Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation since 02/19/2024 in all areas

  1. A quick update for anyone interested. The paint job is done! Most hardware and wiring is finished. I'll take her for an outboard motor this weekend and then a test float will follow. This has been a much longer project than originally anticipated but also very fun and rewarding.
    3 points
  2. Since I made the last post, I went to the MASCF and then I trailered Skeena to Amos's place near the start of the Dismal Swamp Canal. We went in tandem to the Messabout and it was so much fun I'm hoping to repeat it this year with maybe a modification of the route. I had promised a few people I'd write up the 2023 experience, but I've had some things going on at work that have taken all my time. I will get to it. I have moved into a house with really no place for a workshop while my wife and I are working with an architect to design another house that will be built over the next year suitable to our retirement. I feel like I have another boat in me. But this means my ability to modify Skeena has been limited. This morning, while it was snowing, I attached cleats to the cabin top like I saw on Amos's Larissa. I also added a table below which is really going to be a nice addition. I'm getting close to retirement, but for now there are times when it will be necessary to work and laptops aren't that great in your lap. The table top uses this mechanism: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09H7J9KQL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I need to build a tabletop at a friends who has a shop, but I installed the mechanism and made a thick carboard temporary top and I think this is going to be a nice addition for day I'm stuck below. The neat part is it can be easily removed and stowed. One other thing I'm doing is adding a bigger outboard with reverse. The 2.5 Suzuki I have has plenty of power, but reverse would be so nice. Unfortunately my custom motor mount which works perfect with my 2.5 doesn't work with the Suzuki 6 I purchased. FTR, the 4 was the same weight/size so I went bigger. I'll be adding an extension to the current mount. If anyone with a setup like this posts a picture for R & D purposes, I'd be much obliged. Take Care, Steve
    3 points
  3. I am now in the phase of the build that really seems to be the slowest. I haven't had a lot of time to work on the dinghy, in the last few weeks, but when I have, a lot of my time has been spent sanding and fairing. I think I'm letting perfect be the enemy of progress now though, and honestly, this will be a working utility dinghy for us, it's not going to be a show boat. In any case, here's where things are as of today. I've added the bow-eye reinforcement, and drilled the hole for the painter. It is very slightly off-center, but that's ok. I used a block of cherry cut to fit the bow, epoxied it in place, and added 6 layers of glass tape tapering outward. I'll need to come back here later and add some thickened epoxy to clean up the tape lines/etc. For the rest of the interior, I spent a few days sanding everything thoroughly, and went around inspecting for defects. After a lot of consideration, I decided to use fairing compound to correct some of these. Again -- they wouldn't have been noticeable at any reasonable distance, but I couldn't help myself. Afterward I added one last coat of epoxy over everything. I think this is 3-4 coats in total, depending on the location, but I sanded pretty aggressively in the fairing process. I'm hoping this finish coat will only require an amount of sanding purely necessary to provide the mechanical adhesion for the paint. I also got most of the rigging hardware. This week I plan to paint if time/conditions allow. I should at least be able to get the primer on. Once the interior is painted, I'll separate the two halves and flip the boat over. I need to do a quick repair on one of the nesting bulkheads, and apply some epoxy to the strakes and keel, but otherwise the hull is ready for paint too.
    2 points
  4. Great shot of Carlita under full sail in the EC. Photographer unknown.
    2 points
  5. When doing epoxy work in the summer (in RI), I would some times place the jugs of both parts in an ice water bath. I might have to wait a few minutes trying to mix them, till they thinned back out, but it would buy me a little time in the pot life.
    2 points
  6. Absolutely agree Dave, silicone sealer is some terrible stuff. My wife had a Tripp design Columbia 26 that “someone” had put about 2 lbs of the stuff on the ports. I ended up using a wire wheel on a drill to remove it. Again I mention excellent luck with VHB on plexiglass/hull interface. Back to sprit haulage….
    2 points
  7. I built a few small sailboats with a one piece rudder in a kick-up affair. It was very awkward to steer when kicked back part way.
    2 points
  8. I was just going to post a link! B&B Yacht Design quite the eclectic group! PowerCat, lots of beautiful sport fishing boats all sizes, world class sailing craft of every description and of course, the coolest, Mathew Flinders 246…….proud popa speaking
    2 points
  9. One can't over state the importance of a dry fit. I will even try a dry clamping if I have any doubt about the actual procedure to see if it works before I slobber everything with epoxy and find out my idea doesn't go together well.
