Steve Day

Larry, You don't have to stay the whole weekend to show a boat. I believe Saturday is the best day. Just come and "show" the boat informally, if you like. Looking forward to seeing you, Steve

Larry, Looks really good! Are you going to bring it to the Perdido Wood Boat Festival?? Steve

Anyone going to the festival this weekend at Pirate's Cove in Josephine, AL? I'm going to show my Diva 2 kayak. There should be a bunch of nice boats there. Steve

That one really looks nice, Mike. Good to see you building again (still). Steve

Hey Larry, You want to sail with me on my boat? Since the Beneteau 40 is too tall to get under the bridge in Santa Rosa Sound, I might use the J-28 (if it is available). We could take the Spindrift(s) as a dinghy to give us some fun sailing when the 28 is at anchor. Steve

Oyster, I have been really busy lately and haven't had much time for the forum. As I answered in my private e-mail, I am working part-time at West Marine to take some of the pressure off my retirement account while it is valued so low. Hopefully, I will be able to cut back on those hours sometime in the near future when (if) the market recovers some. In the meantime, having an employees discount at West ain't all bad. Steve

How's this for wierd. It was 19 degrees here in the Mobile area yesterday morning and 25 this morning. Ain't supposed to get that cold here on Mobile Bay. I did manage to get out and sail yesterday afternoon in about 45 degree weather. Felt just like Maine in the summer. Steve

One or two coats of epoxy will not have enough color in them to affect the looks of your wood. Go with the "normal" epoxy/hardener mix. Most varnish has more color in it than epoxy. The epoxy is better protection for the wood and the varnish, in turn, protects the epoxy. All of the boats I have built have epoxy under the varnish on the bright work. They look great after quite a bit of use and exposure to the sun. Steve

I was thinking about my Diva 2 kayak and realized that there were a few modifications I needed to make to ensure that Gina and I are more comfortable when we go on long paddles. The first of the year seemed like a good time to do those mods, since the paddling season gets started in the next few weeks here in Alabama (if it ever stops). The cockpits in the Diva are fine as long as you are not as tall as I am. I am 6'3" and I found I could not get my feet and legs into the cockpit comfortably. I studied the situation and decided that I would lengthen the hole by moving the coaming forward about 7 inches and adding a section to the coaming at the widest part. It was an interesting exercise as I cut the coaming off and added the spliced sections. Here are a couple of shots of the project after I cut off the coaming and was epoxying the first layers of the new coaming onto the deck section. As you can see, I rough cut the new hole and will trim it after I get the whole coaming epoxied in place. The next photo shows the coaming after it was completely installed and faired, with a coat of epoxy applied and curing. The other project was to improve the seat back for my wife's seat. She has some concerns with lumbar support, so I built a back rest for her. We have tried it once, but the support was too high. I have lowered it a bit and we will try it again. In the meantime, I built a similar back support for me and will try it on the next trip. With the expanded cockpit, I should have enough room to use such a support. I am finishing up the repairs and will have the boat ready for "sea" in a couple of days. We are hoping to participate in a paddle next weekend, if it is warm enough for my bride. Contrary to popular opinion, I am alive and working on a project or two. Steve

I will also add my best wishes for a Merry Christmas to all of you. My you have the best Christmas ever! Steve

That's OK. I can either bring the sailing dinghy, or the Garvey as a dink. Either one of those will be able to get me to the island and back to my boat for the night. It appears that the moon will be waning gibbous during that weekend, so we will have a late night moon. A run to the west that night would not be out of the question. We might be able to work something out so we can enjoy good company for a while and then get back to the boat for the night. The possible "air show" might be fun, if it occurs. Nothing like being awakened by a low flying CH-53. Cheers, Steve

Looks good, Larry. Keep getting the details and you'll be ready to go sooner than you think. Steve

Well, yeah, that would be like "showing off." ;D ;D That's the idea of shows like that. We get to "toot our own horn" a bit 'cause ain't no one else gonna do it. I was just looking at the calendar and it appears the show will be around the first weekend of May, if things hold true to form. We need to get these two Spindrifts together one of these days. Steve

I'm going to keep the trip on my agenda, but my boat will not fit under the Navarre bridge. I'm thinking that I could join y'all for the beginning and the end, but not the eastern point of the trip. We'll see how it all develops. Steve

Larry, Glad I could help. It appears you are making good progress. The brightwork looks good from this vantage point. Sorry about the Bristol being so difficult to handle. Maybe that's why I've never used the stuff. I'm looking forward to the launching and being able to sail with another Spindrift from time-to-time. Do you intend to take it over to the Perdido Wooden Boat Show at Pirate's Cove? Steve

Larry, I finally got next to the Spindrift yesterday and measured the following: Distance from tip of mast to the gooseneck - 13' 10" Distance from the tip to the foot of the mast - 16' 9" I hope that helps, Steve

If you use a Fortress anchor, make sure you use the mud palms on it and that you use the recommended angle setting for the conditions. You will have a lot better holding using their recommendations. I use 30' of chain on my 40' boat, just to make sure. My primary anchor is a claw type with 30' of chain and I only use the Fortress as a back-up (with the 30' of chain), or for the occasional two-point mooring. I realize this is for my "big boat," but the principle still applies for the CS-17 and other smaller boats. Steve

Larry, I've been out of town delivering a J-28 from St Petersburg to Point Clear last week. I will check my boat later today and give you the length/height. We could also arrange to meet for you to take more thorough measurements of my rig, if you would like. Steve

Actually, those bulls are mascots for the USS Bulkeley (DDG-84) that Gina made during the pre-christening. We presented one to the ship and kept two more for us (plus a few for key personnel involved in the christening). It is a neat place to display them and remind us of the crew of the Bulkeley each and every day. Gina is one of the sponsors of the ship. Steve

Baby Eric is doing very well. He'll be 2 this January, so the boat has been sitting around for some time now. As far as I can tell, he is being raised as a "landlubber." Too bad, we could have started him off right. Steve

Larry, Nice job on that boat. She looked pretty good. The Sea Scouts in Mobile have a 48 footer for sale. The hull is sound and the engine is OK. We just don't make much use of her. I think it would be good for a project like that. Steve

It is a boat, after all. It's a little big to be a coffee table in the living room. ;D Steve

Larry, She's looking pretty good! When are you planning to launch? I could be persuaded to come over with mine to help celebrate. Steve

Greg, Shrimping is still here. The guys that I buy from (nothing like eating shrimp that was swimming last night!) are using old boats in the Bay and trying to keep them up. I don't think any of them could afford a new boat today. I think the same could be said for those that shrimp out in the Gulf of Mexico. They are barely able to make a living right now, although it has gotten a bit better with the price of fuel going down a bit. Gina just called and said that the shrimp is ready to eat, so I guess I'll go now. Steve

Frank, I'm getting the single video box like I should. I have IE 7.0.5730.11 and the most up-to-date flash player. Before the Flash player update a week or so ago, I was not able to play any Flash video. Steve