarlock sockets. The > oars have those clamped-on steel oarlock pins. If they are not > greased, they squeak badly and the sockets wear (one is > oval-shaped now). If they are greased, the grease turns black > from aluminum wear products, and of course _everything_ ends up > touching the black grease. It's a mess. I'm wondering if bronze > oarlock sockets would be a better match. Maybe I could get by > without grease? HELP! > > Chris Campbell > > > Not saying I'm brilliant by any stretch but I have stumbled across a > clear, heatproof/waterproof plumbers grease for use on radiators. It > comes in a small can the size of a snuff can with a lid that is near > impossible to get off so make sure you have everything greased before > you put the lid back on or you'll never get it back off with greasy > fingers ;-). I use it all over the place on my boat. So what's it called? Chris Campbell

Chris - I think it is just called "Plumbers Grease". It's in a black can with yellow writing. I'll try to find it this weekend and verify. I think I got it at Home Depot. Paul In a message dated 5/7/2010 11:08:02 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, cl… [at] charterinternet.com writes: _p… [at] aol.pwe_ (mailto:pw… [at] aol.com) wrote: In a message dated 5/7/2010 10:47:07 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, _clcampbell@chartericlcampbell@_ (mailto:cl… [at] charterinternet.com) writes: HERE'S A QUESTION for you brilliant minds. My old hard dinghy, one of those little 8' fiberglass ones that is probably splashed from some famous little hull, has aluminum oarlock sockets. The oars have those clamped-on steel oarlock pins. If they are not greased, they squeak badly and the sockets wear (one is oval-shaped now). If they are greased, the grease turns black from aluminum wear products, and of course everything ends up touching the black grease. It's a mess. I'm wondering if bronze oarlock sockets would be a better match. Maybe I could get by without grease? HELP! Chris Campbell Not saying I'm brilliant by any stretch but I have stumbled across a clear, heatproof/waterproobut I have stumbled across a clear, hea It comes in a small can the size of a snuff can with a lid that is near impossible to get off so make sure you have everything greased before you put the lid back on or you'll never get it back off with greasy fingers ;-). I use it all over the place on my boat. So what's it called? Chris Campbell

Once again, I recommend silicone grease, available at any pool supply outlet, and yes, it also keeps electrical connections from corroding. I dab a bit inside wirenuts, stick in the wires and twist, and out doors, wrap with black vinyl tape and try to hide it in the shade, it will work for decades. So I guess the stuff would work on all kinds of electrical terminal connections, and the meantime maybe spray some silicone lube on your existing junction terminals as a quickie way to retard corrosion. Again, a great dielectric when connecting stainless steel fasteners to aluminum extrusions. Also, wrapTeflon tape on threads to prevent nuts from backing off of vibrating bolts, such as outboard mount systems. Facing the inserted end of the bolt towards you, wrap in a clockwise direction. I think the plumber's grease is also silicone, as I have a small tube I keep in my soldering kit, and it feels about the same...hard to wash off. Wipe with a paper towel and use hand cleaner, but it's not toxic. Jerry --- On Fri, 5/7/10, pw… [at] aol.com <pw… [at] aol.com> wrote: From: pw… [at] aol.com <pw… [at] aol.com> Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] sailing again! To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, May 7, 2010, 8:21 AM Chris - I think it is just called "Plumbers Grease". It's in a black can with yellow writing. I'll try to find it this weekend and verify. I think I got it at Home Depot. Paul In a message dated 5/7/2010 11:08:02 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, clcampbell@charteri nternet.com writes: pwestla@aol. com wrote: In a message dated 5/7/2010 10:47:07 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, clcampbell@charteri nternet.com writes: HERE'S A QUESTION for you brilliant minds. My old hard dinghy, one of those little 8' fiberglass ones that is probably splashed from some famous little hull, has aluminum oarlock sockets. The oars have those clamped-on steel oarlock pins. If they are not greased, they squeak badly and the sockets wear (one is oval-shaped now). If they are greased, the grease turns black from aluminum wear products, and of course everything ends up touching the black grease. It's a mess. I'm wondering if bronze oarlock sockets would be a better match. Maybe I could get by without grease? HELP! Chris Campbell Not saying I'm brilliant by any stretch but I have stumbled across a clear, heatproof/waterproo f plumbers grease for use on radiators. It comes in a small can the size of a snuff can with a lid that is near impossible to get off so make sure you have everything greased before you put the lid back on or you'll never get it back off with greasy fingers ;-). I use it all over the place on my boat. So what's it called? Chris Campbell

