waynemunro

my aft hinge has quite a bit of slop too, mainly rotational though, rather than lateral - but it does not seem to be an issue when it is up, and is quite handy when trying to rest the mast down on the back. I used the same type of hinge for the front side of the mast, but just knocked out the two half pins that were holding it together and replaced them with a bolt of about the right size (had to pound it in a few times with the hammer to widen the holes a bit). All pretty rough, but seems to work fine. The bolt is a fairly loose fit, but never moves once the tension is on the forestay as that cinches it in tight between the two halves of the hinge. the photo shows the front and back of my arrangement, though with a spade bit standing in for the bolt, which had not been found at that point.

Hi Brit, 23' of space, sounds like luxury... mine only fitted into the garage if the bowsprit was not on. Once it was rigged it never returned. I know what you mean about not knowing how to sail too - I distinctly remember on lauch day realising that I had very little idea how to sail, and had never actually been in an unballasted monohull before (and only a couple of times in others). All great fun though, had a ball - still having a ball. good luck, and don't worry about the neighbours - you are enriching their lives Wayne

I put mine on, love em, think i spent far too long trying to sand them to a nice shape (turned out okish), I extended mine right back past the cockpit, though only 3/4 inch for most of the length, I think they add somthing very nice to the look of the boat as well as keep out water from the cockpit after the gunwales have been on the water on one side and then the direction changes.. I don't find that they stop me sitting out...

Hi Tom, not sure what the situation is like in the US, but down here in the antipodes I found that the quality of the eyelets availible in the hardware stores was very low - in fact I found it impossible to buy decent quality eyelts as a domestic purchaser. I ended up going to a commercial trade supplier and convincing them that I was starting up a boat cover business and purchasing the professional level stuff off them (bigger, thicker brass, etc.).. there were some pros and cons however.. it was much cheaper on a per-item basis - but I had to buy a box of 500... however I am now set up for life They also sold a hand tool for putting them in, which was many times sturdier than the one with the hardware store eyelets which is destroyed by the time you insert the dozen or so that come in the pack. just my NZ2c.

I have a theory on this one, as I have noticed this myself and wondered about it. I think it is small amounts of water being entrained right at the bow through movement and wave action, these are then strung out into a long consistent line of bubbles as they move down the hull and move along the hull bottom, moving towards the wind a bit as the hull is tilted up that way. I have a short video somewhere that I took of the underside of my weekender while travelling at about 1 knot (much faster and I can't hold the camera under due to the water pressure) and I could see a few bubbles doing this at that speed... .. this is of course still mostly a theory. I could find the video and downsize it for web viewing if anyone was interested. Wayne

congratulations on your launch day, you didn't tip into the water, so it was a grand success with regard the steering slipping, doesn't the steering rope go through a hole in the steering shaft so that it doesn't jsut depend on the friction around the shaft to prevent slippage.. I think that was how I did mine and it doesn't seem to slip even when it is quite loose. Wayne

thats is an amazing series of pictures. things can go so bad, so fast, can't they.

John, I actually weighted the front of the weekender with soft drink bottles. I figured the weight may as well get useful, so when I get really thirsty I can drink some of my ballast. also if I do happen to turn turtle, then the ballast is neutraly boyant, well that was my theory anyway. Wayne

yeah, I think I have over 30kg of ballast in the front (including the anchor and chain). when I first launched the trim was waay off, as you can see in my avatar. I don't know if this was because of the weight of the outboard, the weight of me, or something I did differently in the buiding process (perhaps the plywood keel??)... however the first few trips out the weekender was really unstable, when i added the forepeak weight it was a whole different trip. Glad you liked the videos, I quite enjoyed looking at them, I had not got to see what it looked like at the front while going through the water before.

The water is salt, in fact if I'd turned right and gone a couple of miles, it the pacific. The experiment with the underwater viewing was doubly flawed, as not only could I not hold the camera against the force of the water without breaking the pole I was using, but the water in the harbour is so dirty due to the tidal mud flats, that the visibility is only about a handspan anyway. I am going to a ffresh water lake for easter, so might try again then, maybe make an hydrodynamic fairing for the camera

