Leaderboard

Tom, You know what I think about ballast in a powerboat. I am looking forward to seeing the Old Codger. Alan asked me last week how I thought she would float, I answered " by the stern" and he said "I think so too". Of course I had prior info, Chick told me that he was going to steer with the tiller. Maybe we can talk him into some sort of bulkhead steering system. It would be more agreeable when he does the Great Loop. She is so light that her moment to trim would be small, maybe a few cans of vienna sausages and a couple of Linda Ronstadt tapes stowed in the bow will trim her out and leave the stones ashore.

Pete. Thanks for the b'day wish. I just don't like the complication of a trench as far as building it or making it watertight. I have no problem getting up through the forward hatch to reach the wing nut holding the mast, or the anchor on the "anchor sprit". My hatch opening is 22 1/2" wide and 15" long. The companionway hatch works like any other, so water entrance is not a problem. No need for a "little hood. The forward edge of the hatch opening is at bulkhead #2, so standing on the forward end of the bunks is convenient. I plan to be able to raise and lower the mast from the forward hatch. Jay has tried this and says it works fine. I'll be doing this on the water to pass under bridges. The boarding ladder does stick up some and I'll have to watch the mizzen sheet just like I have to watch it on the motor. It would be nice to have it go deeper in the water, but this would have it sticking up in the air when folded. Thrillsbe has a neat ladder that stows in a tube through the transom. Check-it-out in his build log. Below are some pics of Don's ladder before installation.

Ok, Don, like, it's a crutch. Just been epoxy coating and doing some little details. I'll be working on the "small parts" while waiting on epoxy to cure enough to sand. Meanwhile, finally got my transom wedge from Graham. The little blocks on the port side are to screw into to mount the ladder. I can't through bolt it because of the cooler.