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- Today
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Mojo619 joined the community
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Drew Gentile joined the community
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Thanks. I agree completely about the PFD. It wasn't an issue in his old boat, but clearly interferes with the coaming on the Tadpole. Time for an upgrade...
- Yesterday
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I will be down in Mobile in Oct. I would like to take a look at your boat, and discuss the build.
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I will be down in Mobile in Oct. I would like to take a look at your boat, and discuss the build.
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Chick's Micro Power Cruiser Project.
Chick Ludwig replied to Chick Ludwig's topic in B & B Yachts Forum
So here's the final verdict---I think---if y'all approve. Check-it-out. This is your last chance to chime in with shoulda-coulda-woulda. Here's the cabin top line as delineated by the batten. (Sorry 'bout the big d-word.) Both sides are even gonna be the same. At least that's the plan. Tomorrow morning we're gonna make it happen. -
Excellent! Great to see kids paddling proper boats. One thought: for more comfortable paddling, you could find child-sized PFD's specially designed for paddling. They are cut higher in the back so that the coaming doesn't interfere with the PFD. Have fun!
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Any interest in a Catspaw build? Also featuring rabbits.
cracked_ribs replied to cracked_ribs's topic in B & B Yachts Forum
Unfortunately everything I do on the deck has a soundtrack set by my wife since she's closer to the stereo, so it's either some kind of weird techno music or Scandinavian punk rock. Really getting down to the wire on this thing...hope to hoist it off the roof next weekend. -
Just back from our first cruise. We towed up to Grand Isle, Vermont and spent a couple days camping there and fishing for smallmouth bass in Lake Champlain. Then we left the vehicle and trailer at a marina on Grand Isle and headed to the North end of the Lake and out via the Richelieu River. We crossed the border and put into the customs wharf. From there we continued up to St. Jean where we picked up the South end of the Chambly Canal: 9 locks and 7 mobile bridges in 19 km. The locks (and some of the bridges!) are hand operated and part of a historic park. The staff were great. We left the boat at the marina in the Chambly basin and spent a few days with friends in Montreal before heading South for the return trip. The boat performed flawlessly. The whole trip was more than 140 miles and we used 16 gallons of gas. With four people, gear and a full tank of gas, top speed was 25 knots heading into the wind/chop. There are always little things you would do differently after you complete a build but I have to say I am really happy with this one. The hull, in particular, is just outstanding. Light, quick to plane, soft ride, dry. Graham knows his stuff!
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This would have saved my batten. It was a full length, 80" batten that was velcroed into the pocket. In the middle of a 25 mile long windy, wavy broad reach I noticed the batten protruding 6 inches from the leach. It seemed stable, but I lost it on the takedown. A hint I got re wood battens is to wrap them in filament strapping tape. Some extra strength and you can get the pieces out if they break.
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Any interest in a Catspaw build? Also featuring rabbits.
Chick Ludwig replied to cracked_ribs's topic in B & B Yachts Forum
Do ya listen to fiddle music as ya work on those fiddly bits? -
automatydogier joined the community
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Any interest in a Catspaw build? Also featuring rabbits.
cracked_ribs replied to cracked_ribs's topic in B & B Yachts Forum
The ongoing saga of fiddly bits, as told via the instagrams - Last week
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I don't think it matter for short battens, but for full length it can, at least to my eye. I am using teak as it rarely changes memory from true and playing with the taper.
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Todd Stein changed their profile photo
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I dislike the battens that come with most sails as being far too stiff toward the luff. It may or may not create a big loss in performance but the typical vertical sail crease along the forward end of battens is just ugly. My solution is to make my own battens. I used to make them of ash when racing regularly but now make battens from fiberglass. Wooden battens tend to develop the bends over time unless treated with great care. Regular woven fiberglass is no good for this job as it is much too flexible. I use biaxial 18 oz or heavier with long linear strands taken from biax laminated inside. More strands aft and fewer forward until you get the shape you want. The forward end should be very flexible. The sandwich is laid up between plastic sheets and clamped with straight wooden planks on the outside. It takes some experimentation to get the stiffness and flex where you want it but a great sail shape is the reward. The first try will probably be too limber but you cans simply add more on top of the earlier one. If you have access to small diameter linear fiberglass rods, that is ideal. Admittedly, this is a bit of trouble but it is only time and I always enjoyed fiddling with such stuff if it resulted in better performance. Even if the increase in performance is not measurable, your mental state may be improved and that is just as important.