Chris, we have never had to grease the bronze oarlock sockets or horns on any of our dinghies, and we are on saltwater. Our present dinghy (1974 Eli Laminates 8' Scout-Sailer) originally had plastic (Nylon?) oarlocks, there worked fine until I lost one of the horns overboard while rounding the windward mark in a sailing dinghy race against my Sister about 25 years ago. We were able to mount bronze "flush-mount" sockets into the nylon sockets and use a pair of bronze horns that we already had. On my old 7' Eli I replaced the original Nylon sockets with bronze ones that mounted to the side of the boat, I built up a fiberglass mounting area inside the boat and bolted the sockets through the side with the socket in the same spot as the original flush mount Nylon sockets. All easier to show than describe...... however, I sold the boat before I ever thought to take pictures (I will look though!) I found that the sockets bolted to the side of the hull (instead of to the top of the gunwale flange) were much less flexible and easier to row with. I think you will find that using either ring-style or open-top oarlock horns will make rowing a lot easier than with those steel clamp-on horns. The Nylon sockets & horns do work OK, but were really too flexible for my taste, and the oars kept popping out of the horns while rowing if you put too much power in your stroke. I;ll see if I can find a good pic of the oarlock sockets on my old 7' dinghy that I could send direct to you. Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" 1979 O'DAY DSII #10201 former co-owner "NODROG" 1970 CAL 21 #285 PS: The 8' dinghy was the tender to NODROG, but now serves as SUNBIRD's tender (NODROG sold in 2008) The 7' dinghy had served as tender to my boats, was sold in 2008 prior to sale of NODROG, since I now had a "new" tender. On Fri, 07 May 2010 10:47:03 -0400 Chris Campbell <cl… [at] charterinternet.com> writes: Well, Cal 20 #1220 went into the water on April 28, hung mast-down on her mooring until May 4, and then last night, May 5, I set sail for the first time this season. It was a little bit chilly for a guy in shorts but I sailed across Grand Traverse Bay in a very light wind (perfect for first sail) and then came back to the mooring. At that point, I loaded the shiftless (literally) outboard into the tiny dinghy, barely avoiding capsize, and rowed it back into shore so I can get the shift rod reattached. The mast got stepped in the highest winds we've had in weeks. This involved starting my balky outboard in forward gear, casting off the mooring lines without running over them or the dinghy pennant, and powering into the local marina and down the fairway and into the slip, all the while the wind is shrieking, and getting the motor shut off just in time to glide into the borrowed slip. Then I had to wrestle the boat out of the slip with my mast-stepping buddy's aid, pointed in the right direction, then start the forward-only outboard and roar away into the wind. Miracle---noting went wrong, despite many opportunities (well, the backstay did catch on the outboard when the mast was 1/2 way up, but it always catches on something). HERE'S A QUESTION for you brilliant minds. My old hard dinghy, one of those little 8' fiberglass ones that is probably splashed from some famous little hull, has aluminum oarlock sockets. The oars have those clamped-on steel oarlock pins. If they are not greased, they squeak badly and the sockets wear (one is oval-shaped now). If they are greased, the grease turns black from aluminum wear products, and of course everything ends up touching the black grease. It's a mess. I'm wondering if bronze oarlock sockets would be a better match. Maybe I could get by without grease? HELP! Chris Campbell Penny Stock Jumping 2000% Sign up to the #1 voted penny stock newsletter for free today! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4be480dc8955f4f8b4m02duc

Rodney G. Johnson wrote: > > > Chris, we have never had to grease the bronze oarlock sockets or horns > on any of our dinghies, and we are on saltwater. Our present dinghy > (1974 Eli Laminates 8' Scout-Sailer) originally had plastic (Nylon?) > oarlocks, there worked fine until I lost one of the horns overboard > while rounding the windward mark in a sailing dinghy race against my > Sister about 25 years ago. We were able to mount bronze "flush-mount" > sockets into the nylon sockets and use a pair of bronze horns that we > already had. On my old 7' Eli I replaced the original Nylon sockets > with bronze ones that mounted to the side of the boat, I built up a > fiberglass mounting area inside the boat and bolted the sockets > through the side with the socket in the same spot as the > original flush mount Nylon sockets. All easier to show than > describe...... however, I