Dave R1

Thanks Joe. Very nice photos. I'm envious. BTW, does this look familiar?

Thanks Joe. Very nice photos. I'm envious. BTW, does this look familiar?

I don't suppose you'll be going up via Rochester?

That was easy. Here's a shot of the port side. and the starboard side. By the way, the green line is the jib halyard, the one next to it is the topping lift and on the port side it is peak and throat halyards.

I'll look to see if I have some piectures showing the jib sheet lead but I just put a block at the base of the forward shrouds with a quick link. It seems to be in a decent spot for the lead. Then they go back to a cam cleat on the side deck a little past the cabin bulkhead.

Tom, you might just as well plan to bring her to the Minnesota Messabout. You'll be ready just in time. You, too, Doc.

Tom, regarding the peak of the main, you do need something for an outhaul. I have a wooden thumb cleat on the end of my gaff. The line from the peak leads around the cleat and then is wrapped around the gaff a few times and tied off.

Tom, here's some pictures for you. My jib only has one grommet at the clew since the fabric is reinforced. First, the part of the sail. Simply an eye with a stopper knot. Then the jib sheets. I use the traditional two sheet arrangement but I used a single piece of line. I put a small Alpine Butterfly loop in the middle. To attach the sheets to the jib you simply poke the stopper knot through the loop and then through the eye. It can even be done with one hand. It's about like buttoning a shirt and I've never had it come apart even if the sail is left to flog.

Looks good Tom. Almost ready to sail. Cool! As far as the jib club goes, I'm with Noel. I prefer the two sheet set up. I also find backing the jib is handy when tacking. That's just not an option with the club. I set up a no hardware attachment between jib sheets and clue which is nice because my wife likes to sit on the foredeck sometimes and she doesn't have to worry about getting smacked by a shackle. I can post pictures if you'd like to see.

Chad, I forgot to mention that I have a becket block on the end of the boom so the mainsheet belays to the becket leads down to the block on the horse, back up to the becket block forward through that fairlead I showed you to another block and down. I have a ratchet block on the floor of the cockpit which allows the use of biceps instead of the weaker triceps to control the mainsail. The ratchet block acts to take some of the load once the sheet is set but it isn't as dangerous as a cleat would be.

Sven runs into Ole in town. He says, "I drove by yer place dis morning and saw you had a sign saying, 'Boat for Sale' but all I saw vas yer tractor und manooer spreader. "Yah, replies Ole. "Und der boat fer sale." Sorry. It's Monday. Couldn't help it.

Chad, did you get my pictures?

Jim, she looks great. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

...it's your mother. I've been trying to get Julie K ready for sailing in between rain and work obligations. this spring, as I've already mentioned, there are new tanbark sails. I figured I'd make a new gaff which I thought was complete until I took it to the boat and discovered the jaws wouldn't fit around the hardware at the tabernacle. I don't know how I messsed that up but I ended up having to rework the jaws which means a new piece of leather after the new varnish cures. For whatever reason last year I couldn't get the shrouds tensioned like I wanted. The turnbuckles (ugly hardware store ones) were two-blocked so I ordered new ones from Duckworks. They look much nicer but the longest ones were about an inch short so I made new shrouds. The forks on the new t-buckles don't fit the chainplates quite as well as I'd like so I need to rework them. Other than that, the boat is coming along well. Someday I'm going to have a shop with the ceiling height to allow the mast to be raised indoors. There'll be some sort of scaffold or something so I can get to the top of the mast to work on it while it is up. That way at least I won't be depending upon the weather. Well, I can dream...

Jake have you looked at the Glen-L site? There's gotta be a plan there for you.

I agree with you PAR. I designed my forehatch so the latch isn't visible from the outside. I used a childproofing magnetic latch. To unlatch it you just run a magnetic key over the latch from the outside. Granted having a magnet on board could cause a problem if one had a compass on board as well. The lakes I get to sail on are small enough that you can never be out of sight of shore so a compass isn't a big deal for me.

As long as you aren't an author and get caught plagiarizing from two books. Tony, that's a very nice idea. Good job thinking outside the box. 8)

I have one but usually forget to put it on the mast until too late. I put some streamers on the forward shrouds and end up using those. If you want one look for a Windex at West Marine or wherever. Don't bother making one. Your time is worth more and besides, you have a boat that wants to get wet. If you have your heart set on making one, wait until after launching, NOW! RIG THAT BOAT AND GET IT WET!!!!!

So Mike, I was looking at Big Lake on Google Earth. Water's still hard in that shot. Looks like a cool lake to sail on. Is there anything on those islands? After looking at the lake for a bit I started wandering East toward Palmer. Who in the world is in charge of naming streets up that way? I found W That Way, W Born Lazy Way, Mutiny Ct. Those are just west of Wasilla. Why don't you send the street namers down this way? We could use some creativity.

My sympathies to their families. I know from experience it can be very difficult to see another plane. I imagine that at 1000 to 1500 feet AGL the lower plane would blend into the background rather easily. That article seems to have been written by someone who understands aviation and smaller planes. In Minnesota the press would like report the cause of such a crash as due to a failure on the part of one of the pilots to file a flight plan. :roll:

You can see some of the crutch here: Pardon the mess, though.

Doc, she's looking good. I like your tabernacle arrangement, too. As for a boom crutch, you could do what I did and build a sort of saw horse that sits up on the seats when the mast is down. I used some of the lumber from the dolly the boat sat on during building. After jointing and planing the wood down it looked pretty good. I used a 2x6 for the top piece and cut an arch along the top with a notch in the center for the mast and one just off center for the boom. It's not something I take out in the boat when sailing, though. I just bungie it to the trailer after unloading the boat. I have a topping lift to support the boom when the sail is down. It is led back to the cockpit so I can also raise the boom to make standing room in the cockpit when the sail is down.

Lick and stick! :shock: It's supposed to be bedded in something to keep the water out and then either sewn (kind of like stitching a baseball) or tacked. I didn't have enough leather to be able to sew it down so I used copper nails left over from the cradle boat project. I didn't bother with bedding compound either since the boat is pretty much a fair weather sailor and I don't expect to get much water that high up. I will wax the leather after I'm sure it is good and dry.

I finally got some time to apply the leather to the gaff jaws and I thought I wouuld share something I came up with in case someone else wants to try it. The shape is actually a rather complex one to wrap in the leather and I wasn't sure how to make sure it would lay smooth. I didn't want to tack it down because that wouldn't allow me to shif things if needed and I didn't want to end up with a whole lot of extra holes. If I'd had a pattern to use for cutting the leather, I probably could have sewed the leather to stretch it around the jaws. The only thing I could think of to use for a paattern, though was a piece of leather since it would have to stretch around the shape. I ended up using cotton twill tape. It's fairly cheap, flat and easy to work with. I soaked the leather in warm water for awhile and then laid it on the jaws. I wrapped it tightly with the tape, smoothing the leather as I went. I was careful to avoid twists in the tape and so far it seems to have worked. The water can evaporate through the tape and the leather should be held smooth. Once it has dried, I'll trim it and fasten it down.

Don't blame you a bit.