What to do with that lead

[Emerald]

For some reason I'll never fathom, many Ericsons had lead added in the bow under the V-berths. From what I've gleaned, this was not part of Bruce King's design intention and was something done at the factory, and the general words of advice are GET IT OUT. So, I've owned two Ericsons now, and have quite the collection of 25 pound lead ingots kicking around. What to do with all this good lead? Well, if you get snow, have a rear wheel drive car, throw it in the trunk for some extra winter traction. I live in a nutty hilly area without County road maintenance, and only a couple of inches can leave us stuck on top of our hill. A trunk full of lead to the rescue! (also have an old crankshaft in there and a few cinder blocks)

 

[newpbs]

Where and in Which Models

Can you share any information as to exactly where the extra ballast was added and in which models and years?

I have a 32-200 that was built in 1988. I haven't seen any lead upforward, but I haven't looked either.

thanks

Paul

 

[Emerald]

In both my E-27 and Independence 31, late 70's vintage, the extra ballast was in the V-berths. Pull out the cushions and you'll find lift up panels revealing things like holding tank, perhaps water, and if like me, some unwanted Pb

I can't say that this was still going on with the later vintage boats, especially a boat that is probably a TFG design. Seth?

 

[Earwax]

Lead ingot in EI31

My EI31 had about 200lb in the chain locker. I gave it to the previous owner right after I bought the boat because I wanted to swap that weight for extra anchor chain.

The prev owner said that he took it out a couple of years back and noticed the bow rode really high in the water...hence the added lead ingot. He put it back in before I bought the boat which balanced it back out again.

 

[Seth]

A trim thing

All of the boats were put in a pool to see how they float and check for leaks prior to shipping. Sometimes, because of variances in layup and other production variables, they sat overly stern low. This will of course be much worse once you put people and gear in the cockpits, so to compensate, we sometimes added lead in the bow to get them to float on the lines. I recall the I/31 was a more prone to this than other designs, but it happens.

The negative to this is a worse pitching moment in a seaway, and of course you are adding weight. I would probabaly remove it as well, but would do it incrementally to be sure the stern is not sitting too low.

BTW-this trick was used by MANY production yacht builders.

Everything is a trade off!

Cheers,

 

[Emerald]

Hi Seth,

Thanks for the insight as to why this was done. Once we're out of the snow, I'll do a double check of how she sits. I've always felt like there was lift in the aft end when under sail on the I31. Is this a true dynamic I'm feeling or am I just being faked out by the sensation of being under sail? Thinking that even if she squats a bit in the slip, is there an inherent lift of the aft end under sail and she'll end up sailing on her lines properly?

 

[Seth]

Hmm....

Truthfully I have limited experience sailing on the I/31, and would hesitate to comment on this specific thing-Martin is much better able to address this point, but based on experience with other boats, what you may in fact be feeling is the bow digging in a bit, which is not the best thing-although having lead in the bow does make it worse obviously, so either way, unless the stern drags when sailing it is probably OK to take the lead out.

Hopefully Martin will weigh in-he really knows these boats and can give a more informed answer than I can.

Cheers,

 

[WBurgner]

Good Old Boat

David,
The Jan/Feb issue of Good Old Boat continues a Robert Perry series on boat design. In this issue he discusses stern shape and its effect on boat handling. You might pick up some clues as to the source of your lifting sensation.

 

[Emerald]

Does the large transom mounted rudder produce enough lift to be what I'm feeling?

Sounds like once again, Good Old Boat has an interesting article - thanks for the tip Bill.

I did go down and check out the way she sits, and she's pretty even on her lines

 

[Emerald]

OK, maybe I am nuts about transom lift

Yes, I know, those who know me well will echo that yes, I am nuts, but hopefully they find it entertaining.

So, I think I need to eat my bimini and my hat on my comments of feeling like the transom lifts. Here's a video clip for any interested from a sail from Thanksgiving weekend. It was blowing a steady 22-24 knots - the water is pretty calm for the wind due to a lack of fetch. For those who know the area, we're on the Severn two points down from Round Bay above the RT 50 bridge. Comcast doesn't stream very well, so if this video is jerky, right click and save it to your computer and then it should play smoothly. I think the bow looks good - not digging in. Please don't look hard at the foot tension on the main - currently redoing a single line reefing system that just wasn't giving me enough purchase to make the main happy. We're sailing along about 6.2-6.5 knots here, just the staysail and one reef in the main:

http://home.comcast.net/~ericson-yachts/mov08490.mpg

 

[Loren Beach]

David,
That's a great video to lighten up a cold winter day!
Thanks.
BTW, what kind of video camera do you use? Someday I hope to own one too.
Best,
Loren

 

[Emerald]

Hi Loren,

Glad you enjoyed the video. It was a fun sail. I have several clips like this I keep on my thumb drive for those moments in the office when I need to be on the boat, but can't

The camera is a Sony DSC-V3. It's actually a 7.8 MP digital still camera I bought about 3 years ago, but it takes pretty darn good video as well, which is cool because it wasn't even on my radar as I was looking at buying the camera. Yeah, it shoots video, that's nice.... Little did I know

 

[Earwax]

Video teaser

David, what a tease! I was just down on Invictus today to start the aux because it finally got to a balmy 40 degrees. I'm shifting berths this weekend, so if it is nice enough, I'll take her out on the bay. Your video just made the winter seem shorter. Thanks.

 

[bayhoss]

Emerald, thanks for the video. I've winterized - great to get a look at some sailing.
Best,
Frank