[Jeff]

….”We bought the length for “3/4 to 1″ thick material”, but 7/8″ to 1 1/8″ might be better because some places, the plywood wall has swollen and the shorter studs are not quite long enough.”

Yes, this was my problem too. The correct size just wouldn’t catch the opposing thread on swollen timber, even though I’d dried out the side panels ‘in-situ’ with my heat-gun. I eventually drilled out the holes & put in 1″ x 4mm bolts & just tightened up the whole lot until I was sure it was all waterproof. That resulted mostly in about 8mm of thread showing through the nuts so I cut each one down with a hacksaw so I could cover the nuts with a white plastic nut-cover. Looks a bit ‘industrial’ but I had difficulty sourcing the exact size of Interscrews here & IIRC they were over $1 each
Cheers,
Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi Marilyn,
I re-bedded my aft-head portlight a few years ago. I found that 2 of the aft screws immediately behind the bulkhead were almost in line with the bulkhead…but not quite, which enabled me to get a small open-ended spanner on to them. I’ve replaced the 12 internally accessed original Interscrews with 4mm st-steel bolts. The externally accessed screw-heads came out easily & were re-used. It turned out to be the easiest portlight to work on, out of the 4 that I re-bedded. I can’t remember exactly what the attachment of the forward screws was, & I didn’t take any photo’s, but I don’t remember having any particular difficulty with re-installing the window. If you treat the forward externally accessed screws with caution & they’re not too corroded you should be able to lift off the frame & then re-use them.
HTH, Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi Kari & Lawrence,
From my Owners list, which is by no means up to date, I see that ‘Poppy’ is listed as Hull No’-24, Yard No’-965, & Official No’-335558, which is usually carved on a teak plate fixed to the forward cabin teak surround above the bunks.
1) F.M. GILL 1968 1970
2) W.D. LAMBERT 1974 ?
3) J. GOODALL 1976 1988
4) PHILIP HAWES 1988 2000
5) UNKNOWN-NO INFORMATION…………..
Jeremy Lines may have more info’ & maybe you can give us details of the previous owners since 2000.?
Cheers,
Jeff
Nic-38:’Sea Eagle’

[Jeff]

Thanks very much David, my dipstick is now newly marked-up & varnished already:-)

[Jeff]

Hi Richard,
I posted a reply here some years ago in response to someone elses query on the very same thing, after replacing my own original unit. (with photo’s) I don’t have the details to hand right now but it should be on here somewhere.
The original unit, 40+ years old at the time, was seized up & was going to cost a significant amount to service, (@ £40+ p.Hr) so I wrote it off & bought a Vetus unit & St/Steel wiper arm. Total cost IIRC was around £130.
Cheers,
Jeff

[Jeff]

Well done & Thankyou very much Van.!
I can re-mark my home-made stick now, & know that it’s accurate.
Cheers,
Jeff

[Jeff]

….”Instead, he recommends attaching to custom “chain plates” built into the hull (topsides) at the transom end.”

I remember discussing this with a couple of serious sailors 3 or 4 years ago. Their opinion was ‘get some st/steel chainplates made up & horizontally mounted on both aft corners of the hull with adequate backing plates.’
I agree. I wouldn’t trust any of my 45+ years old deck-fittings to take those kinds of loads, re-bedded or not, & not even the winches. They’re not designed for that.
There’s no doubt, a Jordan series drogue would be a great thing to have in really severe conditions. (£££s aside)
I’ve never sailed in conditions that would warrant the use of a drogue, but I remember looking at 100+ mph hurricane-force winds from the deck of an offshore oil platform 200 miles off Aberdeen. The crests were about 2 football stadiums apart, not breaking, & about 40-60 feet deep inbetween. Definitely ‘drogue conditions’!.

