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I have used this feature a number of times. But today I saw my first like by someone else. I can't say no one else uses this feature, but as thoroughly as I read this forum I can't imagine too many likes got past me. The most common reasons I have for using the like feature is to show support for a good technical post without saying the same things again when some one else has already said them well in the first place. Also I use it to simply provide a positive reply for cool pictures and acknowledge that I enjoyed them. Anyway, I just thought it strange how little the feature is used. Not to imply written replies need to be limited, just a curiosity of mine.

Graham might have taken his upgrades a bit too far this time. What do you think? He's installed a big barn door rudder too and a giant boom..... Ok maybe I had you going? We all know Graham is a tiller man. Someone who thinks he's funny plopped this in Carlita's cockpit. Graham looked pretty worried when he came in last week and we told him we had "done some work on his boat".

Taylor and Alan just launched the heir to the Stewart clan. You all may have noticed that there were no Stewarts in this years EC, and that is why. I thought that he was going to be really cool and launch himself to coincide with the EC but no, he decided to emerge in his own time. Design name, LOA and displacement will be posted later.

I just got the wood, plans and epoxy for my boat build! I plan to read over the blue prints and watch some videos about building the boat and make myself familiar to it. And plan to start mid to end of January!! I can’t wait to get started!

I have been designing the Mathew Flinders for myself for more than a decade off and on, long before we did the Mk3's. What I was trying to achieve was to design the ultimate small voyaging boat that could easily be trailed behind a reasonable size vehicle and yet be be capable of crossing any ocean. She had to be built tough and live well for two people with room for a third person. She is not intended to replace the mk3's as they are great boats, but for anyone who wants to go up to the next level. I went through hundreds of iterations till I finally got it and I am very pleased with final outcome. As you can imagine I am really excited to see her come to life with Jay and Carol. I started at 22 feet and it finally grew to 23'4" as I massaged the ergonomics. When Jay ordered the boat, I did a lot of thinking about his comfort plus I had some interest from people who are a lot larger than me so at the last minute I scaled her by 5% to give 6'4' headroom with the final length at 24'6". If anyone has to have 6'6" headroom they can raise the cabin sides. The trailing weight will be around 4000" depending on how they load it. I am still planning to build the 23'4" version. One of the things that I worked hard on was the range of stability. She has positive stability to 180 degrees which more than meets the EU ISO rules for ocean sailing. I have attached one of the many stability curves that I made with the red and blue curves showing a best and worst case vertical center of gravity. That is to allow for builders to make their own modifications and still meet the high range of stability. I was also able to calculate the Flicka A well known small cruising boat, @ 20 degrees for comparison.

Don, The missing hatch sides and back were in the original drawings. You definitely have a builder modification. The good news is that what is built looks like it is to plan and shouldn't require any alteration to bring it up to spec. I would add some sides and modify the back to clear all of those nuts. Then put a straight edge on the deck across the hatch to measure the gap above the coamings for the gasket and adjust if necessary. I think that you would be better off with a mizzen staysail. It will give you the most bang for the buck. It is mostly in the cockpit and easier to take down if conditions suddenly get ugly.

My CS20.3 is getting a mini refit and paint…..would be a perfect time to do this mod. But…….I really haven’t had a circumstance that I felt lea helm that I couldn’t balance out. A longer board might help the windward abilities…. I am quite sure it would be worth it, that may be my next winter project. As you sea……Indecision may or may not my problem.

Alan sent me an email asking if I had any good pictures of Skeena to provide to SCA for a story Marty Loken was doing on "camp cruisers you can build". I sent a few pictures to Marty, including one that was taken by a photographer from CLC that was on a support boat on the trip to Cox Creek winery. My longtime friend and sailing partner Joe was with me. This trip was a new event at the MASCF. I got an email from Marty saying that that pic had been chosen for the cover, which has been quite a thrill for me. Building Skeena was a long process but having her is such a joy. I've been singing "when I get my picture on the cover, gonna buy five copies for my mother" who sadly isn't with us anymore, but was the one who instilled craftmanship into my life. Thanks Alan, Graham, Carla and all the fine folks at B & B, and to all those who showed me the way, and answered my questions. Barring catastrophe, I will see you at the messabout with covergirl Skeena.

