SeaEagle

Jonathan, Many blue water sailers will tell you that much of the nastiest water will be found closest to land. The wind, currents and ocean swells can all push up against the land (sometimes after travelling thousands of miles) and can result in some interesting sailing conditions. I don't know the specific geography of where you are talking about, but I'd be fairly cautious. Remember that these boats are unballasted and the idea of slipping down a large swell in a decent blow in a boat this size doesn't do it for me :roll:

RE: Enamel Cure Times. I've heard of People putting their plastic (fiberglass) boats into a motor vechicle spray painters hot room / oven in order to cure sooner (in this case it was so they could be in the water in time for an important racing regatta). As far as a recall - they had no obvious issues with this. You would need to consider what this may do to a wooden boat. I understand that these rooms are often set up at up to 50 degrees C or approx 122 degrees F. From memory this wasn't too expensive (for an Elliot 5'9" racing yacht - which isn't too different sizewise from a Weekender) If you know of a friendly spray painter / shop nearby - this may be an option for you.

I'm planning on coating my keel with CPES, but not glassing, I believe that this is a win / win. This approach waterproofs / protects the keel, but will still allow for easy inspection and detection of rot.

A question regarding the counterweight for the masts. Has anybody considered what the impact is to the center of gravity on these small boats is by adding weight above the waterline. I only ask because I've been reading the other topic re: Ballast. We are probably not talking about a significant amount - but I know that adding a pound at the top of the mast is negates 8 pounds of balast at the bottom - levers and all that. Just thinkin aload now :?

Looking very very good! Chris - Did you use any special method for determining the waterline or did you just 'take a punt'? You have helped me decide what colours to paint my weekender - I've previously owned a MX-5 convertable sportscar in British Racing Green, Tan Leather Seats, Wooden Steering Wheel etc, etc - and was wondering how this would translate to a Weekender - looks like you have solved the problem for me. Regards,

Andrew, My knowledge on the matter is limited to the follow Australian Standards published a Marine Timber for Small Boat Building in the 1970's which has since withdrawn. I have a copy and basically it is still applicable, working from memory the timbers which are available and suitable for boatbuilding are: Douglas Fir or Oregon (good for just about everything) esp. Spars, Framing, keels, deadwod, stringers, etc Hoop Pine = framing, planking etc Yellow Cedar Silver Quongdong = keel, framing, spars White Beech Meranti = Pacific Maple Cedar = framing, planks etc Black Bean Black Butt Brush Box Cypress Pine King William Pine Jarrah = great lasting quality hardwood but very heavy (Keel only type application or limited use) Queensland Maple Silky Oak Silver Ash = spars, stringers, (great for steam bending etc) Silver Quandong = good keel, deadwood, framing = medium hardwood Spotted Gum Tasmanian Oak = very similar to American Maple eqiv Personally, I've gone with Oregon / Doug Fir for Keel, stringers and Spars, and Tassie Oak and Vic or Mountain Ash for Rafters, Rubrails, toerails etc. With a bit of carefull selection I've had no problems sourcing Oregon, Ash and Tassie Oak.

I used to race (sailing boats) in the Marlborough Sounds in New Zealand, where alot of the beaches are made up ofl triangular shaped granite (think lots of small indian arrowheads). Myself and a few other locals started running lengths of (split) pvc type hose along the bottom edges of keels and bilge boards - this worked really well and is probably what I will do. 14ft of hose will cost maybe $10

I am currently travelling interstate - and as such don't have my copy of the weekender plans with me. Can someone please inform me what diameter the portholes are recommended as in the plans. I have just see some (very nice) bronze (non opening) portholes that look like they would do the job (in 3", 4" and 5"). I would like to make sure they will fit! Many thanks

Frank, I spent 4 months sailing the Pacific Islands with a Ships Master from New Zealand (on a Moody 42) in 1992 - As a result I later sat my Boat Masters Certificate and passed with flying colours. I realise that this is a far different kettle of fish than what you are asking about, but my view is this "there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing ... as spending time on the water with someone who really knows what they are doing" If you can find someone who is actually prepared to let go of the tiller / wheel, and let you have a go ... and teach you along the way ... go for it!

