kekuli

Spencer Yacht Owners Group

sv Kekuli

_____________________________________________________________________

BACK

PREPARATION OF KEKULI

This page will start with some information about Paul's preparation for his circumnavigation. Many of his ideas have came from other sailors that Paul gives due credit too for some of his changes to his Spencer. Upon the departure of Kekuli from Victoria that is geared for early 2008, we will post all emails that Paul sends to us. The reports from Kekuli will come via email when at port as there is presently no email ability aboard Kekuli.

                      Paul Lim

Comment:
Paul Lim is a person who demands function before cosmetics. His Spencer is prepared for offshore sailing, not winning the Best Looking Boat Trophy. He wants everything accessible, repairable, and practical.

This circumnavigation of Paul's is not his first major voyage. On his Haida that was originally owned and sailed offshore by John Guzwell, Paul ventured into many foreign ports. He encountered some serious weather on that voyage and that gave him the motivation to make changes to his Spencer 35 for some of the conditions he expects to endure. The most significant change noted is a home made dodger. Made of many layers of fibreglass, Paul has shaped it round on top that covers part of the companion way hatch and stretches back to cover the front half of the cockpit. With it's barrel shape it drops down over the combings on both sides. A very practical method to keep the weather out of the cockpit. A full sheet of aluminum is used as a bulkhead under the dodger that separates much of the cockpit from the companion way doors. A door is mounted in this aluminum bulkhead that can be closed and reinforced in the event of waves coming aboard. The tiller was shortened slightly to accommodate it's use with the aluminum bulkhead in place.

His batteries have been strapped into place under the quarter birth located on the port side. The straps are ran under track that have been bolted to two heavily fibreglassed runners that have been glassed into the hull. This will certainly keep the batteries from dancing around. John Guzwell did a similar thing on the Haida and that is what prompted Paul to duplicate the system.

Additional water capacity had been added with a small 26 Gallon tank located aft in the engine compartment on the starboard side. It also had runners glassed into the hull that gives a wide area support for the tank. In total, Paul can carry about 66 Gallons of water in the tanks as compared to the original 35 Gallons capacity. Another 40 Gallons will be carried in portable tanks. Dishes, etc. will be washed with saltwater and rinsed with freshwater from a spray bottle. This will cut down the usage of fresh water. The head has been totally removed. This area of the boat is now used as a "sail locker". Paul hates through-hulls.

The MD2B Engine was rebuilt by Paul and is in good running order. Naturally, the motor mounts have been checked and appear good. This is critical in the event of serious heaving in tall seas or the possibility of a "turtle".

Paul also had a serious look at his rudder and beefed it up somewhat. He was concerned but found that it was better then he had thought.

Paul spent a lot of time in searching for used sails. He ended up with some very good deals and Kekuli now sports about ten sails in total. He has added mast steps, sail tracks and heavy duty aluminum spreaders. All new rigging has replaced the old and upgraded in size to 5/16 gauge. The turnbuckles are very large and connect to the new chainplates that now are on the outside of the hull. They are the same size chainplate as those on the Fraser 36. They are bolted through the hull. An interesting point here is that Paul removed the Airex Core from the hull where the chainplates attach and filled it with epoxy and high density filler. Remember, Paul's Spencer is Hull 41 and was produced in 1973, in the era of the Cored upper portion of the Hull. The waterline and below is solid glass.
Two backstays and two forestays adorn Kekuli. Also, an inner forestay has been put into place and heavily supported at the bulkhead at the foot of the V-birth.   Running Backstays are being added as this is being written.

There are a number of things that Paul has done in preparation for his voyage but the one thing that I found the most interesting is how he will be using his poles (2). The system he has devised was actually a system that he found out about from some French sailors. Used many years ago, the system seems to have been lost in time and is hardly practiced these days. See Unique Spinnaker Pole System.

Unique Spinnaker Pole System

First of all, this system was originally designed to use two sail tracks on the mast. However, in Paul's case, he has used only one track. It adds a little complication but no real problem.

On the mast, two blocks are placed above the one sail track (normally two for this system). Although there is only one track on Paul's system, there are two spinnaker-rings on the track. Each ring is attached to a line that runs through the blocks at the top and then down to a cleat at the bottom of the mast. The poles are attached in the usual way to a topping lift (one for each pole). The other end of the pole is fixed to an attachment on deck just ahead of the mast and off to one side when not in use. This gives Paul something to lean on or hold onto when forward at the mast. Each of the two topping lift lines run through a block on the upper portion of the mast and down to a cleat.

In using only one pole, Paul gave me a demonstration. Hooking up one topping lift, he put out a pole. A line was ran from the stern to the tip of the pole for a preventor while another line also travels from the bow to the tip of the pole for a second preventor. (Preventors control all travel of the pole) The sheet line is ran through the tip of the pole and onto the clew of the sail. (The pole does not touch the sail) The sheet can be adjusted as per normal as the line slips through the tip of the pole. With this method, a number of things can be done; especially when using two poles and two forestays.
Firstly, there are Preventors for both directions. Secondly, the pole does not pull the sail out of shape. Thirdly, the sail can be raised and lowered, and even replaced with another sail with out even dropping the poles.
In the event you are using two poles, the second sail goes on the other forestay and now you can run wing and wing. This is a very safe way of running as the poles do not need to be handled by the skipper in order to drop the sail, change the sail, or adjust the sail. A real plus in heavy seas. Both poles are stuffed with foam so that in the event one falls overboard, it will float and be retrievable. We tested it, and they do float.

When Paul first showed me the finished product, he ran two yankees. They flew high with the poles also quite high. Paul indicated that this would be a big asset so as not to let the poles get close to the water in the event of a lot of rolling going on. Putting a pole in the water can cause some serious issues.

I hope my explanation gives you a good idea of the setup he has. Possibly, I will have Paul send something the represents a better explanation and if we are lucky, even some photos.

    Kekuli off her home port in Victoria
      Coast Harbourside Hotel & Marina

The above photos were taken with my Cel Phone Cam. Not the best quality.

Kekuli is of the Spencer 35 series. (Not a Spencer 35MKII) This means that is has the large cockpit that he has chosen to reduce in volume by the addition of an aluminum bulkhead that has a door in it to access his companion way. This bulkhead can be removed in the future.
One notable feature about Kekuli is that even though it is of the original series, it has the rudder of the Mark II series. Simply, it is squared off on the bottom of the rudder rather then the trimmed rudder of the original series. In theory, the squared off bottom of the rudder is the preferred. Kekuli was finished by the original owner.

Computer Entry Date 25 March, 2008
First Leg
Kekuli left Victoria for Sooke Harbour in the middle of our bad weather spell here on the Southern tip of Vancouver Island. He ended up being stuck in Sooke until a window opened up and he was able to get into the Strait and got as far as Port Renfrew to wait for the proper window. Port Renfrew would be his jump off point. It took some time but he managed it and left on his first leg. His plan was to go directly west for about 225 miles, well over the shelf and then turn southward. Next stop, the Galapagos Islands. He has all his paper work done and is ready. The total leg exceeds 3200 miles. At this time (March 25,2008) we are waiting to here from Paul.

Next Entry Here