Tom Lathrop

Jan, That is what I suspected. They are surely converting the 12VDC to AC and back to whatever level of DC is needed. All in one box makes it attractive. I have even designed equipment that does this back when the world was young.

Don't know how the spelling got screwed up.

One of you west coast guys should jump on this one unless the price gets out of line. The materials and workmanship look first class although I have some issues with the construction. Not related to strength but on all those transverse floors and ply gussets. I'm a very strong believer in ventilation and free flow of water through the bilge. I see what looks like lots of places for water to collect and maybe cause problems. I think these issues are most likely correctable. Not to be so critical of someone elses work but that is the way I see it from the photos. The wide beam should not be an overriding issue since permits are not very expensive.

No matter how I might go about this, it will be in baby steps because of my amazing skill at screwing up computer stuff. Yeah, I have a master's degree in engineering but my brain works in analog and computers are universally unimpressed with the diploma.

I have a similar request to Oyster about laptops. We use the computer quite a lot in our house and often find one or the other waiting to get to it. That is not such a big deal since there are other things that need doing. I would like a unit that would also serve as a TV and DVD player on trips/cruises in either the boat or camper as well as a second computer at home. I understand that such laptops are available but don't much more about them. On a recent trip to New England to pick up a partially built airplane, my friend had a laptop that he had added a Delorme GPS navigation package to. The antenna and software was less than $100 and it was very impressive with the moving chart on the big screen. This computer is slowing down with only 512mb RAM so I am going to add more.

Charlie, About 19 years ago, Graham gave a talk to our local sailing club about a racing tri they were building for the World 1000 race alongshore from Ft Lauderdale to Virginia Beach. I was recently retired and building our house but thought boatbuilding would be more interesting. The beginning of a long and fruitful association. The first job Graham gave me was to scarf 40' of 3mm plywood for a wing mast. After that initiation, no plywood scarfing job since has presented me with as much problems as dealing with that floppy noodle of wood. Because of limited space it was necessary to roll the completed sections when doing the next joints. I do think the Gougeon jig and the John Henry jig make some sense although I have never used either and doubt they would be suitable for 3mm ply. I use a combination of power plane, belt sander and hand plane to make scarfs. I stack at least 4 sheets and do them together in one go. Other jigs that I have seen or heard about seem to be making a fundamentally simple job more involved than it needs to be.

Thanks Garry, Beautiful photos and beautiful boats.

Isn't the movement of the rudder in the box, and the pivot bolt, going to eventually wear through that epoxy and allow water to seep in? Also, you didn't mention using cloth... so wouldn't the epoxy check? When it checks does it allow water to seep in? . The real cure for this is to always make an epoxy bushing for through holes that will be in the water. Drill oversize by as much as 1/4" all around and fill with thickened epoxy. Drill the through hole after the epoxy sets. Forget about it. I use Jim's method of a copper or stainless tube on rudder control lines where there will be a lot of friction and wear.

Ok Jeff, My prejudices are showing. I don't care for flat bottom boats except in a few special circumstances. External chines just look like you could not do it the right way. The pointy stern on such a small boat robs too much volume from such a small boat. Wanders too much when rowing unless a keel is added. I just really meant to point out that I think the Spindrift is a much better boat to put effort into especially for one who has experienced a good boat. Build one and let the kids have fun with it if you like.

Jeff, You built a Core Sound and now you are thinking about building a Teal? :roll: I think that is borderline blasphemy. Graham and I built a Teal in a Sikaflex Challenge contest some years ago. Neither of us could tolerate it and finally gave it away for a charity auction. There are a lot better boats out there. Make that much, much better. Try a Spindrift 10. A bit more work but worth every hour.

Many knock the plastic pumps, but I check them regularly and use new ones is the give trouble. Measuring in cups is fine for larger batches but I find that I'm using mixes far too small for cups in the 5:1 ratios very often. Large syringes are good for really small batches. I use the 2:1 ratio epoxies.

