Dave R1

Bill, did you just replace your halyards? Dress warm and waterproof tomorrow.

Kristen, Welcome. As a matter of fact there's been at least one messabout every year. the next one is coming up the first weekend in June. the details are here: http://lakepepinmessabout.com/Welcome.html

I haven't really given up. I want to build another boat very badly. No, wait. I very badly want to build another boat. There's no room in the shop to build anything very large though. I've got plans for Oughtred's Feather Pram and at 7' it'll just fit. Time is the other factor right now, though. Between my day job which I am thankful to have, I've been busy teaching and drawing for various clients. I am preparing to teach a couple of classes in Port Townsend, WA in June and I should be able to get a nice infusion of wooden boat stuff there. Cheers, Dave

Thank you frank. Bill, I'm with you on that. The C-27 is committed to get new bottom paint this spring but the old stuff isn't completely off yet. Hopefully there'll be time before it has to be in the water. Otherwise, I'll be begging to go with you.

Greetings all. It's been a hundred years since I've been here and it feels like 200. Glad to see there are still a bunch of the old timers around. I've been incredibly busy with stuff. Too much of it isn't boat related, unfortunately. I need to get back to the boat stuff, though. Hope everyone is doing well. Cheers, Dave

Good enough. Take pictures.

So something like this, then? Put the cross piece on the back side or it won't clear the deck properly. You'll have to cut off a bit to follow the curve. You may need that for clamping to, though. At only 5-1/2" wide, I would worry about the vertical piece being too narrow to spread the load well. I didn't draw it but I was thinking you might add a piece across the lower part of the vertical to help spread the laod. Maybe a bit of the 8/4 stuff. I don't think you'll need its full width for the top part. I drew the vertical piece at 18". I think I drew this with the top too high but I can't remember the dimensions of the clamp.

How big are those pieces of wood?

That'll work well. Don't go crazy on the motor mount. A single piece of wood will work fine. What you can't see in the pictures of the mount I made is the wide notch--just wide enough for the motor mount clamp. I figured that if the screws on the clamp came loose the notch might keep the motor from sliding off into the drink. I never got around to adding it but I was going to put a narrow strip of wood on the forward face of the mount, just above the clamp pads. I found that with the motor turned 90

AS I recall, the 6 ga. wire was what I calculated I needed for the length of the run. Smaller could be used but you get loss due to the higher resistance.

Yeah, Chad! Oh and get the waterproof plug and receptacle, six gauge stranded wire, battery terminal lugs and battery box while you're at it. When I installed the receptacle on the boat, I made a small plate of cherry (a scrap I had on hand) that was drilled to fit the receptacle and was mounted to the laz bulkhead with a pair od small machine screws. It made a nice looking plate and I didn't need to worry about tearout from cutting the hole in the plywood showing. I ran the wires up under the port side deck to the forepeak. I also built a base on which the batterbox sits so that in the off chance I got water in up there, the battery wouldn't be sitting in it. I did a sketch of the mounting arrangement for the battery but can't find it. I sent a copy to Bill. He might still have it and be able to post it.

You'll have to play with it a bit and see. The only time I had any problems with the motor coming out of the water was if someone was on the foredeck. Usually I would just sit up on the stern deck which gave me better visibility anyway.

I think that'll work fine, Chad. A couple of years ago I made a run down the lake into a pretty healthy headwind to beat a storm. Just over 3 statute miles in about 50 minutes. I didn't figure that was too bad.

I forget which shaft was on mine but I think it was the longer one. I could have reduced the height of the motor mount by an inch or so but it was never an issue as far as keeping the motor in the water. I initially thought about making a motor mount that moved the motor back a bit but there was already too much weight in the stern end compared to the bow especially with my lard at the helm. I figured it didn't make sense to shift weight any further back. Having the battery in the bow helped a lot but I could have stood to put another battery's worth of weight up there for trim. Even with the rope horse across the back, I never had any problems with things snagging on the motor. I usually kept the handle pointed down as you can see in the center picture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/weekender410/Weekender/528336506_ea76a5b046_b.jpg[/img] Motor mount 3/4" white ash because I had it and it looked nice varnished. Plywood pieces with fender washers and locking nuts on the inside end of stainless carriage bolts. Receptacle in forward face of lazerette bulkhead for power. 6 ga. wire to battery in battery box in forepeak locker. 54Lb Minnkota because it was on sale for less than others in stock at local Gander Mountain.