Tom Holder

I guess I assumed the main forum is primarily for Stevenson designs. A Birdwatcher not as off-topic as some I've seen posted here but, as a design, it's kinda at the other end of the spectrum from the Weekender I've done a pretty intensive web search already and found very little - a few photos, a few mentions here and there. I was hoping someone had built one, sailed in one etc. There are several boats with a similar cabin structure designed by Jim Michelak (sp?) but not with the same hull design. I may have to shell out the 175 bones to cure my jones . . .

Well, it looks like a cross between a freighter canoe and a commuter train with a sail on top. I don't hate it but I don't love it either. I guess I'm drawn to the fact that you wouldn't see one on the lake every day of the week. Specifically, I guess I'm wondering what it would be like to sail "under glass", whether that would take away some of the fun, and what the boat would be like as a weekend camper. It says there's a spot for a portaloo and that you can divide it into "cabins" with curtains but it appears pretty spartan to me - which is OK, I'm a tent camper not a trailer camper. As well, I was wondering about the changes between v1.0 and v2.0 and why they came about. Any insight would be appreciated.

Has anyone ever seen a Birdwatcher II in action? I read the article in Wooden Boat about the Birdwatcher and find myself intrigued. Any opinions or experiences? Thanks.

I was raised north of Lake Superior where we had 10 months of outdoor hockey and 2 months of swimming - the only discernible difference was that the water was a little softer in the summer - brrr! I can't imagine being in the middle of a hurricane - it must make you very aware of the awesome power of nature and your own very small place in it.

Hows this for a thought? Go into it with the intention of training your successor then at the end of six months you've fulfilled your obligation to maintain a high level of efficiency in the position and set them up for a continuing high level of performance with your trainee if you choose to leave. This way at the end of the term (I assume it's a stopgap measure due to a retirement or other?) you could choose to stay if it suits you or walk away knowing that things are set. I hear a bit that you feel that you should take the job out of a sense of responsibility but don't really want to get trapped in it just yet. My $0.02 worth. Me? I chose early retirement and self-employment to avoid all of these kinds of issues :-)

Mark - You probably are aware of this already but just in case; the 1500 engine in the MG Midget Mk IV is identical to the 1500 in your Spit (different part numbers of course just to make you crazy). You may find it less painful to cut up a Midget than a Spit If you really want to get silly, a 1.8 from a Austin Marina will bolt right up to your tranny with no mods. Well, the mounting block will have to be reworked but hey, it's all good fun. Cheers

I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I have pretty much scoured the web already. When I first started research on my 71 Cutlass, I was amazed at how much stuff there was out there. When I searched for Morris/Austin Marina/Ital/1800 etc., the pickings were mighty slim :cry: I guess I hoped it was a UK cult classic or something - nope. I was kinda hoping for some personal experiences - basically what I've learned so far is it's a slow, poor handling POS but the parts are scarce Thanks for trying.

I've gathered that several of you are of a "finer vintage" than myself and I'm hoping that someone can help me out. I'm looking for any information or personal experiences that you have had with Austin Marinas. My 94 year old great uncle has recently lost his licence and he has offered me his 1975 Marina 1800. It has only 37,000 miles so I am pretty excited. It's the 4 door sedan with an automatic tranny so I'm somewhat less excited than say if it were a '71 442 or such but hey, it's a interestingly obscure car it appears. The web has given me almost no help - anybody out there ever driven one? I'm not able to pick it up for almost two months - the waiting is going to kill me!!

Tampa edged out Calgary 13-12 on Canadian content this year. The number of Canadians in the league is shrinking a bit but we still hold ~50% of the jobs. Of course that just compensates for our (lack of) baseball, basketball and football prowess. Now if you want to talk fastball or lacrosse . . .

Well, at least you have something to feel disappointed about Florin. Based on TB's having Modin and Andreychuk, I'm running around yelling: former LEAFS WIN!!! former LEAFS WIN!!! What's even worse is I still consider Dave A. to be a Sabre :? Congrats on your great run. :cry: go leafs go :cry:

http://www.mindspring.com/~ffilz/Lego/pirate-ships.html Who likes LEGO? Besides my kids and me? Of course I'm disregarding the times when you step on a piece in the middle of the night :x

so . . . you like the Spindrift then?

This SwiftSure boat is only a 17 footer with a single square topsail. I have searched the web however and have not found any references to any that have been built. One of you rich guys buy the plans so we can all look at it

Well, since you're asking here's my (not so :oops: ) humble opinion: I'm thinking you've gone a bit too angular on your addition. The boat is all flowing lines and curves with oval ports etc. so any little sharp angles or corners kinda stand out. As well I'm wondering if you really need to go that high - could you get away with a little less height? Here's a quick sketch of what I would envision - I see an addition approximately 2/3 the length of the cabin and 1/2 again as high. The new sides should be flush with the old (with maybe a small accent strip to carry the line of the original roof but I'm not sure I would do that myself). The front of the addition should mirror the front of the old (i.e. curved if curved, square if square and upright if upright, laidback if laidback). Lastly, if you put your laser level on the original roof it will hit the stem at a certain point - putting the level on the new roof should hit the stem at the same point and not like 8" higher or whatever the new rise is. All the lines of the boat should converge at a point on the stem - kind of all come together gently but at once. As for the new port you've added, I would be tempted to add a skylight if you are looking for more light - I think you can get too much glass in a boat like this one. There's my $0.02 - hope you accept it in the spirit it is offered - I got lots of time on my hands [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

Interestingly, I found this boat the other day after following a link mentioned elsewhere in the forum. You could adapt the sail plan I imagine. It would be a handful to sail I bet but it would look waaaaaay cool. http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz./plans/swiftsure/index.htm

and of course someone might teef de motor off de back when you stop for a quick pit stop.

I've put my digital in a zip-lock baggie and taken rafting pics and underwater pool pics of the kids. Just make sure the plastic is flat across the lense when you snap and they will turn out ok - not great but good enough for action shots. Use a sandwich one with thin plastic for taking the pictures and a freezer one for storing it whilst underway. Happy launching.

Well done. As the husband of a grade school teacher, I want to say that if there were more parents like you out there, we would have fewer kids on the "worry about" list. Congratulations to you and your family.

I suggest that, given the multitude of shiny plastic boats around you, that flat paint will look naturally aged in comparison. If you really are looking for antique, lay a coat of a contrasting colour down then put your finish colour on top. Take some sandpaper and knock down the high spots (i.e. edges, rub rails) until the other colour shows through. You can also use other techniques like whacking it with a chain or dragging a nail across the finish. Just make sure that you don't penetrate the epoxy and compromise your waterproofing. Is that what you are looking for? if so, search the web for "antiquing furniture" or similar or hit the library - there's rafts of books on this topic.

Well, there's a few choices but I'm going to go with Manfred Mann's Earth Band's seminal album "The Roaring Silence".

If you happen to see him out and around, please ask Walter Jones to just sign the contract. He ain't getting any younger and neither am I . . .

Look at that! There's what I like - a simple solution! And a picture. Thanks Kudzu - you gave me my "one thing to file away" today :wink:

If you have all the legalities in place and aren't in a huuuge hurry, I could do up something nice for you as an e-book. I've done quite a few technical manuals this way for Big Oil. Be easy to add some current builder's pics etc. You could host it on your site, let people download it, distrbute it on CD, whatever is best. If you wanted to, we could put together a plan later this month, well, next month . . .