PAR said just about all of it. Yes, a double ender can plane but, given an identical waterline length, they won't plane nearly as well. Calkin Bartenders can plane but need horizontal wings under the stern to fool the water into thinking it's a transom ended boat. The ones without these wings squat a lot when trying to plane. Most of the Pangas I see in Mexico also sport these planing wings. I supect the reason for most of the love of double enders is just that some people like them for appearance. Some like them because they have read that they "part following waves" although very few ever go into such conditions. Personally, I like the look of a well designed transom better. Except for the wave parting thing, which may or may not hold water :roll:, almost everything else is in favor of the transom stern. It is easier to build strength into a double ender as there is much less exposure to racking forces. Notice how many double enders there are in the round the world races.

Very nice Joe. I passed by your way yesterday in a rental truck bringing a partially completed Pietenpol experimental aircraft south from Rode Island to NC. Being topographically challenged also, I shivered looking at your pate sticking out of your jacket collar:P

Q cells are fine for fairing and filets that are not heavily stressed. I would not consider Q cells suitable for glue. Wood flour, sanding dust or even sawdust are all better, along with cab-o-sil as a thickening agent of course. A good mix is equal amounts of cab-o-sil and wood flour by volume for glue or just cab o sil alone.

Frog, There are many miles of undeveloped beaches to be found there but not many between Murrells Inlet and the NC line. Close by Murrels, there is Hunington Beach SP with lots of camping and pristine beach. In NC there is the National Seashore with many totally preserved islands like the ones Oyster showed. Further north around Okracoke and Hatteras, there is more development but still many miles of beach where you will likely not see another soul. By the time you get to Nag's Head, complete privacy gets harder to find since this is the playgound of Virginians sneaking across the border. Fifty some years ago, I tried to take a 12 foot Aristocraft runabout out through the inlet at Murells. Big mistake. What looked like a little white water from a mile away turned out to be a never ending series of breaking waves over the bar that tried to drown me. I kept my backside in front of the exposed carburetor to keep water out of the Wizard 10 while contemplating my likely fate. Finally got brave or desperate enough to slam the boat around between waves and slinked back in, thoroughly beaten but much wiser.

Michael is correct in everything he said but I think there was a misunderstanding. Certainly any disturbance to the smooth fair shape of a laminar foil or hull will have an effect on its resistance, usually bad. I thought the issue here was what the foil surface was made of, not its shape or roughness. That being the case, how would the water know whether the surface was metal, fiberglass, painted wood or Plasti-dip? If the final shape was unchanged and mechanical characteristics were the same (meaning the surface would not deform to hydro forces), the performance should remain unchanged.

Every explanation of hydronamic flow that I have ever read says the the fluid flow rate at the surface is zero. Therefore the resistance of a rigid shape in fluid flow is based on the shape and fairness of the surface and not what the surface is made of. That is why the racing rules have no restriction on what is painted on a surface. All sorts of stuff has been tried from soap to artificial fish slime to wax with no measurable difference. Monkeying with the mechanical face of the surface with things like Dennis Conner's riblets have some limited effect in limited conditions but most come back to a fair surface as smooth as you can make it as the best. Things like trip wires, edge slats, turbulators and other laminar enhancement devices are another matter.

Tim, this can work if you are careful and know what the pitfalls are. S&G boats are still pretty limber until most of the interior is installed. Unless the boat is in alignment for each major interior addition, you can build in a permanent twist. Several of the students in Graham's class have come to a degree of grief over this, including me many years ago. A cradle like the one Charlie shows gives you a steady reference base to work from. It still needs to be checked for level if it is to be moved around on an uneven surface though.

Charlie, Both of our Birder's came in at 34 1/2 pounds finished. I put in a large plastic port in the forward bulkhead that weighed 1 1/2 pounds and I used 4mm ocume and no outer glass sheath. What ply did yoou use? I also build two of Graham's knock apart seats and they work fine. Not included in the weight since they can be carried independly.

I am not a ditto head but I do echo what Greg said. Thanks Frank.

Some excuse that is. Since I know that Graham will, at most, take only a sip of wine. :roll: