More Sailboat Projects: Clever Ideas and How to Make Them - For a Pittance

By Clarence Jones

This book is a sequel to Sailboat Projects, first published as an e-book in 2012 and as a printed book in 2013. Author Clarence Jones has been a sailor most of his life. Much of his pleasure in sailing has been creating projects for his boats that enhanced their performance, made them easier to sail, or more fun.
He writes. He invents. He tinkers. He sails. That's what this book is all about. Each chapter is a project that shows you how to make upgrades and gadgets for a sailboat.
His specialty is creating something for $10 that would cost $200 at a boating store.
Jones has four other books currently in print, and has produced many how-to pieces in newspapers and magazines. His guidelines for these DIY projects – and writing about them – have always been:
> Simplicity
> Ease of assembly
> Minimal cost
> Lots of pictures
> Readily available materials
The projects in this book vary from very simple (Swaging Rope to Make an Eye, Anchor Retriever) to fairly complex (New Holding Tank Vent to Avoid a Brown Disaster, Wide-Screen Weather Station, AIS and Live TV).
Some of them were previously published (or soon will be) in Good Old Boat magazine.
There are 19 projects here. Other sailors will discover lots of ideas they'll want to explore to improve their boat and their sailing experience.
Welcome aboard.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clarence Jones
• Release date: Jun 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311410344

Clarence Jones

Clarence Jones is an on-camera coach who teaches media survival skills. He knows what he's talking about. After 30 years of reporting in both newspapers and television, he wrote Winning with the News Media - A Self-Defense Manual When You're the Story. Now in its 9th Edition, many call it "the bible" on news media relations. Then he formed his own media relations firm to (in his words) "teach people like you how to cope with SOBs like me." At WPLG-TV in Miami, he was one of the nation's most-honored reporters. He won four Emmys and became the first reporter for a local station to ever win three duPont-Columbia Awards - TV's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. In addition to his day job as a news media consultant, he writes more books and magazine articles. He builds his own computers and invents clever devices to for his sailboat. Nine of his books are now available in both print and e-book formats -- Winning with the News Media, They're Gonna Murder You (his memoirs), Sweetheart Scams - Online Dating's Billion Dollar Swindle, LED Basics - Choosing and Using the Magic Light, Sailboat Projects, More Sailboat Projects, Webcam Savvy for the Job or the News, Webcam Savvy for Telemedicine, and Filming Family History. Clarence started working full-time as a daily newspaper reporter while he was earning his journalism degree at the University of Florida. He was named Capitol correspondent in Tallahassee for the Florida Times-Union one year after graduating from college. Six years later, as one of the nation's most promising young journalists, he was granted a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. After Harvard, he was hired by the Miami Herald, where he was part of a year-long investigation that resulted in corruption charges against the sheriff and his top aides. The Herald stories led to a referendum that abolished the office of sheriff. Miami-Dade is the only county in Florida with an appointed public safety director. Clarence covered Martin Luther King's Civil Rights campaign all across the South for the Herald. His last newspaper position was Washington correspondent for the Herald. He then moved to Louisville, Kentucky to work under deep cover for eight months, investigating political and law enforcement corruption for WHAS-TV. Posing as a gambler, he visited illegal bookie joints daily, carrying a hidden camera and tape recorder. His documentaries during a two-year stint in Louisville gained immediate national attention. He returned to Miami in 1972 to become the investigative reporter for WPLG-TV, the ABC affiliate owned by Post-Newsweek Corp. Specializing in organized crime and law enforcement corruption, his work at WPLG earned four Emmys and three duPont-Columbia Awards (television's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize). He also won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for "The Billion-Dollar Ghetto," a 10-story series that examined the causes of the riots that burned much of Liberty City and killed 18 people in 1980. While he was reporting, he taught broadcast journalism for five years as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami. He lives near the mouth of Tampa Bay, where he sails a 28-foot Catalina, and frequently publishes magazine articles showing how to make gadgets and accessories he invents for his boat. All of his books are available in both print and e-book versions.

Book preview

Preface

This book is a sequel to Sailboat Projects, first published as an e-book in 2012, followed by a printed version in 2013.

I write. I invent. I tinker. I sail. That's what this book is all about. Each chapter is a project that shows you how to make upgrades and gadgets for your boat to enhance your sailing experience. My specialty is making something for $10 that would cost $200 at a boating store.

I've produced several books and a lot of how-to pieces in newspapers and magazines. My guidelines for these DIY projects – and writing about them – have always been:

Simplicity

Ease of assembly

Minimal cost

Lots of pictures

Readily available materials

The projects in this book vary from very simple (Swaging Rope to Make an Eye, Better Rope Whipping) to fairly complex (New Holding Tank Vent Avoids a Brown Disaster, Wide-Screen Weather Station, AIS and Live TV). Some of them were previously published (or soon will be) in Good Old Boat magazine.

