How To

Strange Bird Trailer

Posted on August 21, 2017 by

jon Posted in Life, Sailboat Racing, Snipe Sailing — No Comments ↓

Late last year I came by a Snipe and began getting it back into sailing shape this year. One element to getting it sailing was to get a road-worthy trailer under it. After trading some cash and an old AppleTV I got a used Laser 2 trailer that would fit the snipe nicely. I replaced some of the hardware, addeda jack and new wiring and lights. The hardest part would be building the bunks and what made it harder was the fact that I’d have to do it while the boat stayed upside down in my backyard.

We made a pattern for the bottom of the hull by using a jig to draw a line on the board that matched the shape of the hull. See the device here.

The shape fit the hull perfectly and just needed to be mounted to the trailer.

And the boat finally upright on the trailer:

More pictures of the trailer build starting here.

Tagged with: How To, Snipe, Strange Bird

Building Lighter Nested Cornhole Boards

Posted on June 30, 2016 by

jon Posted in Life — 7 Comments ↓

Last summer/fall some Laurie, Jess and I started a project to build 4 sets of nested 1/2 weight corn hole boards. We were inspired by a cornhole board set we had seen recently and came up with a design that would take up less space and not weigh as much as a standard set built with 3/4″ plywood and 2x4s.

Using 1/2″ plywood and some 1×3 pieces of wood we built a set that contained 1 inner and 1 outer board that would nest together with a handle to carry them. The cornhole bags could then be stored in between the boards. The playing surface of the boards is the standard 24″x48″

The ‘outer’ board has the 1×3 border going all the way around the outside. On one side, a wide hole is cut in the middle of the 1×3 to pass a rope handle through. This hole weakens the board a bit, so we added another strip of 1×3 just inside the bag hole to provide some more strength seen below in the middle and right boards.

The inner board has the 1×3 offset inside the edge so that it can fit inside of the outer board. The top and bottom of the board have the 1×3 offset by just 3/4″. The sides of the board have the 1×3 offset with enough space for the legs of the boards to fit in between. When the boards are nested the holes & legs should be at opposite ends. That way there is just enough space for 1 width of legs between the inner and outer boards when nested.

Corn Hole Board Nested diagram

Beyond the actual construction of the boards we had a lot of fun painting them with our own designs.

On top of the paint – we use a clear glossy polyurethane to give it a nice finish and protect it.

MORE PICTURES

Other resources:

Corn hole Board Construction and Rules
Custom decals (No Quarter) from Extreme Signs and Graphics

Tagged with: Cornhole, How To

J70 Mid Engine Storage Bracket

Posted on June 30, 2016 by

jon Posted in Life, No Quarter Sailing — 1 Comment ↓

Engine in place

While I had the J/70 back in Richmond a few improvements were made including mid-boat storage cradle for the engine. This puts the engine low next to the keel underneath the cockpit and not taking up valuable space up front nor adding weight to the front of the boat.

Without engine

Using a piece of teak from a retired trophy – I build a bracket that mounts to a bulkhead under the companionway. It has a notch cut for the engine to hold it just below the power head. And the way it is set up and angled it’s easy to slide the engine towards the center of the boat to get it into place.

Wood above the stringer proping up the top of the engine

Beneath the power head of the engine is another block of wood mounted to a stringer with some foam padding added to it. This tips the head of the engine upright and keeps oil from getting into the parts of the engine that it shouldn’t.

Having used it a few times now seems to work well and I like the space we got back in the bow for storing

: Engine in place

: Without engine

: Wood above the stringer proping up the top of the engine

: Dimensions

: Dimensions

: Dimensions

: Empty space before engine.

Tagged with: How To, J70, No Quarter, No Quarter J70

J70 Trailer Dock Box Ventilation

Posted on May 21, 2016 by

jon Posted in J/70 Sailing, Life, No Quarter Sailing — No Comments ↓

Completed Dock Box ventilation

I had seen this idea when I sailed the J/70 Winter Series last year and finally had a chance to add it. In short I cut a hole in the aft end of both dock boxes on the trailer and added a screen with a vent cover over it. This allows a little more air flow into the dock box in case any wetness ends up in there. The vents are on the back of the trailer so no rainwater gets in when trailering in wet conditions.

