Another new member with an old boat!

[pnichols]

dhunter

My DS I ID plate is 13742 and sail # 2383. I am pretty sure that this is an accurate set of numbers. I am also reasonable certain that my DS I is a 1968.

Yours seems to be a very nice DS I and with a number of modifications, like many of us have with the older DS I's. It looks like the through deck fittings around mast were added to manage the spinnaker pole down haul and foreguy. The ones in the back are certainly for the spinnaker sheets and are similar to the ones added to my DS I. I am not sure what the function of the one an the bow is. My guess is to adjust the height of the jib tack.

A traveler was also added as this is certainly not standard. The location of the job sheet blocks is also interestingas they are quite far forward on the bow. Normally they are on the inside of the cockpit coming.

I assume they have been moved from this inside standard placement on the cockpit comings. In addition your mast and boom seem to a Proctor.

So my guess is that the previous owner set this DS I up for racing. Note also the missing floorboards which would indicate that the owner sailed her 'light'.

So all in all this is a very nice DS I and you will have to decide if you want to leave her the way she is or go back to a more traditional set up.

Have fun!

[GreenLake]

Registration data can be suspect.

My own boat is registered with what appears to be its sail #, but the year is off.

My personal suspicion (not verified) is that state registrations either did not exist in some cases prior to the late 60's early 70s or that they changed (as part of being moved to computerized recordkeeping?)

In any case, it appears that some boats got registered with ficticious years that are suspiciously close to the likely date of inception or transition in these registration schemes.

Standardized hull numbers date from 72 or 73 (don't remember, but wikipedia probably does) and after that you can expect more consistency.

Stringers: my boat, likely a bit older than yours, does not have them. Can you look at the workmanship in yours and see whether they appear original or retrofit?

Inspection ports. Those are retrofit. The PO had to put them in to mount the traveler. Hence their location. It's OK for inspection, but not ideal for re-filling with foam/pool noodles.

[dhunter]

Registration data can be suspect.

My own boat is registered with what appears to be its sail #, but the year is off.

My personal suspicion (not verified) is that state registrations either did not exist in some cases prior to the late 60's early 70s or that they changed (as part of being moved to computerized recordkeeping?)

In any case, it appears that some boats got registered with ficticious years that are suspiciously close to the likely date of inception or transition in these registration schemes.

Standardized hull numbers date from 72 or 73 (don't remember, but wikipedia probably does) and after that you can expect more consistency.

Stringers: my boat, likely a bit older than yours, does not have them. Can you look at the workmanship in yours and see whether they appear original or retrofit?

Inspection ports. Those are retrofit. The PO had to put them in to mount the traveler. Hence their location. It's OK for inspection, but not ideal for re-filling with foam/pool noodles.

Excellent point about the inspection ports and their use. That is exactly what they were for.

The stringers are factory.

The boat also has floorboards for it, but they are in rough shape. The boat came from an estate sale and who know how long it was sitting outside clogged with leaves and debris. The is a waterline inside the boat that show it had more than 8" of water in it for some time at some point.

I was hoping to buy a set of floorboards from a member here, but have not heard back from him yet.

[ctenidae]

Registration data can be suspect.

My own boat is registered with what appears to be its sail #, but the year is off.

We registered ours last week, and made sure they put the year at 1962- he wanted to go 1973 because they had to assign an HIN

[dhunter]

Well, the new tiller came today from D&R. It looks nice. I also have the used set of floorboards coming my way. Then I ordered some 1/4" Dacron for the halyards and 3/16" for the sheets and down/out hauls.

Does anybody have a good source for teaching splicing of double braid online? I need to connect the new halyard line to the wire.

[GreenLake]

Don't know whether anybody is still bothering with wire halyards for a boat in this class. Low stretch rope makes that less of an issue.

I purchased a splicing manual from one of the rope makers (Samson?) a while back at a marine outfitters and it's served me for all my splicing needs on my boat and a friend's. It's wirebound and printed on stiff material, and fits in the same bag as my splicing tools.

Also, there was a discussion on sheets here earlier, and most agreed that 3/16 was to small to handle well for sheets. Reported sizes in actual use went up to 7/16.

And what do you mean by 1.4" Dacron. Diameter nearly 1 1/2 inches? That can't be right.

[dhunter]

Don't know whether anybody is still bothering with wire halyards for a boat in this class. Low stretch rope makes that less of an issue.

I purchased a splicing manual from one of the rope makers (Samson?) a while back at a marine outfitters and it's served me for all my splicing needs on my boat and a friend's. It's wirebound and printed on stiff material, and fits in the same bag as my splicing tools.

Also, there was a discussion on sheets here earlier, and most agreed that 3/16 was to small to handle well for sheets. Reported sizes in actual use went up to 7/16.

And what do you mean by 1.4" Dacron. Diameter nearly 1 1/2 inches? That can't be right.

Well, I was simply going by the rigging guide in the tech area of the forum for dimensions.

I also assumed the wire halyards were less windage. These are in good shape. I bought enough line to replace them completely, but thought the wire would be better, after reading some of the old posts. I have no preference either way.

Bigger than 1/4" line for jib sheets... really? That sounds like mega-overkill for such a small sail. I guess that is just to make them less likely to slide through your hand?

[Kleanbore]

New England Rope has their splicing instructions online and you can download them in pdf format at http://www.neropes.com/SplicingGuideChoice.aspx

[Roger]

bremnel hooks are also called sister hooks or sister cleats. They 'click' into each other so that a line connects to a sail tack. Common connection for spinnaker sheets.

[Melbourne55]

There are a lot of instructions and videos about splicing. For floatation you can consider the idea given me by a guy who has doen fiberglass work for years in the area. Empty sod battles. Sealed with silicone they are permanent, light and free.

[GreenLake]

Sealing them with silicone could be an important step, I suppose. There was discussion here on this site about people finding the bottles deflated due to thermal cycling in combination with apparent one-way valve action of the bottle caps. Silicone sealant might get around that problem.