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Beacher, Back in the day, all we had was wood for battens.They worked, and we had the advantage that we could plane them down to get the shape that we wanted. The down side was that they often broke and had to be replaced. I use glass battens exclusively now because they are permanent. The popular woods for battens were cane, oak and ash. You need wood with good bending properties. To make sure that I do not lose my leech battens I sew them in with a stitch across pocket opening at the leech. To remove the batten I snip the stitch and out they come. I use a sail makers needle with waxed sail makers thread. To fold the battened sail into a small stowable package I do what I call a leech fold. Instead of folding the sail perpendicular to the luff and flaking the sail parallel to the foot, I fold the sail perpendicular to the leech, flaking the sail parallel to the battens. This stacks the battens on top of each of each other so that you can fold the stack around the battens, the folded sail should then fit in the sail bag. On the CS17 and 20 mk3's we use a sausage bag with a zipper and flake the sail right into the bag and zip it up.
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B&B's first annual "Capsize Camp" July, 20-22
Alan Stewart replied to Alan Stewart's topic in B & B Yachts Forum
Update: We are excited for this upcoming weekend. Scattered thunderstorms forecast for Fri-Sun but we'll all be wet anyway! Remember to bring life-jackets. All will be required to wear (as you should do anyway!) Remind to check your cockpit hatches. They should be gasketed with neoprene or foam. Leaking hatches have plagued us all. Graham's hatch design doesn't leak when it rains but when the boat is on it's side the gasket is what keeps the water out. I've had good luck with this product for gasket tape which is currently my favorite. I ordered extra for the shop if anyone needs to purchase. https://www.mcmaster.com/#93725K76 The bungee hatch hold down works ok but I've been seeking a more positive solution and the bungee doesn't have enough force to really close down on the gasket tape. I've ordered these to try out. Graham and I chose them because the latch stays on the bottom half (cockpit side) instead of the hatch side so when you close the hatch the latch isn't flopping around and wedging itself into the mechanism like other boat locker latches. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079P8VM3R/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I've started a picture album that I'll update during the event. We've been working on some prototype mast head floats that will be ready to test out. They will be free rotating and provide about 20lbs of bouancy at the top of the masts. We hope to discover how much flotation is enough to prevent a CS-17 from going turtle if left to fend for itself after a capsize. https://photos.app.goo.gl/PrmmmC54PszUWywz6 -
After many (many) mistakes the stonefly goes for its first camping trip
Omar Mir posted a topic in Kudzu Craft Launches
The 60L barrel in the back has supplies and tent and all that I need for a few days while I go into the back country i made a lot of mistakes on this build, and my next boat (the Tandem canoe) will be built so much better based on the lessons learned here. And then maybe the Castaway, or maybe I don't need three boats... Also caught my first fish in it last week. -
traveltu1 joined the community
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I need to replace a batten. The original was 5/8" untapered fiberglass. I can replace with same, but am curious is anyone has gone to tapered wood battens. The pocket will take a 7/8 batten, maybe 1".
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topcoinsite joined the community
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Chick's Micro Power Cruiser Project.
