Tom Lathrop

Dave's post said everything that needs to be said about the Spindrift as a tender. I cannot fathom how one could find a long shallow keel to be a better choice for a small boat than a daggerboard. I have never had a long shallow keel but have sailed them and seen many others and never want to get any closer to one. Even though the DB does have its disadvantages, the advantages for a small sailboat/tender far outweigh them.

Boat building is a bit like the Frankenstein gambit. You start with seemingly dead material that when finished sometimes comes to life. Part of my life is as a woodworker designing and making all kinds of things like a house, furniture, toys and other smaller bits as well as boats. Only the boats seem to come to life though and are more addictive to the surprised and unsuspecting worker. No boat of the size of the Ocracoke 20 is a trivial building project and the OK20 is more so than many of B&B's other offerings. Still, as others infer, all boats, even bigger ones are just the accumulation of many smaller tasks that can be taken one at a time. The main qualification needed to build a boat or any other complex project is not skill, although a modest amount of that is needed as well. The main things needed are patience and commitment which sounds a lot like the requirements for a successful marriage. If you can look at a plan and are willing to study it until comprehension of what the designer intended comes to light, anyone can build a boat. That much of the most complex parts of the process is already completed makes the one available even more attractive to a beginner. The OK20 is a very nice vessel that will be an outstanding performer as well as the one everyone looks at in a crowd of boats. There are very few plans of such small boats available and none with the pedigree of the Ocracoke 20 that is designed by one who has actually designed several full sized Carolina Offshore Fishermen and knows what makes them successful.

OK Chick, I need another project like another hole in the head but I already have the first two Birders here and they may like company. Went paddling yesterday with my new dog Skipper and did not turn over but he made for a few interesting moments. email me your phone number. tom@bluejacketboats.com

Hey Chick, Sign me up for the 14 footer. Should work for a couple of Birder kayaks.

What kind of wire is best depends on the particular job. Small boats can get by with small plastic cable ties or even tape sometimes. Since I wired my own house, I saved all the 14 and 12 gage scraps and they work well when stripped. Soft iron bailing wire for larger jobs and blocks and screws for really difficult work on thick plywood. Occasionally, support blocks and clamps are necessary. The batten running along a couple inches below the top is for strain relief to avoid rupturing the plywood which is a real danger when torturing plywood this much.

And I thought I invented that method that Wes, Charlie and Chick use. I've done all of that for many years and see no reason to change. One other thing I do is to line the bottom of a daggerboard trunk with felt of sufficient thickeness to grip and hold the board in place while allowing it to be adjusted. That was brought home last Saturday when I was on the RC boat for a Sunfish race in 20 to 25 kts. All of them capsized and one had so much trouble that he had to retire. His daggerboard kept falling back in the trunk when he tried to get to it with the boat inverted. Many use a shock cord attached to the mast to hold the DB but the felt is better and is always there.

A partially raised rudder can produce more pull on the tiller than anything else. Its not really weather helm but it sure feels like it and it often is mistaken for weather helm. While you have to ease the main in a gust, the mizzen being sheeted in too tight is also a weather helm culprit. For certain the CS boats can be adjusted to produce the helm feel you want.

Ray, Can't tell if that is the good news or the bad news for you. Anyway, we are glad that you have a new venture to go to. Keep in touch. Are you now going into the landlord business?

I (much too often) tend to lose anything in my shop that is not bigger than a breadbox and can do that if given the opportunity often enough. On the other hand, the only time I ever lost the big Unisaw was when it was hidden under greater than the unusual amount of stuff

Methinks your leg has been pulled.

I do what Tarbaby does. Nothing to find in a hurry.

After trying most of solutions that people use to hold a daggerboard in place on a racing sailboat, I finally worked out something infinitely better. I glued strips of felt along the inside bottom of the DB trunk. Thickness is adjusted to allow movement and hold the DB wherever it is positioned. A giant plus is that the DB can be adjusted on any point of sail, even loaded to windward. No moving parts, its always there ready to work. Most fiberglass boats have wider slots that might need a thicker material like carpet to achieve the same result. Incidentally, no surface coating has ever been proven to reduce skin friction.

Perhaps a look at what Interprotect is might clarify this issue a bit. Basically Interprotect is epoxy with a metallic flake additive. What the metallic micro flakes do is to make the path for moisture through the coating much-much longer so it take far longer for moisture to get through a given thickness of coating. Since the metal flakes are essentially impervious to moisture penetration, it stands to reason that this makes it better than plain epoxy as a barrier coat. I mostly use plain epoxy because few of my boats live in the water full time. I have used a flake added barrier coat and found it not only a superior moisture barrier but a mechanically superior abrasion coating. In that sense, I don't consider it to be only a primer but a final coat unless UV protection is needed. Whether Interprotect is worth the cost is probably an issue for the individual and their intended use of their boat to decide. In critical situations, I would use it.