Browse through the topics in the Table of Contents. Somewhere in there, you'll probably discover one or more ideas you'll want to make for your boat. Welcome aboard.

Other Books by Clarence Jones

Winning with the News Media - A Self-Defense Manual When You're the Story (9th Edition, both print and e-book versions)

They're Gonna Murder You - War Stories from My Life at the News Front (both print and e-book versions)

Sailboat Projects – Clever Ideas and How to Make Them – For a Pittance (both print and e-book versions)

Webcam Savvy – For Job or News Interviews (both print and e-book versions)

Back to Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface

Steering Wheel Extender

Catbird Seat Rail Pads

Digital Volt Meter/Battery Monitor

Solar Panels for Trickle Charging

Water Hose Tool

Holding Tank Vent Avoids Brown Disaster

Swaging Rope Instead of Splicing

Better Rope Whipping

Keep the Ice Chest Colder, Longer

Cabin Air Cooler

Boat Hook Piling Snare

Boat Hook Ring Attachment

Pickup Stick

Wide Screen Weather, AIS & Live TV

A Better TV Bracket

Anchor Retriever

Auxiliary Bilge Pump

LED Lantern

Favorite Materials & Tools

About the Author

Contact Us

Strange e-book Stuff

Copyright Notice

Steering Wheel Extender

My wife, Ellen, steering with the extender

Our Catalina 28 has elevated catbird seats in the aft corners of the cockpit. A wonderful place to sit when you’re under sail. I often wished I could steer from there. Then Forespar® marketed an extension rod for $140 to do just that.

Brilliant idea, but expensive. I figured out how to make my own for less than $5.

The secret to make it work is a connector that can swivel in any direction, so you can swing the wheel from the starboard or port seat.

And be able to quickly connect or detach the rod.

The spokes of my wheel are a half-inch in diameter. This connector will work with spokes slightly larger or smaller. It’s made primarily with a modified, three-quarter-inch PVC T fitting and a length of PVC or polished aluminum pipe for the handle.

The PVC assembly (above) is split and then held in place on the wheel spoke with two stainless steel clamps. A smaller clamp on the wheel keeps the assembly in place.

The most expensive part for this project is a bimini frame eye-end cap that costs $2.50.

The smooth PVC will be kind to the finish on the spoke as it swings horizontally, even when it grips very tightly. The bolt through the assembly and bimini eye-end fitting connects the rod and allows vertical movement.

Quick Removal

For quick removal, I put a short piece of quarter-inch hose on the threaded end of the bolt. There’s a small hole drilled in the outer end of the hose. A wire tie through that hole makes a loop so you can quickly pull the hose off to remove the bolt and rod handle.

Start by drilling a quarter - inch hole in the center of the ¾-inchT stub. This will hold the bolt on which the bimini eye-end swivels.

Slotted T stub lets bimini eye end swing vertically

Insert a three-quarter to half-inch reducer in each end of the T, and put a short piece of half-inch pipe in each reducer. The reducers and half-inch pipe are needed to fit on the half-inch diameter wheel spoke.

Then slot the T stub so the bimini eye end can swing up or down.

I made my slots with a table saw, then widened the mouth with a Dremel® tool. A hacksaw will also work if you have a vice to hold the T, and a steady hand.

If you use a power saw, a piece of pipe stuck in the fitting can guide it through the blade without endangering your fingers.

Push a quarter-inch bolt through the T and bimini eye-end. When you’re happy with the swing of the eye-end, glue the reducers and small pieces of half-inch pipe into each end of the T. Then slice the entire assembly in half. Using stainless pipe clamps, fasten it to the wheel spoke that will be on top when the boat is sailing straight ahead.

Check to be sure the assembly won’t hit something on the forward side of your wheel when it’s swung full hard.

The outer diameter of half-inch PVC pipe is ⅞-inch. A piece of half-inch pipe will fit nicely into the bimini eye end to become the extension rod. The bimini fitting has a set screw to keep the pipe in place. For strength, I added another screw on the opposite side.

For my boat, an extension rod 36 inches long is just right. It’s hard to bring the boat about with this extension, but it offers great steering for most cruising. The handle for the rod (above) is a short length of ribbed hose and a PVC cap glued onto the opposite end of the pipe.

If you want to be really fancy, use polished aluminum pipe instead of PVC for the rod. You can pick up a scrap at a shop that makes bimini tops. It will probably double the cost of your steering wheel extension, but what the heck, you're still saving at least $130.

Parts Needed

> One ¼-inch PVC T fitting

> Two ¾ to ½-inch PVC reducer fittings

> Two pieces of pipe for the reducers

> Stainless ¼-inch bolt 1½ inch long

> Three stainless steel clamps

> Short piece of ¼-inch rubber hose

> Small wire tie for hose loop

> One three-foot piece of PVC pipe

> Six inches of ribbed hose for the handle

> Bimini frame eye-end cap

(This article was first published in the March/April, 2013 issue of Good