main sheet modifications

I read an article about improving sail trim. The boat in question had its main sheet fixed to a point on the transom, much like mine. They said that just fitting a simple rope horse across the boat would allow the sail to be pulled flatter. So I have fitted one. Simply holes bored carefully through the coaming by the feet of the boom gallows, and a rope between. Holes sealed with epoxy, and they will be easy to fill if it all doesn't work. It looks like it should, but only sailing will tell. The current BC20 has a main sheet track across the transom. I don't want the expense of that, and it wouldn't work with my boom gallows anyway.

Jib furling line cleat

Another small job, but one to help single handed sailing. The clam cleat for the jib furling line is on the side deck, just outside the coaming of the cockpit. I have always found that I prefer to haul in the line from in front of the cleat, and then have to pull it through to fix it. I realised this was partly due to it being too far back. I need to be forward tending the sheet as I furl the jib, so the cleat was too far back to use at the same time. The other problem was that the line came out of the cleat at an angle into my hand, if I just yanked it in. This caused it to rub against the cheek of he cleat, which I didn't like and is probably why the roller in the original cleat had a groove worn in it. I have now moved the cleat forward, only by about a foot or so, and I have fitted a plywood wedge under it, so that it tilts inwards, allowing the line to come straight out from the cleat roller to my hand. It seems to work well in the shed, so I hope it works as well on the sea. I have also replaced the furling line with a slightly thicker one. I hope that this will stop it jamming when the line jumps off the drum, which it did rather too often last season.

Sewing and stitching

It might not look much, but I am quite proud of this. As I have taken up a bit of space with the bookcase at the end of one cabin bench, the cushion needed shortening to fit. The filling is a stiff polyester fleece, which just cut with a sharp craft knife. The cover needed to be cut and restitched, which I managed, very slowly. Not the best job in the world, but I have never done any sewing before. The cover is very grubby and I will probably renew the cushions altogether at the end of next season, but these should now last out this year.

Non-slip decks

I found that the painted decks and roof can get very slippery, even wearing Crocs, which I find are very grippy. I have tried a non-slip additive in the Toplac paint with limited success.

This year I am expanding my "use ordinary paints" experiments. I found that Dulux Weathershield paint lasts extremely well, even in a marine environment. It is water based, which makes application much easier for a bad painter like me. I always wreck brushes. With a water based paint, I can leave the brush in water and it is always ready. I painted the whole of the super structure with Weathershield for last season. It lasts perfectly well. Possibly not quite as opaque as Toplac, and not so hard wearing. On the edges of cockpit benches it has worn through where I brace my feet. But otherwise perfectly durable and very easy to touch up.

I painted my outboard well blanking plate with it, and that has survived without any deterioration at all, even though about half of it is underwater all the time, when stowed, and all of it is underwater when in use.

So to address the non-slip needs, I have used Sandtex masonry paint on all decks that I walk on. I used it in a dinghy very effectively and it is  meant to be used on light houses, so it should be durable. It is very matt, but not a rough as I expected, so I don't know how non-slip it will turn out to be when wet. But I do like the look of it. If it proves durable I might switch over to it, rather than the weathershield, as I do like a matt finish. It is also water based which makes cleaning up and brush maintenance very simple. But only sea trials will tell me if it is really suited to a boat.

Outboard gear lever

On the whole I am very pleased with my 6HP Tohatsu outboard. But I don't like the gear lever. It is a little plastic projection right down on the starboard side at the bottom of the engine head. Changing gear always involved almost getting down on my knees to find it. Not a good idea in a difficult situation where you just want a short burst of reverse to save the day. Last year I fitted an extension to it made from a tiller extension arm I had made earlier. It proved the concept, but was terribly wobbly and imprecise. I have rebuilt it completely. Same tiller extension, but shortened and bolted more firmly to the lever. In addition I fitted plywood side cheeks, which surround the plastic gear lever. Finally I filled the hollow plastic lever itself with thickened epoxy resin, as it was a bit flexible. Finished the whole thing off with two primer coats, two under coats and two coats of gloss black enamel I had lying around for some reason. It looks almost like it is meant to be there, and works very well. I just hope it stands up to real world use.
I gather the current Tohatsu outboards have the gear lever on front, which is a much better idea, but my engine is quite new, so I wasn't planning an upgrade.