Parts:

Louvered Vent
Piece of screen
5200
Nuts/washers/bolts

Tools

2″ hole cutter

Photos:

Tagged with: How To, J70, No Quarter, No Quarter J70

How to Remove Numbers from a Laser Sail

Posted on March 21, 2013 by

jon Posted in Life, Sailboat Racing — 1 Comment ↓

This video describes how to remove sail numbers from a Laser Sail. Note that this technique only works with Goo Off Professional*

Apply goo remover to the back side of the sail.
Work it in to separate the goo from the sail
Flip the sail back over and peel off the number
Apply goo remover where the number was just removed from to clean up the area

Tips:
Use a soft cloth like an old tshirt for rubbing the goo on the sail.

The reason we first apply goo remover to the backside of the sail is to separate the goo from the sail so that the goo comes off on the number. If you start by applying goo remover over the number, it separates the vinyl number from the goo, then you’ve got to scrub the sail a lot harder to rub the left over stick goo on the sail.

*I’ve used Goo Off Professional for years for this and it worked fine. Only after I ran out of it and bought Goo Off Heavy Duty did I realize it didn’t work with all solvents. It works with Acetone, but that stuff evaporates so quickly you can only do small sections at a time.

Tagged with: How To, Laser

Reducing Netgear Switch Fan Noise

Posted on October 31, 2012 by

jon Posted in Life — 1 Comment ↓

I’ve got a Netgear (JGS516) gigabit switch in a closet just off my kitchen near the family room. Even with the door closed the fan noise it audible even above the refrigerator that is just a few feet away. Quite distracting when trying to watch a movie or have a quiet meal in the kitchen. So I did a little project to reduce the noise.

The switch uses a 5v 40mm x 40mm x 20mm fan. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if quiet 5v fans are made this size, so I ended up getting a 12v fan of this size (Scythe Mini Kaze Ultra 40mm x 20mm Silent Mini Fan (SY124020L)). To get a 12v power source I pulled apart a cell phone charger, fed the wire through the vent opening and spliced it together.

With the fan running full speed, it still wasn’t quiet enough, so I got a variable speed controller so I could turn it down. With the fan on the lowest setting the sound is barely audible in the closet let alone with the door closed and there’s just enough air flow to be sure the barely loaded 16 port switch doesn’t get too hot. And finally, I can very easily pull the mod out and return it to it’s original configuration.

Before:

After with the speed controller in the back right corner:

Speed Controller

Vent Wiring

Tagged with: How To

Laser GoPro Mount Locations

Posted on October 26, 2012 by

jon Posted in Life, Video — 3 Comments ↓

This article also appeared in the Fall 2012 Edition of The Laser Sailor and is now featured here as well. It was written with help from Kyle Martin.

Sport cameras are a relatively new breed of cameras that are compact, waterproof, durable and can be easily mounted on all kinds of surfaces. This makes them great for boats and sailing and especially the Laser. The footage from these cameras is great as a training aid, as a keepsake of your sailing and as a way to share sailing with friends and family – just don’t bore them with 20 minutes of you sailing upwind with nothing happening. Not only do most of these cameras do video, but they can also be used for time lapse photography either to watch the whole series, or just to pick key photos of maneuvers , scenery or technique.

Disclaimer: While great for training and pleasure sailing, cameras are not legal equipment for racing on a Laser.

There are several different brands of cameras on the market each with their own strengths, weaknesses, price points, features etc. Kyle and I both use the GoPro Hero2 cameras, but any of these cameras could be mounted in the shots below.

