Steve Day

Those are radio controlled. The boats we are talking about are large enough for a person to get in and sail. How long was the boat, Ray? Steve

Stump, I was in the after section when I split it apart. As long as I stayed toward the aft part of that section, things were OK. Didn't try getting in the forward section, but it might not have the bouyancy the aft section does. :shock: I got a couple of good comments when I split it. Folks were a little surprised to see two halves. I do some things for the reaction too (Heh, Heh). Steve

Larry, Glad to see you have the guts to 'fess up to the adventure. Even events like yours can help build your confidence in yourself and the boat. All of us who have been sailing for a while have similar stories to tell. It is part of the seasoning process. I would bet that you will be telling that story for years to come. Congratulations on coming out of your personal "christening" with no damage to anything but your pride (and the cell phone). Steve

Ray, What a cool idea! Did you happen to get any pictures? If you do something like that, I would like to try it also. Do you know if anyone has plans out there? Steve

Bob, I believe that is the shortest post I have seen from you, but the picture is worth more than "a thousand words" as the quote goes. Those boys in that day were quite inventive and did some amazing things with not much machinery. Thanks for posting the photo. Steve

Hi Gang, The weather was cooperating, so we went out to one of the local lakes to sail yesterday. The wind was blowing about 15 to 20 knots with a gust or two up to 25. The little boat went quite well, but it was weighed down with 230 pounds of me and another 130 pounds of my wife. The lake was full of stinkpotters running around making wakes, so it was pretty rough out there in the middle where all of the wakes came together. :evil: The boat handled the rough water very well. On top of that, we get a lot of compliments on the boat and how she looks. When we took the boat apart, I tried to do it in the water. The two halves come apart very easily. In fact, it is a lot easier than taking it apart on land. The only down side is that water came in through the bolt holes in the after section until I moved further aft. I am going to try to assemble the halves while in the water the next time we go out. Here are a couple of shots of the boat on the lake. Steve [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

Scott, That was great! The folks at work here were wondering why I was laughing so hard. We all got a chuckle out of your attempt. Thanks for lightening up the day. When I buy tools, I just do it. My wife is quite tolerant of my tool purchases because I am quite tolerant of her purchases. We are fortunate enough to have a working agreement after 32 years of marriage. Steve

Scott, You have done very well. Nice looking boat there and the cradle on castors looks great, too. There is a lot of instant gratification when the boat goes 3D, but the successes to come will be gratifying, too. Other people just won't be as impressed, but we're not doing this to impress other people, are we? :twisted: :twisted: Steve

At least you didn't have to worry about running out of daylight like we do around here. In this case, it appeared to be quite convenient to have light all the way around the clock. Great story and pictures! Thanks for the opportunity to see them. Steve

Ray, My wife just completed a cruise on the Maasdam up in your neck of the woods. They stopped at both Portland and Ba Habah. Never did see much of the coast because of that pea soup fog. She made the comment that the only time they saw anything but fog was when they were dockside or at anchor in the ports. She made the comment that she would have liked to have seen some of the coastline. Maybe next time. We, so far, have only had two days where it approached 100. Been an unusually cool summer so far, but there is another month or so of opportunity for really HOT weather. Steve

Frank, I already subscribe to SAIL. It is a great magazine and I would encourage others to consider subscribing. Tool King looks like a great source. I think that it would be no problem to add them to the pages. Steve

Garry, I just rounded the edges of the joint and panted. Actually, it looks pretty good. Several of the pictures show the line. I find that when people walk up to the boat, they don't even see the line. They are totally amazed when I separate the sections to load it on the pickup. I can't imagine that the drag loss would be enough to warrant the extra headache of making the joint fair (on my boat). You will have a pretty cool looking boat, but watch those sharp edges when you are handling the halves. I would imagine that you could put dings into the edges quite easily. BTW, I have not been on the big boat since Memorial Day, but she is working and has been on several charters since then. Ended up with an unexpected haul due to having to get a survey for my new insurance carrier. Bottom had no bottom paint on it and ended up having to apply new bottom paint, too. Expensive and unexpected. :shock: :shock: I have been sailing on a few of the local lakes here in Nebraska. A lot of fun when I get out with other sailboats. Sailed with a 'C' scow a couple of weeks ago. We even got to sail each other's boat - what a hoot! Going to sail with a friend of mine who has a Butterfly. Pretty cool boat, not much longer than the dinghy. Got the seat in the stern sheets almost done. Will try to get pics this weekend. :wink: Steve