Cockpit floor supports

Last season I experimented with propping the cockpit floor boards up on the edges of the flat fenders, to give me a raised, high level platform to use at anchor. It was very successful and I had the floor up like that most evenings when I was on board. Also nice for lounging in the sun. But getting them up and the fenders into position was quite a hassle and I probably came nearer to falling overboard raising and lowering the floor than doing anything else.

So I have fitted some permanent 18mm plywood brackets on each side of the cockpit which I can just lift and drop the floor boards onto. They took a little fitting, as I needed to glue backing pads for them to screw through into. One of the end brackets doesn't have such a pad as I simply could not reach down inside the quarter berth and behind the bilge pump to fit it. That bracket is on large, short screws just into the cockpit side, but I think it will be fine. I had thought of fitting a single long strip down each side, but the backing pad problem would have been even greater for those.

I am very pleased with the result. It takes only seconds to lift and fit the boards and they are very solid. I can almost lie across the cockpit, and certainly can lie out at an angle, so camping in the cockpit is now a possibility.

Boarding ladder extension

I made a single rung rope ladder extension to my boarding ladder this year, to get it deeper in the water. Forgot the simple fact that wood, even plywood, floats. Remarkably difficult to get your foot onto a floating rung. I have now modified it by the simple expedient of fixing a length of old galvanised chain under the rung. I tested it in a water butt and it seems to sink satisfactorily, but I can only test it for certain when it is really warm next year, and I can face getting into the water. I have seized the ropes to the ladder as I couldn't figure out how to splice braided rope around a tube.

Modifications to outboard well blanking plate

The blanking plate I fitted last year, in replacement of the plastic flaps, over the outboard well worked well, but was quite awkward to fit. There is not much room under the outboard itself when tilted up, and the projecting cross bars I fitted to the plate to stop it going right through the hole really got in the way. They catch on everything and I had to develop a very proscribed sequence of movements to get it in and out. Not an easy thing in a seaway.

So I have removed the bars and used two strips of thin ply across the underside of the well itself. These form ledges at the front and back of the well that the plate fits against. There will be slight increase in turbulence due to these plates, but they are very thin, so I think it will be negligible. The strips actually come from the plywood covers which originally held the plastic flaps in place. They already have CopperCoat on them. It is much easier to fit the plate now, although I can't test it in anger until next season. I am not planning to go back to the flaps.

Cooker box complete

I have finished the cooker box and I am really quite pleased with the outcome. It holds all the bits I want it to hold and it is easy to move them all around the boat. This first picture shows it undergoing a well advised "CaptainParish" scorch test. I have filled the pan with water and heated it to boiling. The handles get warm, but that is all. I can actually pick it up with the flame at full blast, although I wouldn't recommend doing that. So I don't think there is a high scorch risk, but I will keep an eye on that.

The second picture shows it in place over the basin. I have painted it rather than varnished, because firstly I am useless at varnishing, and secondly it is made up of disparate bits of scrap wood, so they look better painted rather than bright

The third picture shows it outside on a cockpit bench, which is where I would place it when cooking. Apart from the risk of CO fumes, the burning meths stinks to high heaven.

Head protection

Not a dramatic piece of work, but one I am glad I have completed. When I bolted on the new winch and halyard stoppers on the cabin roof, I had eight bolts protruding from the ceiling below, in a position where I could easily rip my head open. I have hacksawed back the long ends of the bolts (not that easy as I had to crouch whilst doing it) and then fitted a plywood cover over the remaining nuts. This is just an 18mm piece of marine ply, which I hollowed the back of using a plunge router. The ends of the ply are rounded off, so now I might still bump my head, but my brain, such as it is, might be left intact a bit longer.

Cooker box under way

I have fancied the idea of a simple cooker box ever since I got the Origo alcohol stove. I always move it out into the cockpit to use, which means moving the cooker, then looking for the matches, then for a fork, then for cooking oil, salt etc. I want to put everything into a simple container that I can just pick up and move.  Finally got round to starting on it, using scrap wood and plywood lying around the. The base is 9 mm ply. The two handles are made from a redundant dingy thwart. The rest of the wood is a rather nice thin plank of oak I have had for ages and never found a use for. I am sure that tomorrow I will find the perfect place for it, but it is sawn up now. This will just be a glue and paint job in the end.