So, this is what I’ve been doing of late. It’s a digital drawing with “colored pencils”. Sorry for taking the initiative to draw it without asking, but here it is. Peace, Robert

Amos, which takes longer, with or without help?

Just in case anyone needs another opinion on silicone; it is pure EVIL!

I have had good luck with the 36 brush boxes of brushes from Harbor Freight. After I unwrap the brush I fold the bristles over my shop vac (hose with vacuum on!) and vacuum the loose bristles out. Not for varnish but good for slocking epoxy.

Graham in Oriental

We now have a website for Graham's Trip! www.sailingforparkinsons.org

Heading to have the motor installed. It’s been an adventure, looking forward to see if it floats. Have enjoyed the comments, everyone has been so supportive. Thank you

Designer said, "Probably the best thing in the world for kids is having a Spindrift". When I told my wife this, she said, "so does this mean you're never going to grow up?"

Don and Dave- Thanks for setting me straight. I must have heard your voices a few minutes into the video when I realized they were hanging over the side! I had just dropped Luanne off to take a few shots and didn’t take them in quick enough to claim status as an old salt. If you guys would give me a second chance I promise to be more attentive. I did tell Luanne about my transgression and that someone on the forum would notice. Her reply “tough crowd”. I love it!

Ravenswood—low volume and standard. The LV has been varnished with poly urethane and is ready to be covered. With the frames cut and stringers made, the second on went together quickly—three days from frames in the jig to FROG. It’s startling how fast they come together when everything is prepped. Laminating and then sanding and finishing the coaming is the slowest part. Takeaway from the coaming is to use very thin, straight-grained stock. I used African mahogany (wood store had a nice piece of 8/4) but next time I’d use maple or oak as Jeff recommends. Also cut it very thin. The book said 3/16ths, I went with 1/8, but next time I go for 3/32s. 1/8 was as thin as I could get on my table saw but if you have access to a band saw set up for re-sawing go thinner. The mahogany looks great but the grain was a little squirrelly. I don’t think it was worth the extra effort. Looking forward to getting them launched now! Hal

I Asked my granddaughter if she would like to do the artwork on my kayak. She kept it a surprise, didn't let me see it till it was done. I told her to do she wanted to. I think she knocked it out of the park.

One of the things I love about going to the Messabout is learning something new. This year Graham asked me if I had seen any of the Swedes videos on foam core boat building. I told him I had not. Graham knows I am interested in foam core boat building, perhaps he also knows two of my grandparents immigrated from Sweden. Anyway my interest was piqued. So now I am learning a little more about the interesting life of Sven Yrvind. He is a bit of a blue water sailor so his mindset is a little different from us coastal cruisers but his emphasis on the advantages of keeping boats small and simple certainly resonates.

