Steve Day

Wes, West Marine price matches any bonafide offer out on the Internet for the same make/model, and you can pick it up at the store there at Lake Lanier. In any case, make sure you have at least two rungs in the water to make sure you don't have to do any special gymnastics moves to get out of the water. The older we get, the more we need to consider that. I used to get out of the water easily using only the cavitation plate on the outboard for a step on my Dad's boat. There is no way I could do that now! Steve

Wes, Looking good. It's really nice to get out sailing in the winter. Bet it was nice to sail on Lanier without all the PWC's and boat wakes. Steve

Frank, The new sizes look good. Thanks for all you do to keep things going here. Steve

I've got the Craftsman version of that tool and it has been a lifesaver on the big boat and the Gar Wood project we are working on. The thing has paid for itself a couple of times already. Your use to cut out the CB trunk was similar to one of the cuts we did on the Gar Wood. It's a very cool tool! Steve

"I found hubs with bearings already installed at Northern Tool cheaper than I could buy the bearings from West Marine, so it pays to shop around on the net." Don't forget that West Marine price matches any verifiable price found on the Internet, or at local stores, for the exact same item. You can find it at West and get it for the lower price with a little research (and not have to pay freight). Very convenient if you have a local store. Steve

Peter, Your work looks good. I remember when I got to the point of sawing my Spindrift in half. It was a bit of a leap of faith, to say the least. I did most of my interior work before I took the saw out and the "big cut" was one of the last things I did before finish work. Keep up the good work! Steve

Wes, Then you have the fools that think they can ride at 60 - 70 mph on ice and keep things under control. My son, John, was on the Atlanta beltway in really slow traffic on a relatively clear lane and some guy went by him at a high rate of speed on the icy lane next to him. That went OK until he got to the next curve. The road curved, but he didn't. Crashed into the wall and nearly killed himself. If we work it out right, I might bring the Rescue Minor up to cruise on a couple of the lakes up there. We'll give a shout the next time we're up that way. Steve

Wes, That certainly looks slick. Great job on the temporary dodger. Did I notice a little snow on some of those pictures of the boat on the trailer? It ain't supposed to snow in Georgia. One of these days, when I am up visiting my son in Duluth, I'm going to let you know. Perhaps we can get together to see your boat and visit a bit. Stay warm, Steve

I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever get warm enough to sail again. It's even too cold to work on the boats outside right now. I am thankful that we did not get any snow here in Lower Alabama, but the ever present puddle outside of West Marine was frozen this morning at 0600. We had 22 degrees and it is predicted to remain nearly that cool for the whole 7 day forecast right now. UGH! Steve

Frank, I looked at one of my replies in one of the previous posts and could not see my picture. I messed with it to reduce its size and still cannot see it. What am I doing wrong? Steve

That is one cool looking boat! It reminds me of some of the larger catamarans that are being produced by Austal here in Mobile. I can't wait to see her put together and in the water. Steve

Tom & Oyster, This is a little information on the picture in Scott's thread (My apologies to Scott for hijacking the thread). The J-28 is hard aground in the slip due to the shallow water. Normally we have 4 to 5 more feet of water in the area and the boat floats free. When the water is at more normal levels, you step over to the boat more or less level (In other words, the dock height is about equal to the freeboard of the boat). At high tide, you have to step up to board the boat. In the spring, the higher tides require you to step WAY up to get on the boat. Most of the marinas do not have floating docks, as the normal tidal range here is less than 2 feet. Here is the original picture and two others from other angles:

I made some hangers for the boat fenders a couple of weeks ago and finally got some pictures of them last Friday. These were made from Mahogany scraps that I had laying around the shop and they came out quite well. I just cut a slot, drilled two holes, and varnished them. Here are some photos of them in place and details of one of the pieces.

We boat around here in the winter too! :grin: I got out in the dinghy today and rowed all around the marina looking at boats while I was exercising. It just barely broke 50 today, so there weren't many folks out and about, but there were a few other hardy souls. We're going up into the Delta right after the first of the year - after all of the Christmas stuff is over. Steve

We have the same problem in Mobile Bay. It is amazing to see how the "saucer effect" works in large, shallow bodies of water. We are down at least 4 -5 feet here. Every time the wind blows out of the northwest for a day or two at 20 knots or better, the water goes south. Here is a shot of the J-28 in our charter fleet yesterday morning at low tide to show how bad it can get here. Steve

I would agree with that assessment. I couldn't resist "funnin" Greg a bit. Steve

We have not had the boat in the water since we got the tachometer, so we don't know what it's maximum loaded speed is. 3800 rpm is a bit over what the engine should turn with no load. If I remember correctly, it is somewhere between 3200 and 3500, but I need to verify that before we get into the water again. I have already turned it back some, but we need to work with it a bit more. Right now, it's a bit cold to do a lot of boating without our "woolies" on. Steve

After checking the engine with the new tach, we found that it was turning about 3800 rpm unloaded. We have adjusted the throttle downward to bring it more in line with specifications. After a lot of noodling, Wally and I decided we would try a prop with more pitch. Our calculations indicate we should have 17" of pitch rather than the existing 14". Great fun tweaking things. Almost as much as building it. More to come, Steve

Greg, I suspect it's not you. You're OK in my book. Steve

I "bit the bullet" and ordered a hand-held tach on the Internet. The thing was in my hands a little over 24 hours later, courtesy of Fed-Ex. We'll try her out at the first opportunity and see what we have. Steve

Y'know, when you buy an engine off E-Bay, you get what you get. The 2:1 ration was verified Monday. We are not sure if we are getting 3000 RPM, but it sounds like it. We are presently looking into a way to verify the RPM (at a reasonable price). It is beginning to look like we need more pitch in the prop, as it does not appear to be loading the engine down in the present configuration. More to come as we sort this out. Meanwhile, we are enjoying the boat as we can. Steve

I was able to get out to the barn yesterday to check in on the Gar Wood project (see other post) and install some fender hangers and put catches on the doors to the forward storage compartment (under the foredeck). We are continuing to work out what few bugs we have while using the boat. Wally is planning to take the boat to Mound Island in the delta on Saturday. Should be a nice trip. I'll send pictures of the fender hangers as soon as I get some. Steve

Wally, I wasn't aware you started to post, but glad to see it. Guys, I was over at the barn yesterday to put a couple of those finishing touches on the Rescue Minor (fender hangers and catches on access doors) and saw the Gar Wood in its disassembled form. Wally and I poked around a fair bit and we could not find any rot on her. She is amazingly sound considering she is only 2 years younger than me. This should be a very interesting project. Steve

Not to worry. We've all done it at one time or another. Steve

Now sailing that boat would be interesting! Steve