Dry bilges, thankfully

Finally got round to lifting all the floorboards to check the "bilges". About half a sponge worth of water to remove, which is good. I always get some rain in through the companionway and it sloshes about under the floorboards. Some years it gets to the level of swirling up onto the carpeting when I'm heeled, but I think I have largely stopped most water getting in by enlarging the drain holes in the washboard channels. I have also kept the spray hood up when I remember on the mooring. That is when most rain gets in. When I put the floor back down I will use fewer  and shorter screws.  I have no idea why I used so many in the first place.

Rudder back in place

It all went back in far more easily than I expected. What I couldn't do was fit the PTFE sheets either side of the blade, which I had before. I don't know if I really needed them, but there was no way they were going to go back in. This means there is a little bit of play on the blade, but that, I hope, might be a good thing. I can certainly pull the blade right up just by hauling on the up haul, which I could rarely do before. I usually had to use the boat hook to pull it right up. But I won't know until we are back in the water next year if there is too much play or not.

I have epoxied in an extra layer of marine ply into the top of the rudder head. This will stop the blade coming up too far and hitting the edge of the transom. My epoxy resin pump has now seized up completely. I tried to force the ball bearing back down to where it should be, but only succeeded in breaking off the whole valve assembly. Resin everywhere. This set of resin and hardener is well over a year old, probably getting on for two years, so I decided it was best to dump the lot. I have a repair pack which should cover all my needs over the winter. I have no major constructions planned.Just hope that the few bits I have used cure properly, which they seem to be doing.

New rudder lines fitted

I have drilled out the old knotted ends of the rudder lines. They were embedded in epoxy in the rudder blade head. Difficult to drill out accurately as the soft rope allowed the drill head to move around. A drill press would be a good idea, but I don't have one. The rope ends pulled out easily once the knots were drilled out.

New ropes pushed through and a simple overhand stop knot tied. Then worked in epoxy thickened with silica. All seems pretty sound. It will need a little sanding when it has gone fully hard.

I have cut out the damaged trailing edge and epoxied in a marine ply block, which I shaped on the band saw, (really excellent for this sort of work). Then when it had set I cut back the excess and sanded smooth. I will cover it with epoxy and copper foil next time I mix some up. Final stage will be getting the blade back in the headstock, which might be a bit of a challenge. One of those multi-arm jobs I suspect.

Starting work on the rudder

My rudder has needed an overhaul for a long time. Almost on the first day I nearly cut one of the control lines off by dropping the blade and catching it between the blade and stock. Perfect guillotine. I have had a knot in the line ever since. There is also a nasty notch in the trailing edge where it has hit the transom when raised.

The whole rudder head also moves back and forth too much. It swings on two machine screws. Each only moves only slightly, but they move in opposite directions, which doubles the effect. For a long time I have wanted to replace them with a single threaded rod, acting as a long pintle through both fittings. I have now done this, with less effort than I feared.

I have used nyloc nuts on an 8mm threaded stainless steel rod. Getting it up through the bottom fitting was straight forward. Lining up everything to get it on through the upper one was much harder, as everything had to be perfectly in line and the rod tapped through with a mallet. Initially I just could not line everything up. Then had a brain wave. Fitted the upper screw back in place, from above. That held the top parts in line. Then I tapped the rod gently upwards. It pushed the screw up and, as hoped, it followed the screw through and popped out at the top. One more tap sent it up far enough to get a second nut on top. All now swings nicely, with much less play. Rudder blade next.

Switchboard and book case completed

The paint has dried, so I have glued in the various parts of the book shelf unit, squeezed the cats cradle of wires into the allotted space and turned it all on. Amazingly it all works. The only bit that doesn't is the battery meter, where I know a wire is loose, but it was never of much use anyway. It always showed a full charge until the battery was flat, so I never based any decisions on it. The USB port works fine and is so much easier to plug a cable into than the cigarette lighter socket. That will just be used to charge the handheld VHF. So now I can run everything at once, which might possibly not be such a good idea.

The GPS and compass will store in the space under the switch panel, so they are close to hand.

Spray hood restraints

When I looked at the Baycruiser 23 at the Southampton Boat show, I was taken with the way its spray hood was held open. On my boat, there are webbing straps stitched to the edge of the hood, which are threaded through a deck fitting and back through a buckle. A fiddle to fit, and the hood was very wobbly, however tightly you pulled the strap. On the BC 23, the straps hook directly to the frame, and pull it much tighter. Matt Newland said it was how they do all the hoods now.

