Favorite Small-Boat Mods
Tell us your most satisfying or successful mod to maybe win a prize
Tell us about your most successful or satisfying modification, repair or upgrade. Send us a few details and a photo or two and you’ll be entered to win a a pack of System Three METLWELD—their metal-filled structural epoxy adhesive—and a pack of SUBMARINE—their underwater epoxy adhesive.
You can send your photo(s) and description of mod or upgrade to: josh@smallcraftadvisor.com. We will share the best of the responses with readers and pick one entry at random to award the prizes.
MetlWeld is a super tough epoxy adhesive designed to bond dissimilar materials such as steel, wood, and rubber. Submarine is a general use, epoxy paste compound that bonds to wet surfaces by displacing water from the substrate. Submarine can even be applied to objects that are completely submerged and will cure in temperatures as low as 35°F.
Thank you to our friends at System Three for the prizes! –Eds
My favourite mod was sealing off under the fore and aft decks on my GP14. I know it takes her out of compliance for racing, but having that huge sealed off areas has made the boat both safer from being knocked down and gave me more room for dry storage when camp cruising.
I did the work when I redecked by boat, using the internal framing to secure the okoume ply before sealing it right. In the middle I used a large compression hatch to make access easy, aside from ducking beneath the edge of the deck. Overall, It is just a good mod all around that makes the boat safer and better to use.
Most of us have seen tiller extension goosenecks.
We have also seen tiller yokes with two arms attached to pull-pull rudder lines leading to either foot pedals or simply pulled by hand.
In the interest of simplicity, I generally use a single arm from the rudder head to a rod leading to the cockpit. The gooseneck is the joint at the end of the arm. They are commonly available from marine hardware manufacturers, such as Harken. A piece of tape on the rod and another on the inwale serve to reference where the rudder is centered.
Anyone who has played with flying model aircraft will remember the bellcrank that was used to control movable surfaces, such as the rudder, flaps and elevator. This is an application of the same principle.
An additional advantage of this system is that it allows the sailor to trim the boat fore and aft as well as from side to side. Make the rod longer than you think you need it to be. I use EMT tubing. Easy, if not elegant.
The arm can be attached to the rudder head with a snugly fitted mortise and tenon joint.