Here is the first installment. It was a grand adventure but as much fun as it was to leave, it was even better to return. The trip was everything that I hoped that it would be. People asked me why I rushed, I could have spent a year doing that trip but you cannot just abandon your home. We live in hurricane alley and I did not want to leave Carla to have to face one alone. I was able to get a good flavor of the area and I can drive to places in the future and I can do a section in as much depth as I like. I did this trip for many reasons. It is obvious that my voyaging days are over so I made this like a mini voyage and I also wanted to prove the mk3’s as a valid coastal micro cruiser. Carlita turned out to be close to perfect for me. The only improvement that I can think of would be to have a 20 mk3. Nothing wore out or broke except for the wind indicator when I scraped it against the mizzen mast while raising the main mast between bridges. I was able to glue it back together. Note to self, watch the indicator as it passes by the mizzen mast. Beside being fast and easy to sail, navigating in shallow water was where she excelled. She covered many miles in water less than a foot deep with no centerboard or rudder, steering and tacking with just the sails. When aground I would walk around the boat, looking for deeper water. The bowsprit gave me the leverage to rotate the boat to face the deeper water. The boomkin was just the right height to lift and push. I usually got away with it, saving me from having to wait for the next tide. An electric pump for the water ballast would be handy so that you could lighten the boat quickly if the tide was falling. I tested the water ballast several times. I naively thought that Delaware Bay was going to give me a break. The forecast was SE 10 to 15 knots, I ended up with 2 reefs in each sail and still surfed to 8 knots. I broached her twice, the first time I was concentrating too hard on the chart and got way off course at the wrong time. The second, I got slammed on the starboard quarter by a breaking wave. The rudder ventilated down the low pressure side and around we went. To my amazement we never heeled past about 20 degrees and suddenly we were safely laying a-hull. Several times I deliberately rounded up to reef or to tend to some business but with the luxury of picking my time. Single handing can be hard sometimes. Another test was on the last day: There was a small craft warning for Pamlico Sound with forecast SW winds gusting from 20 to 30 knots. I was only 28 miles from home. I decided to get underway at 5 am to beat down the Pungo River and cross the Pamlico River before the wind reached full strength. The plan worked well and just before the Hobucken Cut got narrow I decided that I could afford to put the anchor down and have breakfast. I left the sails up as it was going to be a short stop. It was hot down below with the vent and hatch dogged down. I opened the hatch to full wind scoop, forgetting about the sail. It was very pleasant. Suddenly a big gust blew the bow to port and the reefed foot of the main caught on the hatch and we were laying over. By the time I got on deck and realized what the problem was we were upright and it was over. I lowered the hatch to just a foot above the deck and life was good again. When I went to raise the anchor it felt like it was fouled. It was the hardest breakout of the whole trip. I have some other ballast ideas to try but I think that it is valid as is. Steve, yes I brought the anchor back to the cockpit and I am very pleased with it. There is nothing special except that I have a cleat about 18” forward of the sheer break. I left the bitter end tied to the bowsprit tube and the main part of the 100 ft rode in the anchor locker, the rest was just flaked on the cockpit forward. The Danforth self launches because it does not stow neatly. The Bruce/ claw stows neatly but I have to give it several flicks from the cockpit before it will launch.

Graham sent in this picture with the caption...”Missed it by only that much. Just 200 feet to deep water.”

Day 4 - Coinjock to North Landing RIver (27.2NM) Graham’s trek up the ICW continued with southerly winds that pushed him through Coinjock and past the Currituck Sound. A couple lines of thunderstorms swept through the area and around 3:30 Graham threw out the pick. I suspect the north winds arrived and he called it a day. That combined with the thunderstorms. Graham sent in this picture with the caption “second thunderstorm”. Graham reported earlier in the day that he was running with 2 reefs in the main and 1 in the mizzen. When asked about how his power system was holding up he said everything was working perfectly. He has on board a ~120Ah LiFePo4 battery which he is recharging from a 50watt solar panel using a Victron smart solar charge controller. A shunt monitors the battery state of charge. Graham reported that he battery is typically reading about 90% in the morning indicating that he is using about 9-10 Ah overnight running his anchor light, charging phone and running cabin lights and fan. He shouldn’t have too much trouble keeping up with that with his 50 watt panel.