After some thought, I decided that it would be even better not to use webbing at all, but use a simple rope tackle, with a jam cleat to hold it all up. This can simply be hooked onto a deck eye when you want to raise it, and you can pul lit really taught. I have just finished installing this and it works really well. Only seconds to hook on and pull up, and the hood is very rigid in use. A really good alteration.

The fitting also means I can have the hood raised but the sides folded back, which I have often wanted to do, but couldn't as the sides held the hood up.

Working on switchboard

I have cut out the main bits for moving the switch board and creating a small book case at the end of the main cabin bench. Fixing it all in place will take a bit of doing. I have had to replace the main length of conduit, which was not easy with the wiring in place, and I have had to do it in two pieces, but it looks ok. The hole is for the USB socket, which I hope will fit. I've only blown the fuse once so far...

2013 summary

Just checked my log book to see what I did this year on the water. Down to Poole 13 Times in total, twice for launch and recovery and all the rest sailing. 271nm in total and 8 nights on board, all of them at anchor. Not a bad tally and some glorious weather this year. Hope next year is as good.

 

Have fixed hinges to two locker lids, and starting on an overhaul of the electrical installation. Festoons of wires. Plan to reposition the switch panel and install a USB socket. Didn't need one of those just three years ago.

Instruments moved

I have moved all of my instruments to one area, fixed on the starboard cabin bulkhead. Doesn't look much of a change, but it is for me. I have always used a removable instrument panel in the companion way, but I got fed up with it last year. Always a bit of a fiddle to get in place, and then it was hard to get into the cabin. Now they are all on the bulkhead. The GPS and compass slide out for storage and the depth sounder is bolted in place. I have lowered the latter a few inches, so that everything is in a "single glance" position. Amazingly, the drilled-out core for the wiring was still lying on my workbench after two years, so I glued it back in place and drilled a new hole lower down. The wires are all still loose inside, but I am planning to move the fuse box anyway, to make it a bit more accessible. I have also been careful to ensure I can still lean back comfortably against the bulkhead when lounging in the cockpit.

I have through bolted the winch and jammer on the cabin roof, which makes them much more secure. However, it does mean I have protruding bolt ends in the cabin at a point where they could easily gash a head. I am going to have to devise a cover of some sort for them.

Mizzen sheet cleat supports

I moved the mizzen sheet cleats last year so that they were screwed to the inside of the cockpit coaming, just forward of the boom gallows supports. This worked very well for accessibility, but I often failed to put the rope in the cleat fully as my natural reaction was to pull the rope down rather than push it back into the vertical cleat. So my first job (before I have even fully emptied the boat) has been to cut a pair of 18mm plywood supports, which will hold the cleats horizontally. These squeeze in between the gallows legs and the coaming and will be screwed and glued in place. (They are just dry fitted here).

I was very pleased with how these came out, as they need a mitred cut on the inside edge to match the leg and a compound mitre cut to match the sloping coaming. Both were measured with sliding bevels and cut on the band saw, which worked very well. I cut the groove for the leg with a round wood rasp. I feel a proper boat builder now.
They also serve multiple functions, which is always good. As well as holding the cleat, each pad also provides a better location for the lacing eye for attaching the bottom of a flag halyard too, and provide additional fore and aft bracing to the boom gallows, which has been lacking

Winter work starts

I hauled Daisy G out last Saturday. To be truthful, I got the marina to haul her out. I wanted a pressure wash before I took her home so I had her lifted, cleaned and loaded on to the trailer. It saves an awful lot of time and effort and made t an easy day.From arriving in Poole to having her on the trailer ready to go home was little over two hours.

I was pleased to see that the Baycruiser 23 which had been on show at Southampton the week before was moored just a few meters from me. If she stays there, there will be three Baycruisers in the marina, which must be a record. Very pretty boat, but she seems incomplete without a mizzen.

The only problem potentially was with the trailer tyres. When I got home, without any mishap, I noticed one tyre was badly worn on the inside. I think the inflation was OK, but doing a bit of research, I wonder if those particular tyres are overloaded. I was probably also driving too fats as the roads were quite clear. I shall have to think over that over the winter.  I'm slowly offloading everything and got the sails packed away nice and dryly dues to the amazingly warm weather.

