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RSdaCat

Does a greenie need guts to ask so much when they have contributed so very little?  

14 members have voted

  1. 1. Does a greenie need guts to ask so much when they have contributed so very little?

    • Yep, it's downright obnoxious.
      1
    • Naahh, that's why we're here to elucidate greenies.
      8
    • Hey no one is forcing you to participate it's your choice.
      3
    • Enough with the silly polls already!
      2


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What great mods I'm going to do the Mast boot mod tomorrow. My Weekender lives in its dock, never leaks a drop but fills up with water whenever it rains, How such a small boat gets so much water in it i don't know but I suspect the mast is one culprit, another is the hole in the Lazerette which the tiller goes through. But I'd never be without that it has been excellent (though hard to see in the picture) and of course the oars. Weekenders are great and easy to row. I have rowed mine for miles, keeps you fit and is just so green it hurts.

As for your poll, weither we like it or not we're the original greenies caring for the planet we sail on with our sustainable timber boats with our tiny outboards. Lets face it yer average weekender is just a little carbon sink!

Great posts I really like the ideas!

post-33-129497658205_thumb.jpg

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One of the handiest mods I made was to enclose the gaff jaws so they can't get caught in the shrouds.

54100_0844small-med.jpg

Another mod was removing the cabin and running the seats forward.

503175684_876c01a7a0.jpg

If you look closely you'll see I didn't use chain plates, but anchored the shrouds through a reinforced section of deck.

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Sometimes I wish I'd done as Bill did. I like his boat without the cabin.

Here's a new modification for the list. I built a new rudder box for Julie K this year. I changed the shape a bit and eliminated the gap between the cheeks. On the old box, that space was always getting dirty and wet. It was almost impossible to paint and it seemed fairly useless.

I also have new gudgeons which replace the eyebolts. I just got the rudder box mounted this morning and not all the screws were installed. There appears to be less slop in the movement and with the use of stainless clevis pins the box is quick to install and remove. I also use a clevis pin to attach the stub tiller to the steering mechanism so removal of the box requires no tools.

The gudgeon hardware is new from Duckworks. It was made by Racelite with input from Chuck Leinweber and myself. Chuck had a limited run of these made thinking other weekender builders might like this alternative. I'm not sure that they show on the Duckworks site yet but I'm sure they can be purchased with an e-mail to him.

Here's a shot of the box on the boat.

DSC03847.jpg

By the way, I weighted the rudder with lead. I used lead strips sold as decoy weights embedded in epoxy. There's no problem with gaps around the edges of lead as there typically is when you melt lead and pour it into the cavity. The weight elimnates the need for the downhaul. I have a hole drilled through rudder and box for a pin that holds the rudder up which is easily installed when needed. The rudder pivot is another clevis pin pasing through bronze bushings in the rudder box and rudder so there's minimal wear in the pivot joint.

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Dave, Your rudder box looks great. Wish I would have known about the new hardware sooner. I bought a standard pintle and gudgeon hardware and bent the gudgeon so it will fit around the stem.

I'm not sure I understand how you made the "rudder box". It looks like a solid piece in the picture. Does the rudder bolt up on the outside?

joel

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Hi Joel,

Thanks. I hope it works as well as it looks.

It is built almost to the plans, two pieces of plywood for the cheeks separated by some 7/8" thick stock so the 3/4" thick rudder will fit in between. All I changed wa the shape on the upper part and the mounting hardware.

By the way, there are tee nuts mounted in shallow counterbores on the inside of the box for the lower, aft-most mounting screws. I used 1/2" long screws so they don't protrude into the the space where the rudder swings.

Since the picture was taken I drilled for the other fastener for the rudder gudgeons. I'm through bolting there.

I think I'd go with a wrap around gudgeon on the bottom but these flat ones are nice for the top one.

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I thought I'd add another modification to the list. When I was building Julie K I put a stern hatch in so I could get access to the steering mechanism. I decided on a center hatch instead of putting hatches off to the sides as some have done. I wanted a low profile hatch with no exposed hardware to snag the sheet or other lines. To hold the hatch down I ended up with a couple of small bungee cords hooked to screw eyes on the underside of the hatch cover.

This spring I had to make a new hatch and the following sketch shows how I did that. The cover is a piece of 1/4" ply expoxied to a couple of pine rails that were cut to match the curve of the deck. I drilled holes in the rails and ran a piece of nylon cord through them. The bungees hook on the cord to hold the hatch cover in place.

The hatch stays down just fine but can be removed even with one hand if needed. If there were ever a failure of the steering mechanism I have quick access to the stub tiller to steer the boat.

SternHatch.jpg

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Thanks guys.

Norm, I don't know how much lead for zero bouyancy. I guess I could figure it out for you. What wood do you plan to use for a rudder?

For my rudder I used two packages of decoy weights. I suppose the rudder weighs three or four pounds but I don't know for sure.

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