I said that he was very wealthy not because of the washers, but
because his house was on 2 blocks of property in a very expensive old-
money inside-the-beltline neighborhood. His house & yard was bigger
than many university properties.

Joe wrote:
Most likely made the money on his own, and knows the value of work and
being thrifty when needed.


Actually, he was a fairly close sailing acquantance; I don't know his
whole life story but he did come from "old money" and did pretty well
for himself too. He was a commercial real estate broker.

The boat, Lightning #11900, he had bought new for his son to race and
then used as his "beater" daysailor & loaner at the club for a couple
decades. It was the last of a long series of one-design racers that I
bought cheap and fixed up to be competitive.




I think you'll find that they have a lot of creep & distort too much
at high loads. However if you don't mind tightening the bolts every
time you sail and replacing the dimes every year or so, they'd be
great.

Depends on the application Doug,

Well... yeah...

attaching 1/4" wood paneling would
be an example where a high load would not be experienced.

But why would you need washers for that anyway? I would think you'd
want the fasteners either countersunk or under bosses for looks
anyway. Unless you want your guests aboard to say " Hey cool , you
drilled out a bunch of (pennies, nickels, dimes, or other coins)....
wasn't that a PITA"?

.... Nickles
would be best for high loads

Umm, no.
A washer with a backing plate would be best for high loads.

.... BTW if you do not have a gasket for your wear
plate on a Jabsco pump, a dollar bill can be made into a nice strong
long lasting gasket.


OK thanks, I'll remember that trick.


I guess that's why there's a demand for real engineers.

Well there are times when they come in handy.


True, but much of the time a welder or plumber is a lot more handy.
My "litmus test" for engineers is what they do for hobbies....
engineers who are sailors, pilots, sports car bugs, in other words
something requiring real-life skills, are generally good. Ones who
prefer to fiddle with computers or something that could just as easily
be done sitting in a cubicle.... I say, leave them in their cubicles.


Ian Malcolm wrote:
Well, I've got 2P 'washers' under the nuts holding the pintle and
gudgeon onto the transom of my Albacore. No problems with dishing or
sinking into the wood. Untill the coins were fitted, there were always
problems with the fittings working loose. Bronze fittings so stainless
would be not so good. Our recent 2Ps are cupronickel over steel so one
has to go through one's change with a magnet if selecting washers :-(

I wonder if you've found (or perhaps very carefully applied on
purpose) the exact amount of torque that will not dish them out yet
will hold the gudgeon on. I'm a little surprised the haven't dished
out with the wood underneath compressing... even cupronickel has a
higher compression strength than wood... but then both are also
somewhat elastic... more so than any type steel.

Albacores are great boats, I sailed one this summer.

The pennies on the Lightning were definitely overstressed, they were
all dished and badly bent. The Lightning is a bigger heavier boat with
a more powerful rig though. Putting pennies under the jib tracks, for
example, was just plain not smart.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King