Chick Ludwig replied to Chick Ludwig's topic in B & B Yachts Forum
Ken. As you all know, I'll go to extreme lengths to demonstrate to both of my readers how to do it wrong. I've been honing this talent for most of my 71 years. I actually began learning how to do it back during my days at good 'ol Glen Oak Elementary school when I began building models. First plastic models, then stick and tissue balsa. My policy was to never, under any circumstance, read the instructions or ask for help. Steve. I well remember those old advertising days where the new cars were always "longer, lower, wider, and and big enough for six six footers. Two tone paint and lots of chrome. Just beginning to have seat belts. That was the beginning of the days of the muscle cars that killed off so many of my generation. Cars including the wide track Pontiac. Go like a bat out hell! But took a country mile to stop, and terrible handling in anything other than a straight line. Big heavy land yachts with more horse power every year. Subject of great music by the Beach Boys. And Jan and Dean, among others. Remember the song Dead Mans Curve? What a time to live for a teenager. It's a wonder that any of us survived. By-the-way. A measly 1/4 inch. C'mon. If ya wanna be an expert at the screw-up like your elders, ya gotta do better than that! Just got back from antiqing. And as expected, I'm pooped. (Tired, worn out, in need of rest...) Tomorrow is soon enough to get to the second try on getting the dang thing right. I'm Gonna just cut the port side down as indicated on the photo. I thank all will be well. I've sprung that old batten over on the starboard side to see what the roofline---I mean cabin side top line will look like and it looks fine to me. Of course I gotta re-do the cleat on that side and glue it on. Another day wasted before moving to the next step. -
So buried beneath the fiberglass cabin top of Jazz Hands is a 1/4" plus shim of plywood edge glued to the port side of the cabin top. In spite of clear directions and dimensions given by Alan to Pete M who shared with me, I just couldn't get it right. I had the supports and stringers all glued up and the cabin top was just a bit too narrow. The easiest thing was to make her a "wide track Pontiac" if you are old enough to know what I mean. Or as my late father used to say......"They'll never see it from Broadway" which is what you can say after you fix it.
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Thank you thank you The boat is gonna be a fishing machine. Folks round here think nothing about doing round trips in excess of 150 miles. Run out to the oil rigs then east and west along the coast looking for the fish. As soon as i get a quote back on a gas tank i will have some real idea of fuel range capacity.
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Chick's Micro Power Cruiser Project.
Ken_Potts replied to Chick Ludwig's topic in B & B Yachts Forum
Ya know, Chick, that's pretty generous of you to go to all this trouble just to make people like me feel better about making this kind of mistake. I'm pretty sure your fix is going to look a lot better than mine would, though. -
I'll take the bet on getting through the door (I'm betting in favor of success). The very worst case is that you'll have to take the door frame out and reinstall it afterwards. That's pretty easy for someone who can build a whole boat. Also, it's what I did.
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Chick's Micro Power Cruiser Project.
Chick Ludwig replied to Chick Ludwig's topic in B & B Yachts Forum
i mever nake misteaks? There seem to be two major, but conflicting philosophies that control most everything that goes on in my garop. They can be summed up thusly. "Measure twice and cut once", and "I've cut it off three times and it's still too short." Although always intending to follow the first of those, somehow the second usually seems to win out. I have discovered why the port cabin side appeared to be clunky. Apparently when I originally layed out the cabin face, before installing it on the boat, I must have measured the top curve twice wrong. I know I only cut it once. Then when I discovered the clunkyness, I assumed that it was both sides and cut it off equally all the way across. Then I finished adding the cleats. After gluing them on, we had relatives from out of town to meet for dinner. When we got home, I was looking over the day's work and something just didn't look right. The port side looked higher that the starboard side. Now how can that be? I know that I cut both sides off evenly. So here is where the second philosophy almost explains things. Even though I only cut it off once, it was still crooked. It's one inch higher on the port side! As evidence, take a look at the picture below where I've sprung a batten across where it is supposed to be cut. Well, maybe one inch lower that it outa be. HEY TIGER, QUIT THAT MANIACAL LAUGHING!!! Graham and Alan, why are you shaking your heads and turning away in disgust? The rest of y'all, I know that you never would do anything like this. PAR, I'm glad you're not here to see this. I layed awake late last night, and then woke up early this morning fretting about it. But, now it's off to meet the before mentioned relatives for breakfast and a round of visits to various antique shops, they call it "antiqing". I know I'll be lousy company all day. Gotta get home and try to make it right. If I just cut to the new curve, will it be ok? Will the forward end of the cabin now be too low and create new clunkiness? I dunno. I may not be able to work on it until tomorrow. Probably won't get home in time tonight. The old body will be too pooped to work in the shop then. So, y'all come back Saturday some time to see if all will work out alright. Meanwhile, try to learn something from my "oopses". I guess this old codger still hasn't learned. All becomes -
They will custom mix and have formulas for popular colors of today as well.
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Any interest in a Catspaw build? Also featuring rabbits.
cracked_ribs replied to cracked_ribs's topic in B & B Yachts Forum
Fiddly bits -
While it is not on Kirby's color chart, they do make the Alerion Green.