Thought of that and it may be possible. There is always a dinner in the evening though. I'm wondering how long most people at the messabout plan to stay.

Chick, I find that I committed to go to the Cape Fear Woodenboat Show that has been moved for the furnace of July to April 20th. Good friend Mark Bayne is the new instructor at the boatbuilding school there and I promised to help promote the show. Real sorry to miss the messabout.

I would like to come. I am thinking about bringing both the Pilothouse cruiser LIZ and Lapwing which I would tow from Beaufort. There are at least 3 public launch ramps in Beaufort and at least one on Harkers that charges a small fee. Farthest away and with most current to contend with is a new one at the Beaufort end of the ICW bridge. Another fairly new and good ramp is in Town Creek that will require passing through a draw bridge. There is a older but decent ramp in Taylors Creek just east of town. The closest ramp(s) to Cape Lookout are on Harkers Island. There are two fairly tight channels for deeper draft if you go east toward Harkers from Taylors Creek that are not likely a problem, especially at high tide. Going to Shackelford Bank from Beaufort is easier, depending on the tidal current. Current can be a issue for a sailboat everywhere but its part f the game.. I don't get out there nearly as much as in the past so things may have changed. Oyster (Mike Fonville) is our guru of the area.

Many have poured bigger epoxy holes than that with no problems and I don't think you will have any. Just use slow hardener and make the pour before the larger bit exotherms in the cup . I use holes as large as 1 1/4" by 2 1/4" deep for outboard mounting on transoms in the summertime.

Ok, maybe I am flogging a dead horse here. A properly installed and maintained Andersen bailer will not leak. I put one in BRS LOON in 1984. Since then the boat has sailed and cruised extensively with no problems that I am aware of. Three weeks on the eastern coast of Baja being the longest camping cruise while carrying all the gear and stores needed for two people. You can read about it on the B&B website. I have left boats on mooring many times with Andersen bailers. Southern Skimmer and Lapwing spent three days sailing and anchored in the water at the 2009 Small Reach Regatta in Maine with no issues. I don't think either Graham or me would build a small sailboat without one. One on or near the centerline at the lowest point is all I ever use.

That's right. The Andersen bailer is great but not perfect and it will surely leak past the flap if left open when the boat is not moving so it should always be closed before launching. A transom drain plug is a good idea even if you have a bailer but it will not work to let water out while sailing. The purpose of the drain plug is to drain the boat in storage or cleaning when it should be stored bow up to allow any water to exit the transom. Graham's boats (when practical) are designed to hold the transom clear of the water while sailing and the plug is of no use then since the transom should not be the lowest point of the boat. It is of even less value in sailing a lot of water out after a capsize.

Phil is right and after seeing other attempts of bailer design over the years since Paul first designed his, I also agree that there is no better one. They work well and with reasonable care will do so for a very long time. Main things are to keep dirt out of the seal and never, never ever push the boat off the trailer with the bailer in the down position.

I think you are reading too much from the data. While Marissa and Ocracoke 20 have displacements listed for the DWL, that does to mean that displacement is limited to that figure. The DWL is likely Graham's intent as the design number for his calculations. For instance, I was aboard the Ocracoke 20 with Eric and three other adults when it was making 42 mph as shown on the website. The boat handled well at rest and in maneuvers at speed and the weight was no problem even though it was above the "design" number. I would expect Marissa to act as well but I think 6 adults is more than it should be expected to carry and still meet the design goals. The boat would still be safe if handled properly though. Good judgement and seamanship should always be the final determinant of what a boat should do.

If I remember what the finger bits do, they keep the joint in alignment so there is no possibility of the parts moving during the pressure stage. That is the magic of the added finger to the step scarf. It makes it possible to stack several joints together at one time. I don't like wax paper for this job as it has stuck to the joint due to heat of curing epoxy and made a mess. Get a roll of 6mil plastic from the building supply that will last for your lifetime and is useful for many kinds of jobs.

Great video John. This year the guy with the heavy complicated outrigger was the attention getter for launching effort. My hat is off to anyone who completes the EC in any boat and have a special spot for those who brave it in little open prams. Were you there this year?

A little miss in interpretation. Allan and Paul lost their mainmast in Florida Bay this year, but won anyay. Graham was able to repair his sprit after it broke. Both CS boats have bowsprits. We will never know which boat might have won this race if the CS17 had elected to continue. The CS17 might well have finished in the same position (although sooner) if they had not elected to wait for daylight.

No offense taken. Graham actually did the a similar thing in his first EC Challenge for the same reason. They not only busted a mast, they busted the mainmast at night in Florida Bay and finished the race under mizzen alone. They would have easily broken the two day goal otherwise. One of the features of the cat ketches that is not well appreciated. Under many normal conditions, the B&B cat ketches can tack and even make windward distance under mizzen alone. Something I discovered long ago in LOON, one of the first BRSs built as a sailboat.