Water on tap in a dinghy

I have used this system for a number of years, and find the convenience well worth the original expense of pump and jerrycan. For those who do not want the expense of this A1 model, camping shops occasionally stock a cheaper all-plastic version of the combination. However the only version that I tested stopped working after a couple of fills. Also, earlier versions of my pump sometimes turn up at boat jumbles. Service kits are available for them.

Required: 1. 2 gallon plastic jerrycan with upright (not tilted) neck. The inside diameter of the neck of the best sort of can should measure some 15/8” diameter. 2. Whale V pump Mk.5 (or earlier) present ref. GP0604. 3. 12” of ½” bore transparent plastic hose. 4. 6” of larger bore hose to fit pump barrel. 5. S/S hose clips to fit above hoses.

Cut circular hole to be an accurate close fit on the barrel of the pump, in the screw cap of the jerrycan. Remove the rectangular surface mounting flange from the pump barrel as it will not be required. The pump will pass down through the hole in the cap and will be supported by the spout flange. Cut a length of 4” to 6” of the larger hose and pass it up the pump barrel until it presses against the underside of the screw cap. If you are lucky the hose will be a tight fit, but more likely you will need the larger hose clip to make sure it doesn’t work loose; do not overtighten however. Measure off the appropriate length of ½” bore hose to reach the bottom of the can when the cap is screwed down, and fit to base of pump with smaller hoseclip. It is now worthwhile arranging a permanent place in the boat for the can, say lashed against the c/b case.

Regarding loose-footed mainsails

Without delving into aerodynamics, it can be stated however that on virtually all points of sailing, apart from a dead run, a sail will only produce effective drive when it forms a curve in the horizontal plane — diagram 1).

1)

Normally the sailmaker builds this curve, or camber, into the sail so that reasonable tension along its edges — foot and luff — will only modify the camber but not flatten it altogether. However, I have found that some loose-footed mainsails can be drawn out practically flat along the foot. This enables the boat to be pointed very close to the wind, but with the result that the drive of the sail is lost. This effect can be produced inadvertently by lashing the tack and clew of the sail to the boom as in diagram 2). The effect of any vertical forces, whether exerted by downhaul, halyard or mainsheet is to flatten the foot as in diagram 3). The solution is to add separate lashings as in diagram 4), when the camber intentionally induced in the sail will be unaffected.

2)

3)

4)