Fintan Murphy

Thank you Johannah, it is an Irish name, the Gaelic version is Fiont

Johannah, I could nearly see you baiting the hook You're right about the mountains, Ireland has only 5 recognised mountains (I think they have to be over 3000 ft to qualify). The rest are just hills. I go hillwalking in the summer, and judging by your description of John's exploits, he would find it a bit tame. But don't worry, we have other pastimes that are equally diverting. You're also right about the wildlife. I though I had seen a BIG spider untill I went to Australia. Once you look at them, and their eyes are big enough to see your reflection in them, then the home-grown ones will never look fierce again. We have absolutely no indiginous nasty insects, spiders, snakes, bugs, or wildlife that can harm you. No bears, big cats, mosquitos, deadly spiders, no snakes at all (thanks Patrick), or anything that you have to run away from (unless you are afraid of sheep) :shock: "Not much of a tourist. I'd just like to land somewhere and mosy around for a bit. Potter in a rowboat perhaps. Visit the native village, maybe. " Sounds like you would fit right in here Johannah. Personally, I find that being a tourist is a state of mind. It can be a fascinating study, watching how different visitors either try to buck, or go along with the Irish way of life. The older I get, the more I appreciate it, and how my own identity is so tied up with it. "The locals must get so tired of the mawkish distant relatives showing up and weeping over them" Don't worry, we've developed coping mechanisms Reminds me of a holiday program I watched last night about the market in Marrakesh. The presenter said that you get out of it what you put in. If you are agressive, you will be met with aggression, if you go in with a sense of humour and treat them with dignity, you will be rewarded with a great experience. The same thing applies here. (But, hey, you knew that). By the way, I phoned Frank yesterday. He arrived safely after his 10 hour flight. I don't know if we will get a chance to meet up but I think we'll do our best to do so. A lot will depend on where his daughter and son in law bring them. If they are heading southwards, I should be able to catch up with them somewhere. He's only got 8 days, and I don't want to encroach if they have things planned.

Yea, the wives of the two guys I work with have just had babies. So I'm getting all the gory details of breastfeeding without any of the advantages. :? Never mind the description of the actual births. :shock: :shock: I mean, when you come to work and the guys who used to say "great game last night" to each other are now asking if her waters broke, you know the world's gone to hell in a handbasket.

Konrad, Konrad, Konrad, fit a sidecar to that dam thing before you kill yourself!

Congratulations, I hope to follow your fine example soon. The best advice I read about backing up a trailer (I think it was Angie on the other forum), is as follows. When backing up, put your hand on the bottom of the wheel, and move it in the direction you want the trailer to go. It seems counter-intuitive, but works every time.

Johannah, sorry 'bout that, I hang my head in shame. I've been out of the water for too long. I'ts been a year and a bit, and will be a bit more. Of course, I could have looked it up (note to self - don't be so lazy the next time) :oops:

Hi All, there does not seem to be any measurement for the rear eyebolt on the boom in the plans. It's the one that the main sheet goes through before going forward to the final eyebolt and pulley. I also need the measurement for the eyebolt that holds the rear lower corner of the mainsail to the boom (tack?) Anyone got the measurements that they used ?

Charlie, you may be right, I just remember looking at auger bits a while back in the shop, and they were pretty expensive. Of course, I may have been looking at the 1 or 1.5" ones, and the cost just stuck in my mind. It's moot anyway, as I just dropped into my dad, who happened to have an old hand operated 5/16 bit in the garage. This also solves the problem of drilling true, as it's easy to rig up a jig for the hand operated one. (no heavy drill at one end to worry about). Thanks for the help.

Hi all, I finally got around to starting back on the boat this year. As I say to everybody who asks, I'm three years into a six month project. She'll be in the water this year for sure. It might not have any portholes, but that won't stop it sailing. Anyway, the question, I've cut and glued the gaff jaws onto the gaff and am looking at the through-fastening. The plans recommend a 5/16" threaded rod, but my problem is, not only will I have to buy the rod, I'd also have to buy the auger (sp?) bit to drill it with. That's a very pricey hole I'll be drilling. I'll already have to buy a bit for the stem hole, through the bowsprit, and they don't come cheap. The thought of buying another one for one hole is putting me off. Has anybody used anything else, for example two long 4~5" screws, one from each side? At the moment it is glued up with epoxy.