Hi Guys, took the day off work yesterday, as had a friend visiting from Colorado and took him out for a sail, had a great day, wasn't too sunny, but the wind was good and there were some cool waves. However I have been experimenting with pole-cam, basically putting the digital camera on the end of a pole and holding it out so I can get some video of the weekender as it was going along. there should be a link below to a couple of versions of the video for anyone interested (the first is just a much lower quality version). I experimented with shoving the camera under the water to try and get a video of the underside of the weekender while under way, as you will see it was a dismal failure. 320x240, 2.5MB www.waynemunro.com/misc/sailing_20050317sm.avi 640x480, 13MB www.waynemunro.com/misc/sailing_20050317.avi hope you are all looking forward to your summer over there, winter is looking to be starting to rear its ugly head down this end of the planet. cheers Wayne

Hey Robbo and Buck... we have so far failed to get all three boats in the same place at the same time, in fact I think there have been only 3 or 4 occasions when there was more than one. We need to do something to remedy this situation my time is fairly flexible as long as I have enough warning to not conflict with other pre-scheduled events. You suggested a couple of days down in dunedin buck.. we are both keen up here, but the only issue is timing, sounds like it is going to be some time before robbo has a weekend free... how are you placed for a mid-week expedition ? Wayne

Hay Frank, sorry to hear about your wifes potential medical problems, my best wishes for favourable results. Waiting for such things would be a trial. Early in the year to have two problems as well, company buyouts can be trying times, been through one myself, looked like the best thing since sliced bread (which I really like) for a while, but the fortunes of a being a small cog in a much larger company went a bit sour after a while, but that is a long story. as for the wind, it managed to step up another notch today, recording 30-40 knots in the park, was off the scale at the coastal annenometer (chart only goes to 40), so it was land sailing in the park today, where the capsize recovery is a much easier prospect.

Hey Bill, figured it must have been something like that and Frank, yeah I was using a large tarp, which was a pain to bungeee down so it wouldn't flap etc, and there was no way I could drive with it on. I think you on the right lines with the cords joining at the stays, though there is a neccesary split in the rear of the cover for the mainsheet, so Im thinking that if I have a buckle there to hold them together, and cords running down both sides joining at the stays, then it might work. I'll have to tighten from both sides, but that might make it easier to ensure it is evenly tensioned all around anyway. weekend was a bit of a bust for sailing down here, hot and sunny, but the wind was 15-20 knots on saturday, though the prediction was for better on sunday. Sunday came and the wind lifted to 30 knots.. grr.. should have gone on saturday.

I've been working on a cover for my weekender, took a few pictures of it today, though I'd share them This is my first boat cover (or any sort of cover) so you professionals out there don't laugh too loud. I have hoped to make it so that it can be used when on the road or when moored. It has turned out a little more complex that I planned, and I haven't solved all the problems yet. I am planning to put eyelets right around the bottom and tighten a cord around it ti hold it onto the boat, so that no hooks etc need to be attached to the weekender. I haven't quite firgured out what I am going to do with the cord when the cover is spilt around the stays, might have to make it so that it hooks together there or something. I think most of the wrinkles should pull out once it is being pulled down round the outside.

Went for my first sail in my weekender for the summer on Sunday, my partner Tricia and me in mine, and Robbo and his Wife Sharon in their weekender. It was great to be able to go out and sail with them, so thanks for the company guys... looking forward to the day that we get all three in the same place Buck. The days sailing went pretty well, I was trying my new kevlar sail, which on the whole might not be everything that it cracked up to be, I think the material might be too stiff and is affecting performance. We started off in 5-10 knots I think (no wind-meter), and cruised across the harbour and rounded an island where we stopped for picnic lunch. After that we headed back, the wind picked up a bit in the afternoon, up to around 20knots and gusting 25 at least (looked at the wind charts when i got home), but we managed to get everyone back safely. It is interesting that the luanch and recovery was the most tense activity of the whole trip, at the end every man and his dog was trying to get out of the water at the same time and the howling wind made it an interesting experience. It was the first time we have had the two boats out together and it is fair to say that robbos has a fair advantage when pointing to the wind... I might have to do some investigating there here are a couple of pictures from the day, but many more can be viewed on my website (a number of them taken by Sharon, so both boats can be seen in those photos, thanks for the shots guys) http://www.waynemunro.com/grw/wayne/2004/2004_11/sailing/dir_small_70.html or you can view the slideshow http://www.waynemunro.com/gallery/show.php?d=wayne%2F2004%2F2004_11%2Fsailing%2F&start=1 note that it looks darker and stormier in some pictures than it actually was I think. Thanks again for the company Robbo and we look forward to doing it again. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

