So Penny? How Does She Tow? (Official SP Thread)

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I knew I had seen that tell tale Tail before. In the photo above, that same shape is a give away.

Great catch, Gary. Also, the fact that Penny has been coy about her next boat...timed perfectly with Dano getting SP ready for a 24 drive...and Penny has been quiet...driving long hours, I would imagine on one of her extended series of days off...Can't wait to hear from you, Penny! We're excited for you!

Hey, until the deal was signed, sealed, and delivered, I had every right to be a little coy about my intentions. After all, there is more than one CM30 available for sale, and there must be more than one person looking to buy a CM30 wouldn't you agree?

So yes, I purchased Superior Pleasure from Dano. He was very nice with me, in our negotiations, and a nice person, in person. He included several extras that I wasn't expecting, but will be very nice to have.

As to Gary's question; she doesn't tow that well. SP is sitting a little too far back on the trailer, putting most of the weight on the rear axle and causing her to fish-tail at speeds above 50mph. At our first opportunity we will move the part of the trailer that has the winch mounted on it forward 6 inches (I know there must be a proper name for that piece, I just don't know what it is). We think that 6 inches should be enough to shift the center of gravity and put more weight on the front axle and the tongue of the trailer, thereby eliminating the fish-tailing.


Her she is, on my front grass, still attached to Glenda.

Give me a couple of days and I'll post some pictures of the interior. Right now everything is disorganized as I've been exploring.

Hey, Penny, could I get a job as a detective, or what? I remembered that 45% design in the back of your truck. It was no real mystery anyway, no one here just fell off a turnip truck, but the two photographs was proof positive.



I do a lot of towing, and that set up just looked to far to the back. You need 10% of the trailer's weight, as tongue weight. You can do 20% or more if your truck hitch will hold that much.



Did you hit a scale on the way back? I also think the length of the trailer from the wheels to the hitch needs to be longer. Maybe a lot longer. That will also make it easier to back the boat off the trailer in the lake.

I towed this at 80 with no problems, because the majority of the mass was between the wheels and the hitch.

Another possible problem, a boat sitting a long time on a trailer, if it is poorly supported, and then it is shaken side to side on a long highway trip, can split the boat wide open when allowed to sit again. My surveyor warned me about that when he looked at my boat. He told me I might / could expect to see damages on my end that he could not report on (yet) because they had not yet happened.



Mine is OK so far!



You should get it properly supported as soon as possible, to keep her from cracking open like an egg shell, as the boat may try to push past its supports, by pushing them apart.

The trailer that SP is sitting on actually has 4 bunk-boards lengthwise. One pair is along the outer section of the hull, the same as almost all sailboats with bunk boards. The second set is just to the outside of the keel mounting area. So as far as from the center out I think I'm in good shape. When I shift SP forward I plan on adding another set of verticals on the inner set of bunk boards, on the next, trailer, cross member forward, giving additional support to the bow. I also plan on replacing boards and carpet at that time.

I think that is great that she is supported like that, sounds like a good idea.

Penny, did you climb all over her yesterday? Bet that was fun. I spent a week scribing Sugar Bee, looking at stuff and just daydreaming projects in my head.
At night, I would climb in her cockpit under the stars and sip a soda while I just took it all in an tried to get my mind around it all

We are both going from 25/26 foot boats to 30/32 foot boats and that is a pretty big step. Lots to learn, focus on and be careful about.

On your boat it is an absolute must, that you start up an engine blower two plus minutes every time you crank that inboard engine. An explosion is what you are trying to avoid and a blower used properly will disapate the fumes of gasoline.

Promise you will always do that! I cannot stress that enough.

I hope to get SB on Sunday. Will not splash on Sunday. Too many people at the lake. Monday morning maybe.

When will you splash?

Penny, you can change your user name here yourself in the profile (top of every page under banner).

Spent Sunday evening and Monday crawling over, under, and around her, finding all kinds of goodies. I have a few projects in mind to kind of personalize her. First off is to replace the marine head, which was removed before Dano bought her. Porta Pottie works for now, but I really want a proper head with holding tank and macerator pump for pumping out. I will also install a larger fresh water tank and topside fill port.

What supprises me is that the sails look like they're brand new, except for the spinnaker, (which Dano never used). It needs mending and feels more like parachute silk than sail dacron . The hanks for the 3 foresails have no sign of age at all. The Jib and Genoa have the original Clipper Marine logo's intact, I haven't looked at the Main or the Storm Jib yet. Other than being loose in the sail bag, rather than tightly folded or rolled, I'd almost swear that I just picked them up fresh from the factory.

The instruction manual that was given to customers that chartered SP indicated to run the blower for 5 minutes. I guess that's because the vent ports are on the port and starboard stern corners and the motor well is at the front of the cockpit. It takes more time to get a proper flow of air moving.

Today is scrubbing day. Tomorrow I'll look at the electrical and the outboard motor. With luck she'll fire up without any problems, but knowing my luck . . .

If all goes well we'll splash her Friday or early next week. Repainting the bottom will wait for a couple of weeks.

She has three years of dry, hard to walk away from that. Call the paint number and ask them about a test dunk before a bottom paint. I also want to get mine in the water, and one friend said, wait and paint her next year. Nothing doing, when I am long dead, whoever gets my toys will have great quality stuff.



Does it seem a lot larger than your other sailboat?



Yours has the engine at the front of the cockpit, which means you get little direct charge on the rudder from the engine. This means the tiller will be a little sluggish at slow speeds. I would spend lots of time practice docking away from other boats, and have a full compliment of fenders on the sides of your new boat.



Cant wait to see pics of this boat! We all want to see what D was hiding north of the border!

Congratulation Penny!!

You have to be way more excited to have SP than BH. Sounds like you got a nice compliment of sails too. Also those swim platforms rule!! Would like some close ups of them if you would. I definitely want to build at least one for our 32.

A good rule of thumb for axle placement is 60/40, with the 60% towards the front. IMHO moving SP the 6" forward that you mention won't gain enough tounge weight. At least not enough for a good safety margin. Just going by the picture and I know you have good experience so please disregard if I am out of line. I just feel stretching the tounge would be the best option.

Good to see her w/ plenty of support. Gone suffered a sepparated corner of her rear quarter berth due to the cradle being to small. It is visible in the picture. I have since built a pair of stands to support farther aft.

All the best, Ev.

Thanks Everett, Yes , I'm very excited about SP . I'm spending most of my time on or around SP BH would have been stuck way out in back waiting for me to find the time to get excited.

As for the tongue weight on the trailer, I'll use my son as a ginny pig. If he can lift the tongue, it's too light .

BTW, because you asked, here's a couple of pictures for your enjoyment. The lower section of the ladder slides up inside the upper section, which folds up and slides in under the platform. I hope they give you some ideas.

Here is the swim deck, in two flavors



Telescoping ladder sold separately.



http://www.plasteak.com/plasteak-recycled-plastic-products/swim-platforms/custom-synthetic-teak-boat-yacht-dive-half-swim-platforms

Thanks for the pics. We will definitely be fitting Gone w/ some when we get her down here. We love to snorkle and need an easy way back on board besides the hooking ladder we currently have.

Thanks for the link Gary.