    2 points
  10. We've been busy with projects on the big boat (annual engine service, dropping the mast for standing rigging replacement, re-coring the forward hatch, etc). Now we finally got the chance to move forward with the Spindrift. The big part was installing the mast step, and modifying the king plank for the Europe mast. Here's a test fit, the mast still needs to be shortened: As is traditional, we installed a coin in the mast step. The 2024 German two euro coin features the white cliffs of Königsstuhl. Very fitting, as it is often the last sight of Germany for us when we head out to sea... We aim to have the mast ready for the weekend. We should get an old Europe dinghy sail to modify then. Our oars also arrived. I would've ordered a little bit longer ones, but the Finnish company sadly only sells this model into Germany. But on the positive side, they fit perfectly inside the bow section.
    2 points
  11. 1 point
  12. Test Launch yesterday. I was nervous about the waterline because of the changes made along the way and because of the tendency for novices to overbuild. I floats nicely about 2" below the waterline with a 25% fuel load. The engine proved too high and we had too much prop pitch (20) , so we are making some adjustments.
    1 point
  13. I've never had a problem with it tbh. My first boat was a Wayfarer (16ft dinghy) and it used a bolt rope. It was pretty easy to put a reef in. I suppose sliders would have kept the bunt of the sail a bit neater but I had eyelets with lashings for that. I'm sure that on larger boats it would be beneficial to use sliders.
    1 point
  14. After a few months delay, finally getting started, slowly. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kGtAXIKuSYyQsaLPVHl5Yb1wxD8LmQTE?usp=drive_link
    1 point
  15. Today, I had to glue up a bunch of parts. I don’t like pumping, mixing, thickening, and mixing some more. I prefer to mix one big gob of goo. The problem is, of course, that a big gob of epoxy “exotherms”, and goes off before you can use it. I snagged a tip from a Russell Brown video. He employs an epoxy pallet. It is simply a scrap piece of plywood onto which he smears the goo. The stuff gets to spread out, and not get hot. His videos are on Offcenterharbor.com, which is a website I pay a subscription to. Brown has a series on working with epoxy that is excellent. There are many other videos that I watch again and again. It’s expensive, but worth it to me.
    1 point
  16. Hi Andy, I hope that I can make it! This is Jay from that other Internet, Facebook. I have a CS20 here in Michigan.
    1 point
  17. Thanks, Ted. I hope we have a good turnout. I wish you could make it. Wouldn't your wife be delighted if you took a detour to go "sailing with people from the internet" as my kids call it?
    1 point
  18. Here are some photos of some B&B boats at the finish.
    1 point
  19. Tuesday morning, the first overall boat (Spawn) just finished. Alan and Mom and three other CS boats just pulled in to checkpoint 2. It looks like Alan at least is quickly shoving off south. Looks like low winds from the east, moving to ESE, should allow for some sailing today.
    1 point
  20. Midday calm. 2:44 this afternoon.
    1 point
  21. I can't take credit for this sprit storage idea. The previous owner did it and it works well for longer distance travel. Its a lot like Amos's but a bit more water protected. I am still hoping to store the sprit/sails on the boom in a wrap/bag like Jay had for shorter term trailering. Thanks for the pics guys!
    1 point
  22. WaterTribe names for those with B&B boats in this year's race : CS 17 MK1: PinkDog, ChangBiZi Matt Pinkley, Chris Elwell CS 17: TheMapster, Coastal Brooks Hall, Stuart Miller CS 17 mk2: SOS, SandyBottom Alan Stewart, Dawn Stewart ("Carlita" boat on loan from Graham Byrnes) (https://share.garmin.com/PHT96) EC 22: Triman, Cat5 Mark Ellison, Jeff Williams (boat built by Graham Byrnes) CS 20 MK3: WildBlue, SkinnyGenes Scott Henderson, Kilby Smith CS 20 MK3: NowWeTryItMyWay, CountryRoads, WhiteRabbit Erik Dykema, George Blaha, Mitchell Blaha Trimaran: SpongeBob Bob George (boat design by Alan Stewart) https://www.watertribe.com/Events/ShowRosters.aspx https://www.raceowl.com/EC2024/RaceMap4 https://www.facebook.com/ (WaterTribe group)
    1 point
  23. And Alan and Mom right behind, in SOS.
    1 point
  24. Here is the map of the Core Sound boats at 2:40 pm on Saturday. It looks like it has been close-hauled sailing in light winds so far. Triman is leading the pack (not overall though) with the EC-22.