The Wheezer is progressing toward the conclusion section of her little symphony (yes, I’m a musician, among other things.) I took nine photos during our three hours together today. She’s is doing the epoxy and varnish layers on her own. She decided to make the mast bushings as a first project of the day. This is one of those things where I described how to do the tasks and she did everything... I just watched. Starting the second bushing for the smaller mast piece... each of these needed about 90 inches of fiberglass tape (cut in half lengthwise.) Moving on to make bushings for the middle mast piece. These bushings only needed about 30 inches of fiberglass tape. They are set aside to harden. We’ll make collars after these harden and are fitting well. The skeg got a bigger fillet along its connection area to the hull. We moved on to flip the boat back over and to add the third layer to the gunwale. We could have bought some sealant to attach the outer layer but decided to use epoxy glue instead. It won’t be a working tender (until The Wheezer builds herself a cruising sailboat ?) and I don’t think the need will arise to replace the outer part of the gunwale. I think the thicker gunwale looks and feels better than with just the two layers. Plus, the strips we put on are the pre-rounded edges of the 5/4 inch treated 12 foot deck board from which she cut all the gunwale strips with a table saw. A bit of surface sanding is all that the gunwale will be needing. She decided she wanted the bow end to be a point rather than to have a blunt cut off nose. Builder’s choice. ? The rudder pieces are epoxy-coated on one side. I marked the areas in the inside of the rudder cheeks that will be glued and she put a first epoxy coat on the portions that won’t be glued. Two more layers and we’ll glue up the rudder. I let her know the choice that some make to bolt the end of the tiller to allow it to swivel up from the aft end of the rudder assembly. We’ll see if she wants to do that or glue it permanently (as is typical.) The last task she did in our three hours together was to drill a hole in the bottom of her boat inside the dagger board housing. We’ll router out the opening when we flip it over again. I added an extension to my 1/2” drill to reach the bottom. Both her parents are dentists... I suggested she could let them use this drill in their workplace. ?. Maybe just to give the patients a little “thrill?” ?. OK, maybe not. She admitted that it felt weird to drill that hole through the bottom... something that I believe most of us who’ve built a boat can relate to. As I left for home I took a shot of the pieces she will leave as a bright finish. A few more coats of varnish are still coming to them.

Received this from Textron Systems Retirees Association. Thought some of our forum members might enjoy it. “Do You Remember? Did You Have One? Do You Still Have One? “‘A TSRA Member recently sent us this humorous paragraph on the ancient computing device called a Slide Rule. “BREAKING NEWS: Mathematics Teacher Arrested at JFK... A school teacher was arrested today at JFK International airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, an ancient wooden device called a “slide-rule” as well as a code device called an “abacus” that he claimed was a calculator. At a morning press conference, the new Attorney General selectee said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. “Al-Gebra is a problem for us,” the Attorney General said. “Al- Gebra has terrorized many young people for years. They derive solutions by means and extremes and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values” “They use secret code names like ‘X’ and ‘Y’ and refer to themselves as ‘unknowns,’ but we’ve determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.”

Thanks everyone. Mama and Henry are doing great. Very difficult delivery ending in c section but it's all over now. He is perfect.

New B&B design stats: Design name: Henry Wilder Stewart LOA : 21" 53.34cm Disp: 7lbs 5oz 3.32kg

I think I have found a novel way to self quarantine oneself.......mention to your friends that you are doing some sanding and getting ready to lay fiberglass. All the sidewalk engineers have disappeared?

Here is the current photos of the Mathew Flinders, we have been working intermittently for about 3 weeks, all the bulkheads are fileted and taped into place, the head bulkheads are just sitting in place (well almost in place!). A very gentlemanly way to build a boat, standing on the outside reaching in! The “rollbar” is part of the building jig, the inner skin of the cabin will sit on top of the jig, so at 6’3” I have an incredible amount of headroom. To show scale, Carol is standing in the galley.

The weather here has been very lousy. I don't have the boat waterproof enough to leave outside, so work has been a bit slowed because I need to roll it out of my garage to put the masts up. But my dumb mistake on the mizzen tabernacle is almost over. My son Teddy helped me tip up the mast and mark it's proper location. I made a little template to rout the mast step into the base and routed the base last night........it came out nice. If fits snug and I think by this weekend we'll be past this self made problem. Unfortunately I'll be gone for a week on a family vacation out west and momentum will stop until I get back June 3rd, but I'd like to get past this before I go. I have a trip scheduled to go to Lake Champlain. At the rate I'm going it might be with my Sea Pearl, which is frustrating. Between work, HS track meets and honey-do's, time has been scarce. On a real positive note my good friend Doug bought me a oil lamp. Here it is hanging in the cabin. Up in Maine last year on his Cornish Shrimper we used his lamp to take the chill off the cabin. I'm super excited to have this aboard. Last night I snuck out in a totally dark garage to light it and it really makes a cozy cabin. I know y'all southerners don't need any heat in the cabin, but up here the evenings get cool and on a small boat this is the ticket. Thank you Doug!