End of season haul out approaches

I have been away looking at othe rbioats and high art. Down to boat show next week, so I think my final trip to Poole will be in a couple of weeks to bring Daisy G home.

End of the summer

Another lovely weekend and I came down for half of it. Followed a Drascombe Coaster ("Nonsuch") being trailed from Shaftesbury to Poole. Then when I was anchored for the night off Shipstal point, she glided in to spend the night just a few yards away. Very peaceful night and not many boats out.. I think most treated last weekend and the end of season.

Strong winds and I sailed a lot with a double reef in the main, which is unusual. Worked very well. I used to have trouble tacking with a double reef, but didn't this time, so I may be learning how to handle it better. The winch is still proving itself invaluable. As the wind dropped I successively cranked out each reef, just tightening the topping lift, releasing the reefing lines and then cranking up the main. No need to turn into wind and the sail never fluttered. All of 30 second to complete.

Still warm enough to swim, so I was in several times. Beautiful clear views of the Isle of Wight, which has been hidden in haze for most of the year. I am away for a couple of weeks now, so the next trip down may well be to bring her home for the winter.

Unusual Bank Holiday weather

It has been hot and sunny. Very unexpected. Sunday morning was overcast, so I didn't mind spending time tied up in the marina, doing jobs. I had chosen my location carefully on the waiting pontoon, where it goes through a dog leg bend. By choosing the right spot, I can lower the mast, and it sticks over the pontoon, allowing easy access to the mast top. I have fitted a proper topping lift at last, plus a new Lewmar no 6 winch to control the main and jib halyards. All works beautifully. I have rearranged all of the lines coming back to the cockpit, with halyards and winch all to starboard now. The winch now allows me to get the sails and rig really taut. The topping lift allows the lazy jacks to be slackened off, which aids both raising and lowering the sails.

Two chaps came along whilst I was working and said they had come to admire my boat. Always welcome,. Then one confessed that he had a Baycruiser 23 on order, which was due to be delivered  "in August" I shall be interested to see if he gets it before the end of the week.


Sailed out for the afternoon. I thought of anchoring south of Brownsea Island, but there must have been 40 yachts anchored there. I sailed on to Shipstal Point, which is even prettier and there were only four boats there.

Next morning sailed slowly ( but faster than a Cornish Shrimper) through the harbour and out into Studland Bay, where I anchored for lunch and a snooze. BayCruiser 20 no 3 (now called Sigma Six) anchored nearby, just showing what pretty boats these are.

Sailed back in to Bramblebush Bay where I anchored again and went swimming (yes, it was that warm) and finally back in to the marina. Hard to believe that I will only be down a couple more times at most before then end of the season.

Two days sailing round the harbour

Moonrise from Shipstal Point. A huge red lateral mark has been erected there this year. I don't know why, it is at the top end of a shallow channel. It looks big enough to mount a radome on.

Two more good summer's days that I managed to enjoy out on the water. First day had some strong winds and I stayed in the Harbour. Sailing across the harbour entrance got very lively, and with all of the traffic as well as the wind, tide and overfalls, I turned back and anchored by Brownsea whilst things settled down. Then finally round the island and eventually an anchorage off Shipstal Point. The winds are curious. At night, it falls to an absolute flat calm, but if the breeze has any strength by about 8:00 am in the morning, you know it is going to gust pretty hard, even under a clear sunny sky. Where does it go at night?
I have increased the purchase on my kicking strap. Introduced an extra block, which I had kicking around, which has doubled the theoretical purchase from 3:1 to 6:1. It does let me give an extra tug to the boom, which I think improves sail shape. I am seriously planning to install a halyard winch and topping lift to let me set the sails really firmly. I have seen this done on Jim Levang's glorious BayCruiser 20 on Lake Superior and I think he knows what he is doing
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/111091018237930049744/albums/5913665145699202097 
Second day I sailed directly off the anchorage, out through the harbour and out to Old Harry. Speeds generally over 5 knots, often nearly 7, so a good sail all round. Had to motor back in as it was head to wind and tide all the way. Sunny lunch stop off Redhorn Quay and then beating round green Island. All going well, bu tit was a very low tide, and I just drifted to the edge of the channel and suddenly wasn't moving. Centreboard and rudder blade sliced firmly into mud. I don't like being stuck on the fully extended board, as the leverage must be huge. I downed all sail, released the board and rudder down hauls, and by motoring hard ahead, managed to kick both foils up. Not always a successful manoeuvre as you are driving straight into the bank you stuck on, but if you can steer round as soon as you are free, you can get away with it, which I did this time. I toyed with sailing onto my mooring, but the tide was low and the moored boats are very close together. As it was, I motored in and still scraped the bottom in places, so glad I didn't try it under sail.
Hoping that I might get another decent day over the Bank Holiday, because with holidays and other plans, there aren't many weekends now until the end of the season.