sold the boat before I ever thought to take > pictures (I will look though!) I found that the sockets bolted to the > side of the hull (instead of to the top of the gunwale flange) were > much less flexible and easier to row with. > > I think you will find that using either ring-style or open-top oarlock > horns will make rowing a lot easier than with those steel clamp-on > horns. The Nylon sockets & horns do work OK, but were really too > flexible for my taste, and the oars kept popping out of the horns > while rowing if you put too much power in your stroke. I use open-top oarlocks on my rowing shell, allowing feathering on the retrieve, but those oars have the nice flat spot to aid in getting the correct angle on the grab. I haven't tried open ones on the dnghy, but it just seems like more work than it's worth--especially because then you have to keep track of the oarlocks AND the oars. The little bolted-on ones never go astray. My little 'glass dinghy may have been made by Eli--all I can remember right now is that the name started with E and was located in NY. I'm at least a co-builder by now, after rebuilding the flotation tanks, adding athwartship "floors" to strengthen the bottom, adding strips inside the sheer to strengthen the outward-turning flange that had cracked, and painting it all up to a fare-thee-well. Maybe next winter I'll grind off the aluminum oarlock sockets and replace them with standard bronze ones. One of the alum. ones is so ovalized now that the oar on that side (port) cocks from the vertical when rowing. My real gripe is the need to grease them, though, and the black mess that the greased surface makes on whatever touches it--and sooner or later, everything does. Chris Campbell > > I;ll see if I can find a good pic of the oarlock sockets on my old 7' > dinghy that I could send direct to you. > > Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" > 1979 O'DAY DSII #10201 > former co-owner "NODROG" > 1970 CAL 21 #285 > > PS: The 8' dinghy was the tender to NODROG, but now serves as > SUNBIRD's tender (NODROG sold in 2008) The 7' dinghy had served as > tender to my boats, was sold in 2008 prior to sale of NODROG, since I > now had a "new" tender. > > On Fri, 07 May 2010 10:47:03 -0400 Chris Campbell > <cl… [at] charterinternet.com > <mailto:cl… [at] charterinternet.com>> writes: > > > > Well, Cal 20 #1220 went into the water on April 28, hung mast-down > on her mooring until May 4, and then last night, May 5, I set > sail for the first time this season. It was a little bit chilly > for a guy in shorts but I sailed across Grand Traverse Bay in a > very light wind (perfect for first sail) and then came back to the > mooring. At that point, I loaded the shiftless (literally) > outboard into the tiny dinghy, barely avoiding capsize, and rowed > it back into shore so I can get the shift rod reattached. > > The mast got stepped in the highest winds we've had in weeks. > This involved starting my balky outboard in forward gear, casting > off the mooring lines without running over them or the dinghy > pennant, and powering into the local marina and down the fairway > and into the slip, all the while the wind is shrieking, and > getting the motor shut off just in time to glide into the borrowed > slip. Then I had to wrestle the boat out of the slip with my > mast-stepping buddy's aid, pointed in the right direction, then > start the forward-only outboard and roar away into the wind. > Miracle---noting went wrong, despite many opportunities (well, the > backstay did catch on the outboard when the mast was 1/2 way up, > but it always catches on something). > > HERE'S A QUESTION for you brilliant minds. My old hard dinghy, > one of those little 8' fiberglass ones that is probably splashed > from some famous little hull, has aluminum oarlock sockets. The > oars have those clamped-on steel oarlock pins. If they are not > greased, they squeak badly and the sockets wear (one is > oval-shaped now). If they are greased, the grease turns black > from aluminum wear products, and of course _everything_ ends up > touching the black grease. It's a mess. I'm wondering if bronze > oarlock sockets would be a better match. Maybe I could get by > without grease? HELP! > > Chris Campbell > > > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________ > *Penny Stock Jumping 2000%* > Sign up to the #1 voted penny stock newsletter for free today! > <http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3142/4be480dc8955f4f8b4m02duc>AwesomePennyStocks.com > <http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3142/4be480dc8955f4f8b4m02duc>