    1 point
  25. The manufacturers of polycarbonate and acrylic recommend silicone for bedding their products. It is the one time I use the evil stuff. I mask off the adjacent areas to avoid contamination.
    1 point
  26. Yeah, forecast could be better but we will keep fingers crossed. Hopefully not much rowing. Yep got the bowstring and headsail ready. One pic of each B&B boat below. Lots more in my album.
    1 point
  27. We have arrived at the start beach. Today we stage the boat on the beach and have the captains meeting this afternoon. Tomorrow we shove off at 7am.
    1 point
  28. The B&B crew has left the shop for the challenge. Here is a google drive where Alan will post photos: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOPaH6lL8rMQ_VxZsP7GTWX7QnGI5JhN4Bb7XHgSSujnj_hoh0BWggtsrGs2JqsnQ?key=TkZJVE9qWDRoTk5nODhvT3pCRVhGYWZBRTJtSzV3
    1 point
  29. "Triman" has done the EC before, in a Hobie and last year a monohull. But that's only according to my internet sleuthing (stalking?!) on the watertribe website.
    1 point
  30. I just stumbled onto this video. Do these guys ever stop creating beautiful boats?
    1 point
  31. @Hirilonde— Prior to dry fitting, sometimes I make a trial piece out of foam board. The Dollar Tree has them for only $1.25. I cut out the panel sloppily, put in place, and mark where I need to add material. That way, my final piece is right on the money, or darned close. Foam board also helps with visualizing hardware placement, such as the bow fittings in my last post.
    1 point
  32. Thanks for the comments. I'm not sure about the weight but will wait until after the engine is on to adjust the trailer. The engine goes on this week and , weather permitting<,a test float this weekend.
    1 point
  33. Isosaari means “big island” in Finnish, just like the name of our big boat, Lille Ø means “small island” in Danish. Isosaari is also an island fortress and guest harbour outside of Helsinki in the Gulf of Finland.
    1 point
  34. With slides the sail will be able to flake more easily on to the boom if you are dropping it to go to the beach. You would need a stop at the bottom of the track so the slides stay on the track when sail comes down.
    1 point
  35. The paint is finally dry, and we were able to test the running rigging setup. Now we know what dyneema we need to splice to make it work. Mast and boom have now been shortened and various hardware riveted on. When we got the mast up, it however became apparent that we made a dumb mistake: the Europe dinghy mast needs to rotate, and the current setup with the king plank doesn’t allow that. So we’ll need to widen the hole there to fit the Teflon ring that came with the mast. Yesterday we held the traditional naming ceremony for the dinghy. For that we dressed the boat pretty. Pretty good turnout, and a fun party! The president of the Berlin sailing federation gave a short speech, and we did the naming rituals in both Finnish and German. So, introducing Spindrift 9N #1579, Isosaari: In the other news, we just received an old Europe dinghy sail that we should be able to modify to fit the boat. Really looking forward to the first test sail!
    1 point
  36. Chick assist for the win. Love it.
    1 point
  37. I ran out of 1/4” plywood today. I called around. Closest place was way down in Charleston, which is 3-1/2 hours from here. I guess the good life in the Appalachian foothills has its down side. I called Chick Ludwig, who lives “up the mountain” a piece. I raided his scrap pile, and now have enough to plod on. Thanks, Chick!
    1 point
  38. Great videos. I said often "80% done with 80% to go", but I think you are a bit past that.....
    1 point
  39. Sometimes I wish I was on a tight schedule so I'd have an excuse to stop fairing! Got the boat outside to more easily clean off the amine blush, as well as fit the mast step (can't get the first mast section to fit inside the garage). It was actually pretty satisfying to hear water sloshing around inside the dinghy for the first time. Made me excited for when we get it out there for the first time. Mast step epoxied in place: Back in the garage I spent a solid day sanding. I've really about had it with the Total Boat epoxy for coating work. It does say that it's not designed for finish work, but it's hard to decipher for what reason exactly. In my experience though, it has a tendency to bead up more easily, and doesn't self-level as well. Here's an example of the sorts of imperfections I'm still left at in places after sanding. I didn't want to sand them completely out yet since I think I'll burn through the adjacent areas in the process. I decided to do another coat of epoxy. Partially because I sanded so much of the other ones off, but mostly because I wanted to reduce the imperfections as much as possible before switching to fairing compound, if that's what I decide to do. Luckily, I have some Resin Research epoxy from a few surfboards I built. This stuff is designed for finish coats and you can add a bit of xylene (they call it Additive F) to it to improve it's self-leveling qualities (at least I think that's what it does). I figured I might as well give it a shot. I think the result came out a lot better already, though it hasn't yet cured. I think maybe one problem I was having with the total boat epoxy is my own fault though. I was using a tack-cloth as my final prep step, and I think this is a mistake. I think some of the wax in the tack cloth contaminates the surface. I should have followed the tack cloth with an acetone wipe down.
