Are there drawings of the DS2's internal hull structural?

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Are there drawings of the DS2's internal hull structural?

Postby NeedleDoc » Sun Sep 06, 2020 2:31 am

I have recently bought a used DS2 that is in very good shape for it's age with the intent of teaching my grandmunchkins how to sail. I'll need a crew as I get older. Because I now have some mobility issues (one functional hand/arm and a bum leg) I have to be a little inventive to compensate. I am sure that I will be adding things like jam cleats and other hardware in locations where others would never ever consider needing/using them. I am literally configuring this DS2 for one handed sailing.

With that said, are there drawings of the DS2's internal hull structural so that I can determine where and where not make a modification and answer a few structural questions. Such as... Is there any wooden internal skeletal structure and how is it laid out? Is the hull simply two fiberglass halves joined together? What is the thickness of the fiberglass and does it vary depending on location. What is the shape and internal dimension of the bilge?

Thank you in advance. Any assistance is sincerely appreciated.

Tim
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Re: Are there drawings of the DS2's internal hull structural

Postby GreenLake » Sun Sep 06, 2020 7:02 pm

Welcome to the forum.

The DS2 is basically just two molds glued together (with some exceptions, like the cuddy floor). I doubt that anyone has spent time on creating a full set of drawings after the fact. However, if you read the older posts here (both in the DS2 and the Repairs and Improvements sections) you may find lots of discussion and photos of what people found beneath or behind certain sections of the cockipt, sets and cuddy floor.

That said, one of the best things you can do is to add strategically located inspection ports (and then reach in and take pictures). There seem to have been some small modifications over the model years, none of which are tracked anywhere. So your boat may not match anybody else's boat precisely. Best to go by actual evidence then, than plans or drawings.

Now, one of the first things that I can think of might be the need to to have extra support for mast raising. Have a look at the tripod described here: https://forum.daysailer.org/greenlake/d ... ising.html. (Just the tripod, as your mast probably has a tabernacle already). You may have to mount a second mast ring at the proper height for using with a tripod, but that's minor.

Next, you'll need some kind of tiller tamer. And you need one that allows easy one-handed operation. There are some commercial ones that engage with a simple lever, but I've had good success with a simple bungee strung across the cockpit (e.g. from two eystraps). The tiller "slides" along, but is held against it by a few wraps of thinner shock cord. The latter controls the friction so the tiller stays in place when you let go, but you can always move it by hand without disengaging anything (it will just slide to the new position). If the tiller is set to where I want it, but needs a minor adjustment, I just use one had to push it a bit along the bungee, by grabbing the bungee and using my thumb to push the wrapping a tad.

Use ratchet blocks on both main and jib sheet and your short crew can hold those in moderate winds without having to cleat them. I've managed to hold both main and jib sheet in one hand, when single-handing. You may want to cleat the jib (and then not sail in conditions where you'll need to be able to immediately throw off both). However, I dimly remember having seen a setup where somebody reversed the mainsheet so it ran up to the tiller from the stern. (And could be held by the hand on the tiller). This would require mounting a block directly above and in line with the pintles and gudgeons so that the main does not try to "steer" the boat.

If your DS does not have a vang, look into adding a powerful one (at least 12:1, but 20:1 is not too much). This helps flatten the main to depower and if you let out the mainsheet, the sail will stay flat and not power up.

Finally, have reef points added to your sail and install jiffy reefing, so you can depower your boat if conditions become a little more boisterous than you had planned.

Make sure you spend some evenings perusing older posts on this forum. There's a lot here in the archives, and many people who have the expertise and wrote in earlier are no longer with us (or don't stop by that frequently) so you may find answers in the archives that you won't get "live". Make sure to look outside this DSII section: the topics about sails and rigging are not model specific (but some DS1 owners posted their issues in the DS1 section).

Good luck and let us know how things turn out.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Are there drawings of the DS2's internal hull structural

Postby NeedleDoc » Mon Sep 07, 2020 6:14 pm

GreenLake,
Thank you for the input and suggestions. They will be heartfully be used.

I will keep you up to date, but please note, I am slow. Weather is still to hot to do outdoor fiberglass repair and I am now homeschooling the munchkins during this pandemic adventure which has limited my weekday time to work on this project. So, if you do not hear from me much on the forum, it is not do to lack of interest, but rest assure that I will be doing with my forum research reading and plodding along doing my upgrades.

Again, thank you.
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Re: Are there drawings of the DS2's internal hull structural

Postby GreenLake » Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:26 pm

have no fear, we are here year round, so come on by when you have an update.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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