I had just come to the lofting conclusion myself. I vaugely remembered doing trig/calc/geometry 'stuff' like this at school (many moons ago and thought that someone might actually use this in the really world :? Thanks for your suggestions. I'll put up some photo's eventually to show everyone how I'm progressing, (in the vain attempt to convince everyone that I'm not a complete idiot, and that I do actually know quite a bit about boats (yachts in particular)) Between Andrews apparent proficiency at Maths and my boating/yachting experiance we may just end up with something worthy of putting in the water! Andrew - I'm interstate at the moment and will call you as soon as I'm back

I have managed to save my keel by cutting the stem off from the keel (essentially cut back the two outer layers of the keel laminate and carefully cut along the glue joint. I have now made two replacement outer laminates (including overlaps etc), and am ready to put everything back together. I plan on making a jig to hold everything in its proper place while the glue sets (to ensure I don't have the same problem the second time around). As the deadwood had already been attached to the top of the keel the jig frame will sit ontop of the deadwood and support the stern-facing edge of the stem. Can someone please confirm (or otherwise) that this angle should be 140 degrees. The plans show the angle from the stem to the bottom of the deadwood as being 130 degrees. I have included a drawing to demonstrate what I am referring to. Any help anyone can provide would be much appreciated. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

Andrew, Somehow managed to miss this post last week! Sounds like a great idea. I spent the weekend fixing my keel and cutting out the deck, transom, bulkheads etc. I've managed to salvage the keel and plan to but the stringers on the bottom this coming weekend - shouldn't be too long before I'm 3D.

I spoke with a Professional Boat building friend in New Zealand (who is familiar with Jarrah, Ash and D/Fir). I was advised that Jarrah is generally considered too heavy for boat building (although for a keel and given some of the discussions regarding extra ballist for the Weekender this might not be a bad solution). I discounted Jarrah based on cost - $550AU min. (Vic) Ash is considered fine in boat building for Framing / Stringers / Rub rails and great for steam bending etc - but was not recommended for the keel - although I can't find my notes at the moment so can't remember why :roll: Oregon or D/Fir was considered the best alround provided you can fine some clear(ish) cuts. The yards around all say that the Oregon timber around Canberra is not Marine grade - but a bit of careful selection should get you by - and it is considerably cheaper than Jarrah or Ash.

Andrew, Q: Where r u? A: Isabella Plains - Just down the road ! With regards to timber for the keel - I've used Doug Fir / Oregon which other than a manufacturing fault (previously discussed here in a different thread) on my part, has worked really well. I intend to fix that problem this weekend. I know of other builders who have laminated the keel out of 1/2" Marine ply, which, when thinking about it seems like a reasonable option (although the cost of epoxy / glue might make this cost inhibitive)

Andrew, I'm a Canberra based builder who has recently started building a weekender also - must be something in the water around here. It would be good to catch up and compare 'war stories' Good luck

--- It was recommended that I repost this message in this forum --- I'm building a weekender and have just discovered that when laminating the stem to the keel, I have introduced a 5+ degree lean to the port side (when looking lengthwise from the stern, the stem leans to the left). I have discovered that this has resulted from an unnoticed dip in my workshop floor. I have checked (using a spirit level) and the keel it self is straight as an arrow. The lean is only noticable from the top of the deadwood upwards. My question: I believe leaving the stem 'as is' may result in the boat being scued to the left and is therefore unacceptable. Is cutting off the stem and cutting each of the keel sides back (to allow for an overlapping join) then relaminating everything back together (flat this time) the best method of fixing this? Any advice would be kindly appreciated. Regards, SE

Charlie, Thanks for the feedback - I do feel like a prize chump - the thing with my floor is that It actually looks perfectly flat - you can't see the 'dent'. I took a look at the floor and thought it was good enough - bollocks to me! I think you're advice is right! - I'll copy this post to the main forum anyway! Regards, SE

Charlie, Thanks for the feedback - I do feel like a prize chump - the thing with my floor is that It actually looks perfectly flat - you can't see the 'dent'. I took a look at the floor and thought it was good enough - bollocks to me! I think you're advice is right! - I'll copy this post to the main forum anyway! Regards, SE