I had the new wind vane out in fresh conditions yesterday. I think that this is the one, it took everything that I could throw at it and it did the job. I had a reef in each sail and had the rail down a number of times. She went up wind and down as well as a couple of planing reaches. As Alan said the first vane took up too much real estate in it's place and the only place that I could find to stow it was in the cabin and lashed along side my berth. There were other gripes, the clutch was too complicated for the home builder to make and was awkward to use requiring two hands at the back of the boat to use for the course adjustment and it was too easy to move it too much. The new vane stow easily in the hatches. I was always concerned about the vane getting damaged, I did step on and bend it, but the wood ones are cheap light and it is easy to have a couple on board. We have had numerous requests for plans and I am now satisfied with the new version enough to go ahead with the plans. I am leaving on Wednesday to do the Texas 200 solo so I will wait to see if any issues crop up during the trip. The new design is making maximum use of wood and epoxy over metal and welding which will be more familiar to builders. The yoke and tube is glass and epoxy and the course setting wheel will be layers of plywood.

Hi everyone, I'm new here but purchased a Marissa 18 kit back in July. I was finally able to get started and will try to post progress updates as regularly as I can. I'm liking how everything came out from Graham, I can already see the thought and planning that went into it. I'm so glad I got the cnc cut plywood kit, it saved a ton of time already and there's no question on how precise the fit is. So far I have about 20 hours into this project, although quite a few of them were spent visualizing and thinking! Decided to dry fit to see if anything need adjusting and mainly to see the shape. Just starting but so far so good!

When applying goo and fabric overhead, a builder with a significant bald spot has the advantage of using it as a squeegee, to hold and smooth the cloth, without the usual bad hair day. Apply a PVA first for easier clean up afterward.

I may have missed other posts relating to future plans for B&B Yacht Design, but I noticed this entry from Graham on another thread and thought that it deserved it's own thread. I want to applaud Graham and Carla, first for their commitment and innovation to boat design and building, and second for their foresight and good fortune in bringing Alan and Beth into the business. I also want to thank and congratulate Alan and Beth for keeping this wonderful enterprise alive.

I talked with Carla yesterday. She is doing MUCH better. She is off of anti-biotics now and the infection is gone. She has 5 sets of plates, screws, and rods in her neck, but---this is hard to believe---she has a full range of motion!. And NO PAIN! She is able to eat normally now, and it "all comes out the way it is supposed too." She has lost a lot of weight through her ordeal. She feels good but is still very weak. Her main job now is to build up her strength and endurance to the point that she can begin physical therapy. She still has more surgery to come on her lower back. (Still pain in her lower back, That was where she was originally supposed to have the surgery until tests indicated a very dangerous situation in her neck.) This will happen, maybe, in December. She is back in he office trying to get everything back on track---including Graham. Her computer went down just as she got back, and they went through a period when the phone system was "off line". Who did I just hear saying "When it rains, it pours."? Beth was a great help in getting out plans and such. Carla is very thankful to all of of you for your concerns, well wishes, and prayers. She said that there were literally thousands of people, church groups, and friends praying for her, and she credits this for her recovery from a very dangerous and trying situation. Thank you to all of you. And most of all, thanks to God!

Here are a couple of newer pictures. We are hoping to be sailing at the messabout.

Finished my oars and heading south to San Diego tomorrow. After lot’s of overthinking, I made them 9.5’ assembled. When the time came to cut them in “half” I decided to not make the cut in the middle of the length and cut closer to the handle end instead. This allowed me to make a nicer taper from the ferrule towards the blade. My brain wanted symmetry but I remembered an architect friend of mine telling me to break free from the “tyranny of symmetry” when I was designing a kitchen. Sometimes there is something to that concept. They have been epoxy coated and I will wait until I get to the warmer weather in San Diego to varnish them. Thanks for all of the input.

