Steve Day

That's pretty slick, Travis. I like the idea and the implementation. Good Show! Steve

A little more progress to report. I have 3/4 of the hull faired after the glassing and it is quite nice. I believe it will come out very nice when painted. I ran out of phenolic microspheres and have ordered some from Raka, but they have not arrived yet. In the meantime, I turned the boat over (upright) and glassed the inside of the cockpits and am ready to smooth them out, when the microspheres arrive. Today, I was stalled and decided to fill the very ends of the boat with epoxy to provide a "plug" in which to drill the holes for the toggles and to hinge the rudder. To do this, I had to stand the boat on end and pour the epoxy. I saw this as an opportunity to get an unusual photo of the boat. 8) (The area at the top right of the boat in this picture shows the part of the hull that has not been smoothed and faired with microballons.) After that exercise, I cut and placed the deck stringers in the fore and aft ends of the boat. There are pictures of them attached. I also started to lay out the deck panels this afternoon. All this sandwiched in between work on the big boat. We got the rudder back in this afternoon, the new waterline boot top painted Wednesday and all of the other stuff done. She will be going in the water tomorrow and out on charter Saturday morning. Very busy around here these days. ;D See ya, Steve

Ray, It's funny you should ask. I kept pretty meticulous records of the Spindrift 10N project and rough estimates of the Garvey. However, I didn't think to do any tracking on this one. I looked back at my calendar tonight and made an estimate of the hours worked and think I am at about 60 hours. I started the boat on June 28 and have worked on it whenever I get a lull in the rest of my schedule. I have about half of the hull faired in and smooth at this point. Steve

Well, I got the kayak turned over and sanded fair. This noon marked the end of the sanding for a bit and the start of the fiberglass work on the outside of the hull. It was a bit of a chore, but the glass is expoxied in place and curing tonight. I used 3.25 oz glass cloth and that stuff relatively easy to work with. Now a bit of filling and some more sanding to get the outside ready for paint. This is fun, when I can get a chance to work on it. See ya, Steve

The older we get, the faster the years go! ;D Steve

Boy, I'm happy that you asked that question. I was thinking about Bob the other day and wondering if he was still doing his help articles. The plane article was timed just right. I am going to be working with the plane a good bit in the near future and needed a tune-up on sharpening techniques. Thanks for asking, and it's great to see Bob is still doing his thing. Steve

Hey Frank, I like the dynamic content on the home page. I was loving the idea of my Spindrift eternally on the home page, but that didn't give folks an up-to-date idea of what is going on in the forums, etc. Keep up the good work! Get started on your Spindrift - now that Greg is started on his, you have no excuse. Steve

Hi Gang, Great fun on the big boat. The rudder is dinged up and needs to have the end rebuilt and the rudder shaft bushings are excessively worn and will be replaced. Meanwhile, the boat is on the "hard" for the duration of the repairs. the surveyor had a bunch of other small items to correct to get her into service. I worked on the kayak today and taped and glued the forward bulkhead into place. Here are a couple of shots of the boat as she sits tonight. Steve

Interesting name, "Meerkat." Looks pretty cool. I saw a Riva today at the boat yard. It is a late 50's product and it is just coming out of a major overhaul/refit. About 25 feet long and absolutely beautiful. There is a pair of 427 Chevies in the boat and she ought to move right along with all of that power. That sighting inspires me to look at the Glen-L "Biscayne 18," or something like it as a future project. However, that may be a bit more than what I can build in the garage. Maybe I can find some sort of shop to build my boats in around here. Oh well, it's nice to dream. Steve

Greg, I am building a Diva 2. (2 person version.) I can't believe you are finally started on the Spindrift. That is a cool thing. All we have to do is get Frank started on his. Steve

Well, it took a while, but I am back in town and have finished the inside seams and turned her over to work on the outside of the hull. I may have a picture of her tomorrow after I get the big boat hauled and a survey conducted on her. That'a a drag, but the insurance types require a survey at least every three years. More to come, Steve

No pictures tonight, as the boat does not look much different. I got the fillets and tape on the inside of the bow compartment and the front cockpit today. I was not able to do any more because I had to go help with a youth play this afternoon and evening. I will be "on tour" with the youth group as we take their play to five different venues over the next week. I get to drive the bus and run the sound board for the productions. That should be an interesting week! ;D It is sad that the road trip is getting in the way of the kayak build, but that's the way things go. I should be able to continue the build by next Saturday or Sunday. Talk to all y'all then, Steve

I made a lot of progress today! The inwales are on the inside and glued in, the initial glue is on all of the seams and the stitches are out of the boat (except for the stem and stern). She is beginning to look like a boat! Steve

