Embla's Pending, East to West Atlantic Crossing

I am currently lying Vigo, Spain waiting for a front to pass and for northerly winds to set in. Sometime this week, I will set sail for the Canary Islands with a local Spanish crew member. I plan to cross the Atlantic in May, to arrive before Hurricane season. If all goes well, we will have Embla in the Chesapeake this Summer. 

- Donald Dorn-Lopez

S/V Embla - 41LN14

BMW D50 Parts for the Asking

I recently re-powered during a major overhaul and now have to find a home for the old BMW. I would hate to see my running BMW D50 go to waste but there doesn't seem to be a high demand for this engine amongst the general public. I know most parts can generally be obtained from Canada but, from personal experience, I know they're not cheap. Seems like every time I ordered a part it was $500. Looking at pictures on the owner's association there appears to be at least six owners with their original BMW engine. If anyone is interested in obtaining an entire spare engine/transmisson in order to keep their Beemer running please contact me. I don't want it to go to waste and I need my garage space back. Its not about the money. Although its still listed for sale on Craigslist for the general public, for a Lord Nelson owner it will be "free to good home". You just need to figure out how to pick it up or ship it from Gulf Breeze, Florida.

Tom Fish, Voodoo Child 41LN23

tfish@mchsi.com

Embla 41LN14's Chainplate Upgrades

I improved the chainplate mounts, by adding a fiberglass base to get the joint up out of the water channel and then welded on a stainless base (Hallberg Rassy style) to give further protection from leaks. I also learned that they must be sealed with butyl rubber and not polyurethane sealant! This is important. By the way, all of the chainplates were severly corroded in places where you cannot see it. Now all of them are new and all of the bolts are new.

The problem with polyurethane sealant (I used Sika Flex 291i, but am pretty sure the others are the same), is that it does not elongate as much as advertised before failing. The Sika technical sheet says it will take 300% elongation (tension) before failure. I planned a joint thickness of 3 mm, in order to allow for up to 9 mm of possible movement, an important consideration since the rig pulls upward on the chain plates. I found that the sealant failed with less than 2 mm of stretch. I did clean well with Sika cleaner and I used the recommended primer, so am pretty sure it was not a failure in the preparation. Besides, all 6 chain plate joints failed and leaked. 

The product that I switched to is "Bed-It Butyl Tape" (www.pbase.com/mainecruising/butyl_tape), and it works very well. Problem solved, no leaks.  By the way, I am now using "Bed-It" for many other leak sealing issues. The original sealant used on the Lord Nelson's is a black, gooey substance that remains pliable even after 30 years. It smells like it is a type of poly sulfide, which would probably also work. The best poly sulfide I have used is 3M 101, but I haven't seen it sold for many years. I think it can still be ordered from Jamestown Distributors.

Donald Dorn-Lopez, ddl001@gmail.com

Deferred Maintenance

Yes, the fiddle rail does come off. It is still in one piece. All this for failing to keep the seal between the marble and the bulkhead.

Ted
S/Y AURORA
(469) 212-6778 USA
(473) 456-7418 Grenada
Tedntex@yahoo.com

Head Vanity Leaks

From: Ted Boodry tedntex@yahoo.com

Anyone else not keeping up with the caulking on the counter behind the mirror?

Ted
S/Y AURORA
(469) 212-6778 USA
(473) 456-7418 Grenada
Tedntex@yahoo.com

Welcome Aboard Wannabes John Moir and Pam Hastings

My name is John Moir (jwmoir@gmail.com) and my parner's name is Pam Hastings. I've been looking at both the Lord Nelsons as well as the Hans Christians. Beautiful vessels for sure. We are looking to purchase a vessel sometime later this year or the next [2015 or 2016]. We will wait until the CDN $ gets a little stronger first.

Welcome Aboard Bill and Lyn Charlton, Canik 35LN20

Bill and Lyn bought Canik, formerly Amazing Grace, in 1996. In 1997 they started a circumnavigation which they completed 13 years later. They live in Garden Bay, B.C. and now enjoy cruising Alaska, Haida Gwaii, and Vancouver Island.

FairWind 41LN10 Steps Their Mast

Fairwind 41LN10 stepped their mast in order to get under the bridges on the Erie Canal. As the pictures show they built some sturdy but inexpensive supports. Note the boom laying on the deck.  You can read all about FairWind's journey from Lake Erie to Florid at: http://svfairwind.tumblr.com.