    1 point
  40. Work has progressed slowly the last two weeks owing largely to strong storms here in California that also knocked our power out for 3 days and projects on the big boat. That said, the hull has been faired (two passes with fairing epoxy fairing compound and lots of sanding). After the first pass and the 2nd application of compound, but before the second sanding: You can also see in this photo that I wrapped the rubrail around the stern. Once the boat was flipped again, I spent a lot of time sanding down the edges of all the tape as well as other places that were not very smooth. This was honestly a lot of work. Most of my fillets are pretty good, but the last ones I did on the trunk were superb in comparison. I recommend anyone doing glass fillets for the first time to practice a few and nail down a good technique. It will save a lot of sanding and back-filling later. I also fitted the wooden pieces that support the middle thwart. Here I am just using weights to hold things in position as the epoxy cures for the supports: Tonight I got 2 coats of epoxy on, and will put a 3rd on tomorrow. I'm using a slow-cure epoxy for this, and temps are low, so I should be well within the tacky window tomorrow still. I'm using a roller, which works ok. My epoxy (and probably all epoxies) seems to be really sensitive to any sort of surface contamination. Despite what I thought was a rigorous cleaning, I still have places where the epoxy wanted to bead up. It's possible I sanded blush into the surface, but I thought I cleaned all my epoxy surfaces before I began sanding. I still need to fit the mast step, and re-enforcement at the bow for the tow line. I also need to finish shaping the rub rai and add coats of epoxy to these as well as a few other bits. Then I'll probably go back around the boat and add a bit of thickened epoxy where it's needed to correct any imperfections. Next week and weekend I'm travelling for work, but hopefully I can have paint on the boat before the end of the month.
    1 point
  41. Great to hear! I thought I remembered seeing them on Matt and Amy's dinghy, I think that's actually what gave me the idea. if they end up interfering with the nesting, I can plane/sand them off pretty easily.
    1 point
  42. I added bilge strakes, or runners if you prefer. Three good reasons: - they stiffen up the floor - they protect the hull from damage - they gave me a solid place to add through bolted eyes for lifting the dinghy in davits Mine are on the aft half only so don't interfere with nesting. I'm not the only person to have done this, Sailing Florence of YouTube fame did the same. https://messing-about.com/forums/topic/12813-spindrift-11n-build-in-scotland/page/2/#comment-111096
    1 point
  43. Check with Graham Byrnes at B&B Yacht designs. He has been working on a boat like this. Fuel efficiency is important to him. I took this photo of him a year ago. That’s a model he printed of it back then. He has progressed with the design since then.
    1 point
  44. I use my Rescue Minor for inshore shallow water fishing in North Carolina. It's thirteen years old and in great shape. I use it weekly and fish mostly within 5 miles of the dock.. Not a great boat if you want to carry more than 3 people or if you have to travel long distances ( 11 to 12 knot cruise ).
    1 point
  45. Sunday was the last day of the MASCF and I'm still at the CBMM. I launched Skeena for the first time last Monday night on the Erie canal near my home back in NY. My wife put some doubt in my head about not testing the boat before I towed it almost seven hours. I knew she would float, so this was just a formality, but here she is next to my Boston Whaler not sinking. I took her to St Michaels and the first two days we didn't have much wind, but I could tell the boats balance was much improved. Saturday the race was pretty fresh. 15 mph winds with strong gusts. When I get a better internet connection I'll post some video, but it was pretty exciting. I can say the boat handling is significantly improved by this mod. I got a great start in the race and only had the log canoe and a couple of other boat in front of me at the first mark. Unfortunately I got confused where the second mark is and by the time I figured it out I lost some ground. But Skeena was amazing and had just the right amount of weather helm. There were numerous capsizes around me and I never felt remotely unsafe even though we had no reefs in the boat. Here's what she looks like below: Yesterday I overnighted in Leeds creek across the Myles river from St Michaels. I double reefed to test the helm and with the board down it rounds perfectly up into the wind. Love this boat!
    1 point
  46. Well, if you were out sailing on Kalos, I can’t grumble. Looking forward to the photos and to seeing y’all at the Messabout.
    1 point


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.