Rob, Great pictures of what appear to be great kids. Glad to see you take them out. They will remember this the rest of their lives. "Chocolate Locker?" Is that just a locker to store chocolate for the kids. (Does the word 'bribe' come to mind here?) Steve

What a great testimonial to both Ray and Graham! It is easy to see that you are a satisfied owner. If I was 'on the fence' about whether to build either the 17 or the 20, this would convince me to do the 20. Glad to hear that you and the boat are getting along so well. Steve

Works for me. I think that will do just fine for quite a while. Steve

Well, I guess I'll have to weigh in too. Like Barry, the first boat I built myself was a "Sailing Surfboard." While mine didn't stay in the family very long, it started me on a long sailing career. I built another boat almost 30 years ago and had a long hiatus until this past year when I decided to built the Spindrift I recently completed. Now that I have the time, I do not intend to stop building boats. Haven't figured out what the next project is, but it won't be long until I start it. It is really cool when people here in Nebraska look at me like I have two heads when I say that I built the Spindrift myself. I then grow another head in their eyes when I tell them it is not made from a kit. :twisted: Steve

Oyster, I thought you were the old hand and you have helped me quite a few times. I thank you for that. In return, here are a few pictures of my Spindrift rudder in various stages of development during construction. Along with Graham's shot, these should help on how his general design works. I hope these help. Steve [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

The Seagull that I had on the 18' Hartley was the 5 hp with the clutched drive. You had two positions, neutral and forward. That, at least gives you the opportunity to get the motor warmed up before getting under way. Also you could shift into and out of gear in the marina. I always had a problem with having to re-start the motor if you undershot the dock and needed more power. (Oars make sense in that context.) I used the thing for quite a while and found it to be very simple and reliable. It was easy to mix the oil, too. 1 beer can of oil to a gallon of gas. Wow, that's a lot! The traveling oil sheen was not the proper thing to have, but it came with the territory. If I had had more money at the time, I would have purchased something a lot better and more "green," but that was all I could get at the time. The two cycle motors available in 1976 weren't a whole lot better than the Seagull when you look back from today. Thanks for facilitating that trip down memory lane. Steve

Bob, Is that a Seagull you have on "Peanut?" Steve

Bob, What a great looking boat! It's really good to see the Hartley resurrected and made into such a nice looking craft. You really made her look good. I'm sure she will be a part of that family for while. Thanks for taking us through the process. It was fascinating. Makes me wish I still had my 18' Hartley. Steve

Responsible use of a jet ski and/or dirt bike is also part of Stump's equation. Nothing makes me madder than some idiot on a jet ski (or any other power boat) imposing himself on people that are disturbed by his/her presence. People who use these machines responsibly don't really bother me. As long as you use it well, a jet ski can be a lot of fun. However, I believe that a person should be of sufficient age to be able to both physically and mentally control the craft responsibly. Your dad can help decide if you are old enough to do that. Steve

Wow. She looks really nice! We want to see pictures of her under sail. Steve

Frank, Another alternate might be Nautica, Ltd in Point Clear, AL. (My boat is in the bareboat fleet there.) John and Bev run a class act and taylor the courses to your needs. It's a bit of a drive from Orlando and probably would not be practical, but I had to throw their name in the mix. Their web site is http://www.nauticaltd.com/ Steve

Charlie, Good looking boat! You look right at home there in that cockpit. We see dolphin almost every day we sail down there. People up here are amazed at that. Can't say we get used to it, as it is always a thrill. Last year, I was sliding into the water in Ingram's Bayou to look at the prop shaft and a mom and newborn babe surfaced no more than three feet from me. I could have reached out and touched them, if I had wanted to. That was really cool! Maybe we'll be there the next time you get out in those parts. We want to move down that way pretty soon. Maybe before the winter hits up here. Steve

Bob, Very nice work dressing that Hartley up. It looks like a different boat from the one you brought into the yard a few weeks ago. Thanks for showing us how it should be done. Steve