Chris, the problem of carrying oars AND separate oarlock horns was why we went back to the round bronze horns that remain on the oars (the leathers prevent their loss, with a strip wrapped around the top of the leather). That way we can still feather the oars when rowing (helps when rowing into the wind!). One too many trips back to our cottage to retrieve forgotten oarlocks (only 3.5 miles each way, but!) was a strong incentive to return to the ring-type! ELI Laminates was located on Long Island if I recall, Oakdale, NY is the location on a brochure that I have, but the company was started in the owner's garage and I'm not sure if that was Oakdale. Ensign Marine Specialties was another later dinghy builder in that area (not sure if they were in NY or CT?) I can relate to being a "co-builder", my 1975 7' model was in pretty tough shape when I got her, with a hole worn in the skeg and in the lower bow, the inside paint was mostly worn away and the rubrail was falling off in places. The outside wasn't too bad, besides the bottom paint having been given a too high waterline, I actually tried waxing the topsides for the first few years, then finally applied 2 coats of Interlux Brightside Polyurethane (and lowered the water line!). I also coated the bottom with a couple of thin coats of filled WEST SYSTEM Epoxy to smooth it out. The bow seat-tank finally rotted out (due to a leaking inspection port added to the top by previous owner) and so I rebuilt that, it ended up looking original, so I guess I did a good job! On the rubrail, I lucked out, when I initially restored the boat in 1989-90 I was dealing with a small "Mom & Pop" marine store in Fairhaven, MA and the couple who ran the store actually lived in Connecticut and were casually selling a line of dinghies made in Eastern CT, and it just happened that that builder used a rubrail that was an almost exact match to the ELI, so they were able to get me some of that. It fit perfectly and was a bit heavier-duty that the original. Often times on this list we rave about our local small stores and how we should use them, well I have to say that this store that is unfortunately no longer in business (Nautical Nonsense) was THE BEST! I used little plastic "rivets" to lock the rubrail on and they had quoted me $0.10 ea for them, however when they purchased a stock to sell in the store they found that they would need to charge more like $0.12 (maybe $0.15?) ea, but since they had quoted me a lower price...... they honored it, not because I asked them to.....I was willing to pay the higher price, but they told me that they would charge me the original price because that was what they quoted! Even months later when I found that I needed a few more to finish the project.... they honored the lower price! WOW! Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" 1979 O'DAY DS II On Tue, 11 May 2010 11:36:13 -0400 Chris Campbell <cl… [at] charterinternet.com> writes: Rodney G. Johnson wrote: Chris, we have never had to grease the bronze oarlock sockets or horns on any of our dinghies, and we are on saltwater. Our present dinghy (1974 Eli Laminates 8' Scout-Sailer) originally had plastic (Nylon?) oarlocks, there worked fine until I lost one of the horns overboard while rounding the windward mark in a sailing dinghy race against my Sister about 25 years ago. We were able to mount bronze "flush-mount" sockets into the nylon sockets and use a pair of bronze horns that we already had. On my old 7' Eli I replaced the original Nylon sockets with bronze ones that mounted to the side of the boat, I built up a fiberglass mounting area inside the boat and bolted the sockets through the side with the socket in the same spot as the original flush mount Nylon sockets. All easier to show than describe...... however, I sold the boat before I ever thought to take pictures (I will look though!) I found that the sockets bolted to the side of the hull (instead of to the top of the gunwale flange) were much less flexible and easier to row with. I think you will find that using either ring-style or open-top oarlock horns will make rowing a lot easier than with those steel clamp-on horns. The Nylon sockets & horns do work OK, but were really too flexible for my taste, and the oars kept popping out of the horns while rowing if you put too much power in your stroke. I use open-top oarlocks on my rowing shell, allowing feathering on the retrieve, but those oars have the nice flat spot to aid in getting the correct angle on the grab. I haven't tried open ones on the dnghy, but it just seems like more work than it's worth--especially because then you have to keep track of the oarlocks AND the oars. The little bolted-on ones never go astray. My little 'glass dinghy may have been made by Eli--all I can remember right now is that the name started with E and was located in NY. I'm at least a co-builder by now, after rebuilding the flotation tanks, adding athwartship "floors" to strengthen the bottom, adding strips inside the sheer to strengthen the outward-turning flange that had cracked, and painting it all up to a fare-thee-well. Maybe next winter I'll grind off the aluminum oarlock sockets and replace them with standard bronze ones. One of the alum. ones is so ovalized now that the oar on that side (port) cocks from the vertical when rowing. My real gripe is the need to grease them, though, and the black mess that the greased surface makes on whatever touches it--and sooner or later, everything does. Chris Campbell I;ll see if I can find a good pic of the oarlock sockets on my old 7' dinghy that I could send direct to you. Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD" 1979 O'DAY DSII #10201 former co-owner "NODROG" 1970 CAL 21 #285 PS: The 8' dinghy was the tender to NODROG, but now serves as SUNBIRD's tender (NODROG sold in 2008) The 7' dinghy had served as tender to my boats, was sold in 2008 prior to sale of NODROG, since I now had a "new" tender. On Fri, 07 May 2010 10:47:03 -0400 Chris Campbell <cl… [at] charterinternet.com> writes: Well, Cal 20 #1220 went into the water on April 28, hung mast-down on her mooring until May 4, and then last night, May 5, I set sail for the first time this season. It was a little bit chilly for a guy in shorts but I sailed across Grand Traverse Bay in a very light wind (perfect for first sail) and then came back to the mooring. At that point, I loaded the shiftless (literally) outboard into the tiny dinghy, barely avoiding capsize, and rowed it back into shore so I can get the shift rod reattached. The mast got stepped in the highest winds we've had in weeks. This involved starting my balky outboard in forward gear, casting off the mooring lines without running over them or the dinghy pennant, and powering into the local marina and down the fairway and into the slip, all the while the wind is shrieking, and getting the motor shut off just in time to glide into the borrowed slip. Then I had to wrestle the boat out of the slip with my mast-stepping buddy's aid, pointed in the right direction, then start the forward-only outboard and roar away into the wind. Miracle---noting went wrong, despite many opportunities (well, the backstay did catch on the outboard when the mast was 1/2 way up, but it always catches on something). HERE'S A QUESTION for you brilliant minds. My old hard dinghy, one of those little 8' fiberglass ones that is probably splashed from some famous little hull, has aluminum oarlock sockets. The oars have those clamped-on steel oarlock pins. If they are not greased, they squeak badly and the sockets wear (one is oval-shaped now). If they are greased, the grease turns black from aluminum wear products, and of course everything ends up touching the black grease. It's a mess. I'm wondering if bronze oarlock sockets would be a better match. Maybe I could get by without grease? HELP! Chris Campbell Penny Stock Jumping 2000% Sign up to the #1 voted penny stock newsletter for free today! AwesomePennyStocks.com Penny Stock Soaring 3000% Sign up for Free to find out what the next 3000% Stock Winner Is! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4bea3469b4c7b5df85m02duc

Rodney G. Johnson wrote: > > > Chris, the problem of carrying oars AND separate oarlock horns was why > we went back to the round bronze horns that remain on the oars (the > leathers prevent their loss, with a strip wrapped around the top of > the leather). That way we can still feather the oars when rowing > (helps when rowing into the wind!). One too many trips back to our > cottage to retrieve forgotten oarlocks (only 3.5 miles each way, but!) > was a strong incentive to return to the ring-type! I row perhaps 300 feet from shoreline to mooring. Life is easy. > > ELI Laminates was located on Long Island if I recall, Oakdale, NY is > the location on a brochure that I have, but the company was started in > the owner's garage and I'm not sure if that was Oakdale. Ensign Marine > Specialties was another later dinghy builder in that area (not sure if > they were in NY or CT?) That's it--Ensign, and they were in NY. It's probably the same hull shape, which seems to have been liberally borrowed by various manufacturers. I'll have to measure mine and see how long it actually is. It came with the mooring when it purchased that. > I can relate to being a "co-builder", my 1975 7' model was in pretty > tough shape when I got her, with a hole worn in the skeg and in the > lower bow, the inside paint was mostly worn away and the rubrail was > falling off in places. The outside wasn't too bad, besides the bottom > paint having been given a too high waterline, I actually tried waxing > the topsides for the first few years, then finally applied 2 coats of > Interlux Brightside Polyurethane (and lowered the water line!). Mine was treated to a couple coats of white Ace Hardware porch-and-floor gloss oil paint and that has lasted a decade. The interior is Ace Hardware latex porch-and-floor, low gloss, tinted to a turquoise color that approximates Boston Whaler color, perhaps a bit greener. It's actually a handsome little vessel, with a varnished mahogany seat/thwart. It comes up short on carrying capacity--any adult plus Chris exceeds the load limit on the little plate, but if I sit aft and put the crew forward, we're fine (as long as the wind isn't from the north). Chris Campbell