I found a beam of north american oregon in a wreckers yard, NZ$ 100 (US$ 70 ish), 4.5m long, had enough for mast, boom, bowsprit gaff, etc. love the wood, love the grain, and it seems soo light (note I don't know a hell of a lot about wood). seemed like a bargin to me. wonder if there are similar old beams removed from demo'd houses over there somewhere ?

hi kydocfrog, the motor mount is home made, though I did copy the design from ones I have seen around and about. Barnacle5 is right, I use the trim adjustment on the motor to bring it back to vertical, the maximum setting was just enough to make everything sit right. behind the transom I expoxied ona squre of ply, I think it was 6mm (1/4 inch) but may have been 9mm. the ply was large enough to go well beyond all of the bolt holes, I didn't do any additional reinforcement, the back does not seem to have fallen off yet

I agree about the removable lights for sure barnacle5, that is what I have done on my weekender, there should be a picture below showing what I have done. the lights are on a slightly curved wooden beam which rests on the top of the toe rails, at the to rail there is a small stub sticking out the front, which is flush with the bottom of the beam, and aligned with the toe rail. this allows me to use the rear tie down to both hold the weekender on the trailer, and hold the lights on, seems to work quite well, I am happy with it. It gives the lights great visibility too as they are right out there. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

I agree Frank, I have not kept track of exactly how much I have spent on 'fixing' up my cheap trailer, but pretty sure it would be well over half the cost of a new one. got the trailer, all looked good, then: - bearings needed replacing, too old, much cheaper to buy new hubs and stubs - added suspension, so then needed to get axle made - no winch, added one of those - lights were screwed, put new ones on - failed warrent of fitness on tyres, new regs say they have to match, put new ones on - replaced some rusty bolts... and all that got me going originally - more recently had to replace safety chain and one wheel rim. all and all, has been a fairly time consuming procedure and with hindsight it might have been better to get something new made. However the trailer I have now is pretty much bomb-proof and is much heavier duty that what would have been made.. and it tows really well... so I won't complain too much.

John, my process for cutting out the layers did not involve any templates really, the bottom layer was marked by putting the wood down on the deck, and running the pencil round underneath against the seat back. I then marked another line a fixed thickness in from that, set the jigsaw to the right angle (can't remember what it was, 20 degrees? most of them seemed to be), and cut out the shape, remembering to cut from the right end so that the angle went the right way. The next layer was marked using the cut our piece from the bottom layer, and so on, and so on. I think this is the process as described in the video ? seemed to work ok, when in doubt I cut a bit wider, easier to remove more than add it back on.. and the belt sander with 80grit seems to remove wood quite quickly.

Thanks Guys, Yeah Mike, it still seems fairly comfortable, I was a little worried about that while building, but in reality have not noticed any discomfort at all in practice, and have been sitting out there at least half of the time that I have been sailing. I think there is enough room between the toe rail and the splash coaming extension to 'nestle', I have a theory that the splash coaming extension even provides a nice little edge to prevent the slide down into the cockpit, I'll experiment a little more next time I am out.. and since summer is rapidly arriving that won't be long now.

whoops, looks like I have blown out the width of the thread with my large images, sorry about that.

I used the method pretty much as described in the plans as far as cutting the pieces, but assembled and sanded before attaching. here is a picture of the bits sitting in place before being stuck to each other I extended the coamings right to the bach, but the bottom layer was in two pieces, as I didn't have a long enough piece in this wood to do the whole lot, I had the extendion on the bottom layer overlapping with the layer above so it held together better. I screwed it from the uderside where I could, from the top where I couldn't and dowel jointed into the cabing side. applied lots of epoxy and hoped for the best. here they are sitting in place after joinging and sanding (so much easier when not attached) and before attachment: and as you can see, glue got everywhere on the day I attached them. I used wooden plugs cut from the same boards to fill the screw holes. and all things considered I think they came out ok: Good luck with your coamings, I think this was probably the single item that took me the most time of anything on the boat.

the pictures were all taken from the shore, I used a digital SLR with a 300mm lens. I personally consider it luck when the pictures come out as nice as this lot.. there was quite a bit of light around that day which made it a lot easier. of course there were quite a few times when Robbo was sailing straight into the sun (or in the direction of the sun anyway) which I don't have pictures of. also the geography of the area meant that he was probably never more that 800m (0.5 miles?) away. Wayne