"RichH" wrote in message
...
Putting the paddlewheel on the centerline will also generate some
potential problems ..... it has to be mounted so that it cant be
destroyed by the sling of a travellift when the boat is hauled ... not
an easy thing to do.

I was thinking more along the line of hull strength.
Regards,
JR

On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:17:46 -0400, "Flying Pig"
wrote:

I know of no production boats with the paddle wheel on the centerline.
Regards,
JR




I have one...

Mounted on the keel line near the bow, along with a depth and temp sounder
it does very nicely.

Do you generally get equal knot meter readings on opposite tacks,
everything else being more or less equal?

Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:34:52 -0700 (PDT), RichH
wrote:

Putting the paddlewheel on the centerline will also generate some
potential problems ..... it has to be mounted so that it cant be
destroyed by the sling of a travellift when the boat is hauled ... not
an easy thing to do.

The easiest way to manage that is to pull the paddle wheel and insert
the dummy plug before haul out. If you are really religious about
your instrument calibration it is best to pull the paddle wheels every
time you come back in from sailing. It helps to prevent growth or
slime from forming and throwing off the speed readings. When you are
trying to accurately compute true wind direction and speed it doesn't
take much knot meter error to throw the whole calculation out of
kilter.


I want to pull my paddle wheel out and clean it, but I've never done it before.

OR even seen it done....

Seems like it's not that far below the water line that water would
come gushing in real big.

But it's still a hole below the water line!

"cavelamb" wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:34:52 -0700 (PDT), RichH
wrote:

Putting the paddlewheel on the centerline will also generate some
potential problems ..... it has to be mounted so that it cant be
destroyed by the sling of a travellift when the boat is hauled ... not
an easy thing to do.

The easiest way to manage that is to pull the paddle wheel and insert
the dummy plug before haul out. If you are really religious about
your instrument calibration it is best to pull the paddle wheels every
time you come back in from sailing. It helps to prevent growth or
slime from forming and throwing off the speed readings. When you are
trying to accurately compute true wind direction and speed it doesn't
take much knot meter error to throw the whole calculation out of
kilter.

I want to pull my paddle wheel out and clean it, but I've never done it
before.

OR even seen it done....

Seems like it's not that far below the water line that water would
come gushing in real big.

But it's still a hole below the water line!


It's not a big deal really... Just have the plastic plug ready to go. You'll
get maybe a quart of water.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:49:09 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:34:52 -0700 (PDT), RichH
wrote:

Putting the paddlewheel on the centerline will also generate some
potential problems ..... it has to be mounted so that it cant be
destroyed by the sling of a travellift when the boat is hauled ... not
an easy thing to do.

The easiest way to manage that is to pull the paddle wheel and insert
the dummy plug before haul out. If you are really religious about
your instrument calibration it is best to pull the paddle wheels every
time you come back in from sailing. It helps to prevent growth or
slime from forming and throwing off the speed readings. When you are
trying to accurately compute true wind direction and speed it doesn't
take much knot meter error to throw the whole calculation out of
kilter.


I want to pull my paddle wheel out and clean it, but I've never done it before.

OR even seen it done....

Seems like it's not that far below the water line that water would
come gushing in real big.

But it's still a hole below the water line!



Mentally rehearse the steps and have the dummy plug ready to put in
with one hand as you pull out the live one with the other. Even if you
are very clumsy, you won't get more than a quart or two of water. I do
it all the time, and I get about a cup full at most. The water comes
in about like what comes out of a garden hose. Maybe a bit less
pressure.

On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:49:09 -0500, cavelamb
wrote:

I want to pull my paddle wheel out and clean it, but I've never done it before.

OR even seen it done....

Seems like it's not that far below the water line that water would
come gushing in real big.

But it's still a hole below the water line!

Assuming that you have a dummy plug it is really quite easy, have it
close at hand. I used to atttach a string to mine and leave it tied
to the paddle wheel housing so that I always knew where it was. Pull
the paddle wheel plug and immediately put your free hand over the hole
to minimize the inrush. Grab the dummy plug with your other hand and
immediately insert. Twist down the collar on the dummy plug to lock
it in place and you are ready to start cleaning the paddle wheel.
After you've done it a couple of times it becomes routine, just make
sure you have the dummy ready to go.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:17:46 -0400, "Flying Pig"
wrote:

I know of no production boats with the paddle wheel on the centerline.
Regards,
JR




I have one...

Mounted on the keel line near the bow, along with a depth and temp sounder
it does very nicely.

Do you generally get equal knot meter readings on opposite tacks,
everything else being more or less equal?


I sail a Matilda 20. Nearly 8ft beam.
She gets fat quick and tapers off quickly
in the last 3rd. The aft hull section is more of a V than a rounded
shape. Her main has a ton of roach so that in a good breeze or surfing she
will plane nicely.
The paddle wheel is about a foot starboard of centerline and I do see a
slight diff
but I don't worry about it. I trim for max speed on each tack if that is
what I'm
looking for that day.
Regards,
JR

On Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:43:29 -0400, "JR" wrote:

The paddle wheel is about a foot starboard of centerline and I do see a
slight diff
but I don't worry about it. I trim for max speed on each tack if that is
what I'm
looking for that day.

That's fine as long as you aren't doing vector calculations with the
speed to compute true wind numbers or VPP/polar predictions.