[Jeff]

Hi Richard,
Can’t help I’m afraid, but I’ve been thinking about the same thing for years now.
My original fuel dipstick was lost during the huge refit, when Sea Eagle was in the shed for about 6 months. I’d had x3 new fuel guages fitted & the graduated dipstick was discarded. It’s a lot handier to push a button on a display unit & see roughly how much fuel is in the tanks, but I don’t know whether there’s 20,30 or 40 litres left.
When I cleaned out the main tank 2 years ago I thought it might be a good idea to pour in 20 litres, mark the level on a stick, then scale it up to the full tank. Turns out that’s not very accurate, as the tank is not a perfect rectangle.
Assuming our main tanks are all made to the same spec’, they all hold 30 gallons, but the only way I can think of to get the dipstick absolutely right, is to refill the main tank by 20 litre jerry-can & mark your dipstick according to each fill.
Jeff

[Jeff]

Marilyn & Van:
Good of you to post this & thanks for the heads-up folks. A timely reminder for us all to not let ourselves become too complacent, & that we’re never THAT far away from ‘something’ going wrong.
Best Wishes,
Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi there Barry,
Mine came with the boat & has been very reliable. It’s a Techimpex 2x burner with Toaster/Grill & oven. It runs on Propane or Butane gas & sits on gimbals in the space adjacent to the galley sink, with plenty of clearance all round. I have a cut-off on the port bulk-head behind it & then an isolation gizmo in the aft lazarette locker.
Never had a problem with it in 10 years so thoroughly recommend it.

[Jeff]

No replies I see, so no-one else has had the same problem. Anyway, I’ve had 12 made in st/steel, in the unlikely event that any more of them break or crack.

[Jeff]

Marilyn, That is a quite excellent ‘review’ of how our 40 year old Nic-38s are, & how they behave. The OP seems to already be knowledgeable about yachts & performance, & will probably know that yachts like ours,… unless they’ve had relatively recent refurbishment or possibly been on the market for a few years & the Owner hasn’t wanted to spend any more money on his boat or has ”swallowed the anchor”…will always need SOME money spent on her.
Your point about replacing/re-bedding porthole windows is good, but easily dealt with. I’ve re-bedded 3 saloon windows & 1 aft-cabin window, with another 1 coming up before too long.
I had to drill & punch out a lot of the original ‘Interscrews’ as most were corroded in place, & couldn’t get the same sized replacements, so I drilled every hole out to 5mm & put 5mm st/steel bolts all round, facing inwards, then trimmed them all down & put white plastic nut-caps on every nut.
My primary winches are Lewmar 48 2x speed.
BW,
Jeff

[Jeff]

Brilliant mate & v.nice of you to post it.! Wish I was there:) Nobody else in our group posts anything like this, wonder why.

[Jeff]

Ah, I see what you meant Marilyn.!
I too don’t like to waste water & plan on using it very economically on longer passages. Yes, it’s a huge $$$$ outlay for a relatively small daily usage, but previous generations of sailors managed to catch rainwater did’nt they, & there’s plenty of that out there. I plan to do just that, & that’s why a watermaker is’nt at the top of my ‘want’ list. Also, I’m already slightly stern-heavy with these 3 Lifeline 210aHr batteries which are 62Kgs each, & I still have a liferaft to install on the aft-hatch yet, so I’m reluctant to add more weight into the aft third of the vessel.
If money was no object I’d probably have installed one already, as my original plan was to go completely ‘off-grid’ around my old stamping-grounds in Mozambique, Indian Ocean.
Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi Marilyn,
To fill the Nic-38 water tank in 3 Hrs means a unit that’ll produce at least 25 gallons per hour. That’s going to be one helluva size isn’t it.? OTOH, if you get a unit that’s split up into seperate modules(as you already said) it does open up the possibility of getting a larger unit doesn’t it. The only place I’ve got any spare space is in the engine bay.
I for one am very interested to see what you buy & how you get on with the installation. You’ll keep us all posted I hope.?
Keep Well,
Jeff

[Jeff]