Just finished our new electric mini-boat. The plan is to build another so Debbie and I will each have one. Then try to promote them in our area and get a little messabout group going. Finally got the new mini in the water. All went well. Even the pup enjoyed the ride. Now I can start mini #2 and get the final plans drawn up. They'll be available to you guys soon. 100_0607.MOV

Weezer, I am very impressed and proud of your build. I built an 11n years ago and appreciate how big a project this is. For someone as youthful as you that's even more remarkable. I hope you have as much fun on your boat as I have on mine. I will warn you that this boatbuilding thing is a disease which I have a medium case of but folks like Chick and Pete McCrary are fully gone. Be careful. And keep posting pictures! Take Care, Steve

And the name shall be “KALOS”. In the New Testament, Greek lexicon beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing, precious, useful, suitable, commendable, admirable beautiful to look at, shapely, magnificent good, excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore well adapted to its ends genuine, approved precious And who doesn’t think their boat is all that!

After all the priming an sanding I couldn’t figure out a reasonable way to paint all in one shot. So I painted the hull, will give the paint a day or two to get used to not being in a can, then drape the hull then shoot the deckhouse.

We started the build today, learning to mix epoxy and thicken it for gluing. The Wheezer is a fast learner. I demonstrated the various processes needed to glue finger joints, but she did everything (feels a little lazy to just “watch”.) Three hours and the finger joints (bottom, sides, seat tops) and the assembled/glued transom were set aside to cure. The build is moving along. ? Again... it is SO nice having a B&B sailboat kit with the CNC cut parts.

I still have painting to do, but "Mo-Bear" tasted water today:

20190822_185801.mp4 20190822_185908.mp4 Okay, the trip begins. I'm in Spring Lake, Michigan, near my daughter's. Stayed out on the boat two nights, once in a corner of the lake and once under the bridge and up the bayou. Couldn't resist sailing under the bridge when I had a fair wind.... 20190822_185801.mp4 20190822_185908.mp4

I recently finished my Stonefly canoe and waiting for the ice to melt to see how well she handles.

I enjoyed building my Long Shot so much that I convinced my brother to buy the materials so I could build one for him. Now we get to paddle together. I started building on June 12, 2017 and finished it on September 03, 2017. The first photo is my brother, Robert, taking delivery of his blue Long Shot. I have also added photos of my two Long Shot sisters. Please don't ask me to donate the labor to build one for you. It's quite a commitment. CJH.

As was noted to me recently by another builder, some of the best examples of boats are built by amateurs with serious skills and no price point restraints, in terms of their craftsmanship. Many of these "works of art" are simply a reflection of their piano builders nature, but most are by folks that love their work, enjoy doing it and understand that an extra hour or two fine tuning something, isn't really that costly on this particular project.

Missing from this discussion is analysis of failure modes. We need information on how SOF boats have failed: Did a stringer break? At a frame? Between frames? At a knot? At a joint? What species of wood? Dimensions? Did a frame break? Where? What type of plywood? Dimensions? Did a lashing or other fastening between a stinger and frame fail? This forum might be a way to collect some information of this sort. Then some ideas on where weight can be safely reduced and where to keep things robust can be developed. Paddle on, Andy

I talked with Graham this afternoon. Carla is back in the hospital with what ever the infection is she has. It is making it rouph on Graham. You can tell in his voice he is worried about his wife. He is a awfully good man to help us build our boats and take time to talk to us. We need to pray for him as well as Carla. When ever I go work in the boat I just stop and pray for both of them and I can not wait till I hear she is home and on the mend Stop for a moment and pray for both of them I DO NOT THINK GRAHAM WANT TO BURDEN US WITH HIS TROUBLES BUT WHAT ARE FRIEND AND CO-WORKERS FOR. Thanks

We waved farewell to Doug today as he drove off with his new Mk3. We were happy to get her out of the shop to get a good look at her rather than being too close all of the time. I feel that she more than met my expectations and you can still see the Core Sound heritage. There is decent headroom, without the trunk cabin. It is very comfortable laying back against the hull, at 5' 7" sitting as tall as I could, my head was not touching the deck. I think that a 6 footer could find a comfortable position.