Konrad, you pillock I believe you haven't done any of those things, and are just making them up to impress us. (I thought it's the pregant one that goes weird). My proof is that you are still alive. I rest my case. I just found out a quirk of Irish law, due to the fact that one of my work collegues has just been legally seperated. As you may or not know, divorce was legalised in Ireland a few years ago, whereas "legal seperation" has been around for a while. The law hasn't caught up in some cases, so at the moment Your husband dies - you get a widows pension (same if wife dies). Your ex husband dies, and you are legally seperated - you get no widows pension. BUT, your ex husband dies, and you are divorced - you get a widows pension! (unless you have remarried). - because divorce isn't mentioned in the pension legislation (which was enacted prior to divorce legislation). So the moral is, stay legally seperated, 'cause once you divorce her, it's worth her while again to "off" you.

You know those times when your curiousity gets the better of you and, once you find out, you wish you could go back to not having known. This is one of those times! :shock: I've printed it out and put it on the mantlepiece to keep the kids away from the fire.

Now that is a thing of beauty! It looks small enough to compete in the Stephensons mini-car races. You have my envy, sir.

Denis, the best method I found to check that I was installing any of the stringers correctly, was as follows. They can only go one of three ways, angled left 22 degrees, angled right 22 degrees, or for some stringers, flat (either 90 or 0 degrees), for example attaching the cabin sides to the deck. What I would do, if I was unsure, was to get a small, say 1 foot, piece of stringer, hold it up to the piece I was going to attach it to, and hold a small piece of plywood, say 1 foot x 1 foot, exactly where the next piece is going to attach to the stringer. Remember, the stringer is always going to fit between two surfaces of the boat, e.g. deck and hull side, deck and cabin, hull bottom and bulkhead. As soon as you have the two pieces together, it should be instantly obvious if the stringer is correct or not. For example, if the stringer on the underside of the deck is incorrect, the hull side (as shown by the 1x1 foot piece you hold up), will either slope outwards (meaning that the hull bottom would have to be wider than the deck), or straight down (meaning that the hull bottom would have to be the same width as the deck). Since you know that the hull bottom is narrower than the deck, then the stringer has to slope inwards (so your piece of plywood will be angled down to meet the stringer on the top of the hull bottom). Using the same method, the stringer on the top of the hull bottom would have to angle outwards to be flat up against the hull side. (Remember, two sides of the stringer will always be flat against a piece of plywood, that is it's purpose) So as you can see, there is only one right way to attach each stringer out of the three possible ways, and using another piece of wood held to the stringer to see how the two pieces of plywood go together, should make it obvious which one it is. It sound a lot more complicated than it is, and once you have done it once you will grasp what I am trying to explain.

I still got you all beat. 1 (US) gallon of unleaded is $3.52 (Yankee Dollars). And you wonder why we all drive small cars here :roll:

Jeez, thank God for that. I though I was losing the plot because I couldn't see what you were all on about. Eyeballs, I don't see no stinkin eyeballs. Untill I got to the last post in this thread, to find that Tim has already changed it, and it of course changed all existing ones. I'll never know what I missed :roll:

Welcome back Joe, I still browse the other forum, but regard it more as car crash entertainment at this stage. Every time I think about posting there, the content persuades me otherwise. I hope you don't find it too amicable here

Bill, I just looked at the telephone directory before I leave work, and there are 11 birds in Cork. Three are in Carrigaline, where I live myself, and one is in Cobh, which was always a great place for seafarers. And another new business venture opens up

Nice one Bill, let me know your Surname and any pertinant details (offline if you wish),and I can probably dig up some sordid details about your ancesters. I live about 10 miles from Cobh, or Queenstown as it was then known (last stop of the Titanic, well, second last stop :shock: )).

Weyhay Frank Good to hear it's finalised, although a week just isn't enough. I was just talking to a motorcycle shop in Bray about a tank bag that he has in stock, so I'll arrange to come up over the weekend you are there. That is, unless you want to come down to Cork for the weekend. We are about 150 miles from Bray. But remember, these are Irish miles, we don't have a great big three lane highway between the two, in fact most of the road will be single lane each way. so you are talking about 4-4.5 hours in a car, or 3 hours in a train (which you will have to get in Dublin). And I don't know how it will fit into plans with your daughter. If you want, the four of you could come down and I could show you some of West Cork. At this stage let's say we'll definitly meet up and organise the details later (in true Irish fashon). Your daughter is right about the car. Mike Donlons sister came over in 2001 with the intention of hiring a car. Once she saw the roads etc. here she forgot that idea in a hurry. It's not that it's that bad, just very different from what you are used to. One of the guys on the Woodenboat forum is coming over with his wife, brothers and parents, and has been in touch with me with questions etc. so I will be able to meet up with him in August. I can see a new business venture in my future

Way to go Frank, you put the rest of us lazy sods to shame. (I haven't even set up a gallery, and I've been building for the last two years. :roll: