Thread: New Toy - Hybrid Ethel III

No need Paul.
Found a couple of dings while I was trying to clean up some marks.

Alex - all Norglass.

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1st gunn'l on with daughter's assistance.
Previously fitted from middle outwards, the screws at the stern never had enough mechanical advantage to pull it all the way in to the hull.
This time we fitted it from the stern, pulling it tight a screw at a time.
With a co-polymer sealant under it, it should give further protection to the deck edges.

Think I'm happy with the overall appearance.

Looking fantastic, AJ - truly beautiful. You can be justly proud .

Cheers,
Alex.

I'll second that. Way to go, she looks great . . .

I should probably sell while she looks so good.
But then what...

Build another boat?

That's a given anyway Alex.
I'd like a little more stability, a little more speed, a little more simplicity, etc, etc... Sound familiar?..

Making the coaming less bruising to sit on for more than a few minutes at a time.
Sitting on an 8mm edge, 40mm high ain't fun for long.
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These first two are where weight seems sweetest onto & across wind.
Need more foam to do two more aft of the rowlocks for downwind.
Will be semi-permanently tied in, & flip over into the cockpit for trailing & storage.

Thankyou all for your kind words.
I was a bit rough with the belt sander in a couple of places.
As hoped, the matt+grit deck paint turned a 10M paint job into a 2M one.

Gratuitous pics on Finniss River.

Average speed around 5.5km/h which included time becalmed and time hove-to striking sail or making adjustments.
Finniss 02 09Apr2016.JPG

making around 6-7 km/h in these pics according to the detailed track on my phone.
Hardly any wake.
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thought I'd try a quick video as hardly any seem to exist of an Ethel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umJfRW8RxVg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPzWI6bBztw

Zooming in on the most upstream km or so...
Tacked up-river (it's about 20M wide) into a frustratingly fickle & wandering NWesterly.
Gave up due to lack of progress & 2 hrs to dusk.
And the wind turned at the exact same moment that I did.
Pinched back down into a Southerly.
Finniss 01 09Apr2016.JPG

Made it back to Clayton Bay with minutes to spare... I'd left the torch in the car.
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Damage done to the tiller extension when what I think was a brown snake attempted to board from amongst the reeds in the narrow bit of the Finniss while I was tacking. I may have over-reacted slightly in trying to make boarding a less attractive option than returning to the reeds where I'd disturbed it... Still, better that than beating dents in my freshly painted deck with my freshly varnished paddle...
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It's a nice spot down there (despite the snakes). The sunset photo would make a good poster.

The second vid illustrates your comment about the wake - looks like she scoots along at a fair speed with barely any disturbance of the water. What do you think her maximum speed was on the day?

Close shave with the snike, by the sounds of things - lucky it wasn't a tigger .

A pity about the capricious weather: better luck next time!

Looking great on the water .

Cheers,
Alex.

Originally Posted by labr@

It's a nice spot down there (despite the snakes). The sunset photo would make a good poster.

The second vid illustrates your comment about the wake - looks like she scoots along at a fair speed with barely any disturbance of the water. What do you think her maximum speed was on the day?

9.4 km/h peak
9.2+ km/h sustained for several minutes.
With a rolling following wake...

That extra 1.5 km/h or so took a *lot* of extra wind & straining to achieve.
Looking wistfuly at GIS & OzGoose vids...

The GIS can muster nearly double those speeds, but don't hold your breath on a Goose doing so, though I wouldn't be surprised if in stiff winds, you could hit double digits (KPH) in a well handled, lightly done Goose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5MHvUjsfjc
OzGoose at 10.3 kts
near enough 20 km/h

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyqGCYHu9ik
OzGoose at 12 kts
road works speed limit = 25 kp/h

One of he GIS / OzGoose attractions is a much larger cockpit - extra people.
Eth'l is a gentlemen's racer... two is fine if they get on well.
Otherwise, 1 is her appropriate crewing.

Have repaired the tiller extension & am making a 20% longer tiller handle.
Heavy weather helm any time the wind is forward of a broad reach, unless mizzen fully eased or mainsail dropped.
Longer handle won't balance the boat but will be less tiring.
No pics yet.

Well, I (eventually) finished the longer tiller & repaired the tiller extension.
No pics - seen one, seen 'em all.

Headed down to Clayton Bay about 3 weeks ago to test it all out.
Only made it to just short of Ashborne. Trailer bearing failure.

Was deeply suspicious of the little 8" wheels with bearing part of the wheel, not a separate hub.
Probably fine for around town, but an hour each way at 80-100km/h ...
Had a spare wheel, managed to remove the remains of the old cups off the shaft.
Went to install the new.... bugger. No grease.
Used to keep a tube of it in the boot for justin. No idea where it's gone.

Walked a long way up a hillside to find mobile coverage & call RAA.
Expect 60-90 min wait.
Around the 2 hr mark, RAA mechanic arrived.
Then another 60min waiting for a towie, as he had no grease either.
At least the boat & trailer are light enough to support on a sack truck when winching it off the
tilt tray into my front yard & thence into the back yard. Don't know what people with big boats do.
Over the next week or two, replaced the axle with separate hubs & larger diameter wheels.
Hopefully that won't happen again.

HOWEVER...

Talk about serendipity & happy accidents.
As I got back to the car from calling the RAA, a bloke pulled up with his young son.
"So this is where "Ethel" got to! G'day I'm Charles."
"G'day Charles. I'm Alan. You know her?"
to cut a long story short...

Over the next 45 mins or so, I learnt she is sister ship to "Eve", owned by a friend of his.
Learnt a bit more about the builder (Pete Turner).
My guess about him using up oddments in her build turns out to be spot-on.
Invited to join an "Alexandrina Sailing Club" which meets a few times a year at Clayton,
often over-nighting on a waterfront property on Hindmarsh Is.
Social sailing / gunk-holing club.

Best bearing failure I ever had !! (and first, come to think of it..)