Short day's sail and the sunny spell has ended fairly convincingly

I popped down to Poole (if a two hour drive constitutes popping) with the hopes that the weather would prove better than forecast. It did and didn't. The morning was good and sailing fun, but very strange looking clouds blew up from the west. If I had been in the American plains, I would have been worried about tornadoes. I was near the marina, so I motored in and hung on my mooring and watched what was happening. The heavens opened and looked to stay that way, so I packed up and came home.

I have been trying out navigation with an Android tablet computer I have bought. Generally good. I have been using a cheap set of Admiralty charts, which in unsophisticated compared to the full blown chart plotter maps, but actually all the easier to use because of that. Keeping the tablet in the cabin protects it and makes it easier to read as it is out of the sun. The only concern was that the battery seemed to discharge even when plugged in, so I don't know quite how long it would run for in practise. But I shall persevere  with it.

Before sailing, I had fitted a length of Tee track to the end of the boom, which will allow me to adjust sail tension more effectively. I still need the slider, which is remarkably expensive. I also added another span to my lazy jacks, to hold up the end of the stack pack more. Seems to work OK, but not all the lengths of string match, which offends me. Hope the summer comes back for August.

Unplanned day's sailing.

I hadn't planned to come down for a mid-week sail, but I forgot my wallet on board over the weekend and thought I had better retrieve it. Delightful evening sail through the harbour to anchor just off Arne Peninsula in the Wareham channel. Beautiful spot and not many water skiers mid week. At night I could hear nightjars churring on the heath. There must be loads of them, but quite invisible.




In the morning sailed and motored up to Wareham for breakfast, and walked to the petrol station to top up my tank. On the way back down I managed to put myself firmly in the mud, exactly where I stuck two years ago. Then we were stuck for 2 1/2 hours. This time I tried every trick. Pumped out the ballast water, blew up and launched the dinghy and rowed out the anchor and chain as a kedge. Getting the anchor, chain and dinghy out lightened us by about 50kg and pumping out the water probably got rid of another 300kg. Half an hour after the tide turned I managed to pull us off quite smoothly, so I probably got afloat half an hour quicker by all the off loading. Anchored off Arne again, facing Hamworthy, as the wind had died.

Extended my lazy jack system, which holds up the stack pack, and it is now really quite effective. Apart from catching the sail as it drops, which it does well, pulling up firmly on the lazy jacks lifts the whole weight of the boom. This means raising the mainsail to full height is quite easy and no hint of a winch being necessary.

A steady wind blew up after 3:00pm which seems the pattern in the current heat, and I had a beautiful sail back to Parkstone. Mad a hash of picking up the mooring, wrapping it round the centreboard. Ended up moored by the stern whilst I sorted it out. But it's hot, so who cares.

Another baking hot weekend

Mediterranean weather continues and we can't really believe it. Down for just one night and really didn't sail far as there was little or no wind for much of the time. Sailed out to the beaches for a swim and then anchored behind Studland Peninsula for the night. Fabulous sunset, but then I realised that where I was would be fully dried out in the morning, so I moved anchorage slightly, with navigation lights on! The single LED lights are really remarkably bright. I rowed around the boat to see what they looked like from a distance. I would like the stern light to be higher, but not much I can do about that.

Next day I just drifted with the tide, there was no wind all morning. I anchored in the shallows off Furzey Island and went over board to scrape barnacles off. There were a lot, despite the Coppercoat anti-fouling. Maybe it is loosing it potency. Much swimming and snorkeling In the afternoon a good breeze finally arose, so I had a lovely sail back to the marina. I spent most of the first day with the ballast tanks pumped out, but as before, I really don't notice much difference in performance, so I refilled them. The stern tank does not pump dry at all, I had to finish it off through the hatch. I also added to the web of the lazy jacks, which now lift the boom up properly, which lightens the load when raising the main sail.