Charlie, Did you put any offset on the paddle blades for feathering? If so, how much? Man, I forgot how much "fun" applying epoxy fillets can be! ;D Yea, it's raining, but not as much as you guys are getting. We probably had 3" here at the house this week. What you saw in the picture was probably 0.2" that we got last night. Later, Steve

Ken, Very nice boat. You will enjoy her, I am sure. Steve

Charlie, The birdsmouth on the paddle shaft sounds really cool. I will have to look into that when I get to it. Graham hinted to me that the extra 2"+ on the metric sheets of plywood could be incorporated into the boat with little difficulty and I have chosen to do that. All of that extra length is between the 2nd and 3rd bulkhead, or the after cockpit. That should help me get my long legs into the boat a little easier and possibly allow for something like a little cooler. We'll have to see as we progress. I have the hull all wired together and she appears to be fair. I even had Gina come out and put her eye on the hull to see if she could spot anything out of place or un-fair. She put her blessing on the look of her, so I will start the "glue" portion of the "stitch & glue" tomorrow. Should be fun. : Here are a couple of shots of the boat as she sat this afternoon. Steve

Good point on the seat. I'll take a look at that, when I get that far. There is no substitute for a good seat in a small craft. If my sailplane days taught me anything, they taught me that! 6 hours plus in a seat with no way to change positions (significantly) will make a believer out of anyone. Pat, When you get here and get settled, send an e-mail and we can get together to visit and look at boats. Steve

Greg & Frank, So far, so good on the Diva 2. I think the Diva is a boat that takes a moderate skill level. Now that I am on the second build of Graham's designs, I think this one is easier than the Spindrift was. The experience with the previous boat definitely makes a difference, particularly with bringing the boat 3D with the stitching. Some of that relative ease may also be due to using the 4 mm plywood versus the 6 mm on the Spindrift and the Garvey. ??? We'll have to see how she takes my 220 pound butt before I make any comments on how the Diva will carry a load. Perhaps Graham would like to weigh in on that issue. Here are a couple of shots of the Diva 2 taken this evening after our ride in the Garvey. We went out on Mobile Bay to scout around and look at the birds. There were a few more waves than I expected, so it was not a real comfortable ride. : Gina wasn't as happy as I would like when we got back, but it will be OK. Have fun! Steve

Frank, Yes, it is. I know that, if I put Gina in another kayak, she would soon be on the horizon at my stern. Therefore, we have to be in the same boat. More to come, as we are going out to enjoy the Garvey in the twilight. Steve

Greg, Yes, we did get to Carla and Graham's place. We spent a very nice day and evening with them and I got to "pick his brain" a bit on the Diva 2 construction and boat building in general. By luck, we spent a Thursday afternoon and evening with them and I got to go to Graham's boat building class at the local community college. They were working on several boats including three Spindrift 10's, a Spindrift 12, a Diva, and a Diva 2, among others. It helped me visualize the Diva 2 by actually having one to look at, with the bonus of a Diva right next to it that was a little further along in the process. It would be truly great to build a boat in that shop as they had all of the power toys, er tools, that a guy could wish for. 8) I've gotten a bit further with my project and have the stern section about 70% wired up and it is starting to take shape. I hope to get the stern completely wired before we go to the 4th party this afternoon. Here is a shot of the stern taken this morning. [move]BTW, Happy 4th, everyone! ;D ;D[/move] Steve

Hello All, Well, I got home from the transplant and was chomping at the bit to get started on the Diva 2. As of today I have the butterfly sections cut out and the splices in place to make her full length, though she is still a bit flat. Hopefully the epoxy will cure enough today (should be no problem with this heat!) to allow me to start drilling holes for the stitching. Might go 3D tomorrow, if everything looks good (and I can get some help). It is very good to be building again! ;D Steve

Wow! That is some testimony to building her out of aluminum. She is certainly strong! Now I remember why I moved to Alabama from Nebraska. : Steve

Phil, That is a great collection of photos and a great looking new Core Sound. Too bad you had to have Ray at the helm to spoil the photos. Seriously, that is a nice story and a good adventure coming most of the way across the country to get your new boat. Enjoy sailing her on the lakes up there in Colorado. I would expect you will try out Lake McConaughy in Nebraska, too. I lived out there for a few years and remember that lake well. Best of luck with your new boat. I know she will serve you well. Steve

Tom, Glad to hear that y'all did well in the race. I got a good look at Southern Skimmer when I was at Graham's last week and really like her looks. I wish I could have been around to see her race. Keep on winning! Steve

Very nice boat! I particularly like the color. There is nothing quite like launching the boat you built. I get a charge out of it on each of my "first launches." Good show. Steve