Just been up my masts & measured my Main-mast spreader for you. The spreader looks like it’s almost exactly 1.00 metre or +/- 39+1/2” to the edge of the mast. I could’nt get it absolutely exact as I have plastic mouldings on the spreader ends with the shrouds running through them, so can’t see the actual end of the spreader. I think I’ve pretty much got it right though & the shroud would be about 10mm further than that, each side, due to sitting at the end of the plastic moulding.
Mizzen-mast, ditto re’ the plastic mouldings but appears to be 745mm or 29+3/8ths” to the edge of the mast.
I would’nt think it’s absolutely critical, as long as the length is within say, 10-15mm.?
Hope this helps,
Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi Marilyn,
Some years ago I had a fibre-glass shelf fabricated & glassed on to the port hull directly opposite the engine to take another big Lifeline battery, but then didn’t install the battery. That’s where I’ll install a watermaker when I eventually decide to buy one. No firm decision made yet on manufacturer or quantity of output.
There’s so much info’ available these days on the various makes & different capacities that it’s not an easy decision to make. Another thing I picked up recently was that an engine driven unit produces so much more fresh water than a DC 12v unit, I may well go down that route. If one was motoring for a few hours it would make perfect sense to use that time to top-up or fill the tank, but of course I would’nt want to HAVE to do it while anchored. There’s an argument for both types.
Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi Voltaire,
‘one of the hold-up legs is U/S. If you find out how to get a new one, I’d be interested too!’

My suggestion was based on the assumption that you already had 2 legs on the original hatch, but obviously more economical to completely re-furbish the original. Especially if you’re putting her up for sale. It’ll look good, & it shows a potential buyer that you really care about your yacht:-)
I wish MY previous owner had done that as I had everything to do, & he’d just lost interest in the boat, & at the time of the sale he’d already bought another one.!
Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi Phil & welcome to the Nic-38 owners group. Can you tell us some of the history of your vessel.?
Jeff

[Jeff]

Voltair…How about going to a car scrap-yard & look at hatchbacks for replacement air-assisted rams that they all have on the rear lift-up hatch.? Try for a matching pair of the same length as your broken one.
Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi Rob,
Yes that’s correct, it’s a size 60, & yes, I had the hatch opening built up a few inches higher, to give me extra headroom . (I’m 6′-2″) The GRP base is now about 100mm proud of the deck, & the fixed half of the hatch is screwed down on top of that, making the top of the hatch-glass about 150mm above the deck.
Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi Rob,
I replaced the original Canpa fwd hatch with a Lewmar ‘Ocean’. (500mm X 500mm)
Jeff

[Jeff]

EchoPapa3,
7 knots @ 1400 RPM.? Wow, I can’t get 7 knots @ ANY RPM.! What gearbox ratio did you get & what prop-size did you change to, if at all.?
Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi Trevor,
In my case, as per my previous post…nothing except an air-gap of 1 centimetre & bare fibreglass.
BTW, I ordered St/steel staples from Hawke House to tidy up the edges of the h/lining but returned them as they didn’t fit my stapler. Stapling would be the easy way to do it if you replace the plastic edging with, say, 6mm edging from Wickes. The edges that meet right across the centre of the saloon are screwed into 6mm deep by about 30mm width timber as that replaces the double side-by-side track for both h/lining sections.
The other little problem was the area overhead where we leave the saloon & go forward past the hanging lockers. The fwd edging of the saloon section is fixed to another double track of edging, the other side of which is the h/lining above the narrow passage-way to Port of the fwd heads.
I didn’t remove that section of plastic edging as I didn’t want to interfere with the Fwd h/lining so I re-clipped a section of the old plastic (female) edging back on to the original male & screwed my brass screws into that.
I don’t envisage having to remove it ever again as I can already get to any existing wiring & I certainly won’t route any new wiring above the h/lining:)
HTH-Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi Trevor,
I changed my mind about the new vinyl & re-instated the old vinyl. I finished the 2nd section yesterday. The upholsterer had previously brought all his gear aboard, along with the new unfoamed vinyl including an electric compressor staple gun, but we found that he couldn’t get the gun nozzle close enough to the edging to get the staples in so we scrapped the idea.(& I probably saved +/- £200 for his labour @ £35 p.hr & 4x metres of vinyl that he wanted £15+ p.metre)
It’s always upset me that I took off the headlining unnecessarily, even if it WAS old & discoloured it was fine.
So, last Friday as an experiment, I bought a load of 3mm x 12mm brass screws & brass cup washers & had a go at putting it back up myself. I was so pleased that I just carried on & put it all back the way it was, but it’s not perfect & to my mind looks a bit amateurish. The centre-line where the 2 halves meet across the centre of the saloon has a double row of brass cup washers, which I’m not too happy with & may cover with something from B&Q.
If I had to do it again I would just use my little staple gun with 6mm ordinary staples, then find something from B&Q to cover the edges.
HTH
Jeff

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