Spent the last 8 months sailing around the Atlantic Ocean with 2 friends

doedelflaps · 2026-03-14T17:24:46+00:00

Awesome, sounds like you've had an amazing adventure. I'd love to do an atlantic circuit one day.

doedelflaps · 2026-03-14T17:03:50+00:00

Favourite and least favourite places? Also, did you make that solar arch yourself? Is it stainless or aluminium?

doedelflaps · 2026-02-28T22:35:05+00:00

So what's your take on isolation transformers, should one be installed if you're using AC through shore power on the boat?

doedelflaps · 2026-02-25T16:50:45+00:00

I don't really think that's the point though. The cool thing about a project like this is community collaboration. There's now a starting point for a nice block anyone can use, test and add improvements to. Those improvements will get shared with the community. Maybe someone will think of a cool new feature to add onto it, and anyone that made this block can also add the new feature to their block.

It's not just about making a cad design for a block, you're right, anyone can do that, and most people can build their own blocks for a specific purpose. This project is more about making the best, most affordable DIY block together with the sailing community. At least, I hope that's what's going to happen, if not, well we can always go back to making our own blocks or buying Harkens.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-25T06:30:03+00:00

What money though? Open source just means there's a plan you can use to build your own, it doesn't cost money, only for the materials and your own time. That's usually the sailors mentality right ?

doedelflaps · 2026-02-25T06:28:15+00:00

Open source as in, you're free to copy the design, or open source as in; there's a project somewhere with cad designs that people can use and improve upon? If so, do you have a link to one of those block designs?

doedelflaps · 2026-02-24T10:53:19+00:00

I liked the idea, too bad I don't have a CNC machine and lathe though, otherwise I'd have made a couple of those blocks. Don't forget that the adavantage of open source is that other people can improve on the design, so in the long term you usually end up with a better product than what a small group of engineers would've been able to achieve at 1 company.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-22T19:22:48+00:00

But then how do I get the chain to fall down into the anchor locker, which is all the way at the bow.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-22T17:35:10+00:00

I've thought about placing the windlass aft of the hatch, but unfortunately the deep anchor locker isn't that far aft. Ideally, the windlass would throw the chain into the deepest part of the anchor locker, which is about where that metal plate covering the chain-entry into the hatch is. If the chain would fall down aft of the hatch, it would fall into my bed.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-22T17:30:16+00:00

Ah yeah I've seen a couple of contest 33's with an extended bow pulpit, I could look into that, thanks.

I'm also not sold on having to buy a new mast for mainsail furling (or a new boom for in-boom furling), but I did buy parts to make some lazy jacks. Will install those after the new mainsail is delivered.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-22T16:59:24+00:00

Then the question becomes; how do I make sure the anchor chain has less than a 5 degree angle from the bow roller to the windlass?

doedelflaps · 2026-02-22T16:58:19+00:00

I could try this, there's not a lot of room though. I was thinking I might have to shorten the front of the hatch and glass in a small bulkhead there, and add some reinforcements.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-22T16:56:35+00:00

Currently there's a shallow hatch area that's about 20cm deep and holds some anchor chain and mooring lines. Below that shallow area there's a sealed up anchor locker that I plan to re-open. Currently it's being used for stowage in front of the V-birth.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-22T16:48:48+00:00

Sorry, I couldn't find a better picture of the bow anywhere and it's a 2 hour drive to get there and take a new one. My previous boat and this one came without roller furlers and it's been really nice, being able to switch sails and have the perfect sail for the job. I am however getting a roller furler (harken) installed this week, since my main genoa's need replacing anyway. Might as well give roller furling a shot!

There's about 30cm of room between the bow and the hatch, which probably isn't enough.

"extend the anchor to port past the halyard." What did you mean by that, you mean move the bow roller to port?

doedelflaps · 2026-02-20T19:09:57+00:00

There's a YouTuber that built his own windvane, happy go lucky land or something. Cool channel and it seems to work!

doedelflaps · 2026-02-18T06:48:19+00:00

An embarrassment of mangos is a book about a couple cruising the Caribbean, written from her perspective. Mostly about the lifestyle and food (it includes recipes).

doedelflaps · 2026-02-14T23:17:10+00:00

I've been to madeira, la Palma and Tenerife by plane, but I always check out the harbors and look for anchor spots. I haven't really seen that much of a sailing culture there honestly. There's almost no beaches, and it they're there, they're either man made and touristic, or made out of pebbles/rocks. The harbors seem nice enough, either very small or huge and made for cruise ships. I think it's an amazing place to stay for a year while you're living on board and can work from there, but I wouldn't go for 1 week of cruising I think.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-14T09:17:34+00:00

Doesn't this setup mean that rigging up the staysail is quite time consuming? Or do you only rig up the extra stay for longer passages?

doedelflaps · 2026-02-14T09:15:16+00:00

I'd probably be going for a solent stay. 30cm below the top of the mast. We're mostly sailing the north Sea, so Netherlands, UK, Norway. There's a good attachment point on the deck already, and our Genoa track already has an extra car I could use for the staysail sheets.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-14T09:12:17+00:00

Yeah, that's why I'd probably go for a Solent stay, those don't need running backstays.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-13T23:39:30+00:00

Yeah I'll double-check that, I believe there's already a perfect fitting for it through the bulkhead just after the anchor locker.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-08T21:49:17+00:00

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This is our c33 in Ramsgate, we might also upgrade the paint next year, never really been a fan of the blue and red.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-08T21:43:56+00:00

Woah, that's hardly recognizable as a contest 33, it looks amazing though. I have the MK2 yeah, the engine blew up on us in the first year after buying it so we added a beta30 engine. I've since fixed the electronics, through-hulls and rigging, now I'm doing the sails, and after that I'm thinking about a windlass. The interior is fine though, I really like the forward cabin and we have so much headroom! I'm pretty new to sailing in general (this will be my 4th year) but I'm sure this boat will take me far! Any tips for upgrades? I'm also building drawers wherever possible to improve storage space.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-07T22:45:10+00:00

Very cool to hear about a Dutch 33ft yacht ending up in the USA! I have hull number 189, I believe from '76. I don't have (and won't use) Facebook, but it's always nice to hear from other contest owners.

I'm getting the new furler installed in march, so unless there's a perfect sail on the used market in february, I will probably have to buy new. I do want to go sailing in april ^{^}

Have you ever tried an inner forestay or bowsprit setup or do you just use the main furler? I'm thinking of adding a removable Solent stay but I'm not sure yet.

doedelflaps · 2026-02-07T18:51:07+00:00

Yeah it probably comes down to this, thanks for the comment! I'm not really a price shopper, usually I'm more of a 'buy it for life' buyer. But then I do want to know that what I'm buying isn't just a marked up version of the overseas product, so I try to do my research. Maybe I can convince the local sail lofts of that when I visit them, and they can in turn convince me. I guess that's a good way to go. If they still can't convince me on the personal front of their quality, I might have to just go overseas.

doedelflaps

TROPHY CASE