hello-
first post here. i bought a laser a few weeks back and have been having a riot with it! this is kinda long winded... and yes, i'm turning my laser into a RV for the water! no i don't plan on ever racing the craft. i usually sail for 4-6 hours on the columbia river outside portland, OR
the thing that bugs me about the boat is the lack of dry storage. i plan on putting in a 13x30 waterproof hatch between the mast and cockpit. adding two bulheads, one in line with the mast pocket??, and one just in front of the cockpit. i'll add drainage thurofares along the bottom as to allow water trapped in the hull to migrate from bow to stern, yet stay out of the dry (bulkheaded) portion. this dry space should allow me to easily fit all electronics, as well as enough gear to do overnighters on some of the islands in the river.
i've already bought a 30W solar panel to mount in front of the mast on the deck, a 14Ah 12v SLA, and a charge controller. i also purchased a chinese amp that hooks to an ipod that draws ~15w with two 3" marine type speakers that aren't chinese. so that covers the the music, and power set up.
sometimes it gets pretty suspect on light conditions as i'm pulling into the ramp, so i'd love to have a lighting rig so i can be safe and take my time, and potentially night sail! i know i'll need a red/green light for the bow, but i'm confused on how to rig 360 degree white light. are they usually mast top? i could work that if i had to, but it would be a PITA! can i do a light off the stern on a pole? is that legal with sailer and sail potentially blocking the light? even two lights on the back two corners would be easy. i plan on using led for all lighting.
some background on me: i worked in a boatyard for a few years. before that i build a half dozen CLC 15-17' sea kayaks. i own an offgrid ranch with solar and wind power. i built the wind turbine and it's capable of over a Kw. i know my way around a few things, but this sailing this is pretty new to me!
thanks for any thought/advice/flames!
adam
first post here. i bought a laser a few weeks back and have been having a riot with it! this is kinda long winded... and yes, i'm turning my laser into a RV for the water! no i don't plan on ever racing the craft. i usually sail for 4-6 hours on the columbia river outside portland, OR
the thing that bugs me about the boat is the lack of dry storage. i plan on putting in a 13x30 waterproof hatch between the mast and cockpit. adding two bulheads, one in line with the mast pocket??, and one just in front of the cockpit. i'll add drainage thurofares along the bottom as to allow water trapped in the hull to migrate from bow to stern, yet stay out of the dry (bulkheaded) portion. this dry space should allow me to easily fit all electronics, as well as enough gear to do overnighters on some of the islands in the river.
i've already bought a 30W solar panel to mount in front of the mast on the deck, a 14Ah 12v SLA, and a charge controller. i also purchased a chinese amp that hooks to an ipod that draws ~15w with two 3" marine type speakers that aren't chinese. so that covers the the music, and power set up.
sometimes it gets pretty suspect on light conditions as i'm pulling into the ramp, so i'd love to have a lighting rig so i can be safe and take my time, and potentially night sail! i know i'll need a red/green light for the bow, but i'm confused on how to rig 360 degree white light. are they usually mast top? i could work that if i had to, but it would be a PITA! can i do a light off the stern on a pole? is that legal with sailer and sail potentially blocking the light? even two lights on the back two corners would be easy. i plan on using led for all lighting.
some background on me: i worked in a boatyard for a few years. before that i build a half dozen CLC 15-17' sea kayaks. i own an offgrid ranch with solar and wind power. i built the wind turbine and it's capable of over a Kw. i know my way around a few things, but this sailing this is pretty new to me!
thanks for any thought/advice/flames!
adam