Bow Pro: Easy to set and forget, sees a great scene into the boat and all of the activity in the cockpit Con: Often submerged leaving wet spots on lens, risk of snagging others mainsheet Tip: Use a tripod mount on the bow eye for the most secure attachment. How-to Video
Mast Facing Forward Tip: For best results, angle slightly off center to port. This ‘looks’ ahead around a mark or down the line on a start. Pro: Shows boats ahead of you Con: Boring video if you are in front How-to: Go Pro Mast Mount
Side Mast Facing Aft Tip: To mount use a roll-cage mount with extra long screws Pro: Similar scene as the bow, but from a higher elevation. Con: Only works upwind
Masthead Pro: Wide view shows boats around and position in cockpit Con: Unsteady in waves, weight aloft
Mid-Mast Pro: Closer view of cockpit than masthead Con: Good video one tack, ok video other tack How-to Video
Side of Boat Tip: Use a suction mount on the smooth hull surface. Pro: Interesting angles Con: more likely to be underwater, greater risk of getting banged against something
Chest Pro: Great shots of hand-over-hand activity in the cockpit, putting the viewer in your seat Con: easy to obstruct the view with hands or bang camera with tiller extension and hiking out shows all sky
Head Pro: Nice point-of-view shots Con: Scene changes fast as the wearer quickly looks around the boat to sail
Boom Facing Starboard Tip: Wrist mount fits boom perfectly Pro: Unobstructed rear view downwind Con: Completely obstructed view on port tack by sail
End of Boom Facing Forward Tip: Use roll cage mount Pro: Shows sailor in cockpit and what’s ahead when sailing upwind
Stern Facing Forward Pro: Shows sailor plus what’s ahead Con: Slight risk of snagging your mainsheet Pro: Shows sailor in cockpit and what’s ahead when sailing upwind
Side of Dolly Pro: Can be used right-side up, or down

Jon Deutsch
Races Lasers, PHRF boats and anything else he can find to race and usually has a video camera running. Check out his YouTube channel.

Kyle Martin
Races Lasers and makes a variety of tips and tricks videos on how to make the most of GoPro Cameras. Check out his tips on his YouTube channel.

Other YouTubers posting Laser footage:
laserinternational, ClaySails, DCSSInstructors, Districttwelvelaser, ericjpetersen1, GRSALaser, jondeusch5, kylemartin101, laserd8, LaserPerformance, LaserTrainingCenter, lightningfleet192, nalsalam, paigesailor, prsalaser, robsuhay, rwbeigel, SailProCameras, sdalin27, syelland100, ussailing2, wjsymes, xdlaser, zorgetbetty, 5FishBoy5, raffak1, GreatDaneLaser, pgihockey13, sailingshack, lasertouring, jonemmettsailing, eshedsailing

Tagged with: GoPro, GoPro Mount, How To

J109 GoPro Post

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

jon Posted in Life, Sailboat Racing, Video — No Comments ↓

Sunday afternoon we made a GoPro mount for the back of a J109 that I’ll be racing in next week at the Annapolis NOOD Regatta.

We took a 8′ white wood curtain rod, fit it in the flag pole and added a GoPro to the top of it. I have yet to add a safety line and bungee tensioner to help keep it from bouncing around. Look for video from this next week.

Here’s what it looked like:

Rear view

side view

And here’s the view:

view

Tagged with: GoPro, GoPro Mount, How To, J109

GoPro Mast Mount

Posted on March 5, 2012 by

jon Posted in Life, Video — 2 Comments ↓

This GoPro mast mount should work for all mast sizes from a Laser on up. It was modeled after a mount seen on Layline’s website. On a Laser the mount can be used to film what’s ahead, or by putting it to the side and using some extenders can point backwards towards the cockpit. Obviously the mast rotation will result in some less than ideal shooting angles some of the time.

I used an Easy on/off bracket mast mount, but instead of using a stick-on or tripod mount, I drilled out the bracket part of a helmet mount and used two stainless steel bolts to attach it. The other solutions are probably sufficient, but I wanted something that would be bullet proof as I see myself mounting this in some places that I couldn’t exactly get to in a pinch if something went wrong.