Melissa Goudeseune

Wow, I had no idea the mast design was that involved! What you've provided is enough detail for my current experiments. I'm planning to do a test layup of fiberglass and carbon fiber, 9' long, 2" diameter, vacuum-bagged. If it works out well, then that will become the new boom for my Tanzer. I will also be confident enough to use the same technique for my Spindrift next year. Michel

Can anyone provide me with the mast and boom dimensions for a Spindrift 10? I'm planning on building one as my next boat, but I'd like to try a few spar experiments before I order the plans. Thanks! Michel

On my larger boat (Tanzer 22), I have two different types of locker inserts. In the cabin, I use plastic interlocking floor tiles from Home Depot. They're similar to what you'd find at a marine store for using in the cockpit, but at a fraction of the price. These are 1' x 1', about 1/4" thick, and allow air circulation around whatever you put on them. Also easily cut to size with snips to match your locker shape. In the cockpit locker which fills the space under the cockpit (full width on my boat), I use rubber mats. These are designed for kids' play rooms. They're 2' x 2' square, about 1/2" thick, with interlocking edges. They protect the hull from things dropping down (like the anchor I keep in that locker) and dampen the sound of water splashing against the outside of the hull, as well. A four-pack of these mats was cdn$20 at, you guessed it, Home Depot. Both items are easily removable if required, and neither will wick up water. Hope this helps, Michel

I'm partway through building a Mini-Paw in my basement. In the past, I've found when painting or epoxying in the basement, the whole house tends to smell of the chemicals. I had my Dad build a fume hood of sorts, which is described on this webpage: http://sailing.guild.org/tanzer22/dinghy/minipaw.html The 50 cfm bathroom fan is more than sufficient to keep the smell from migrating into the house while the epoxy cures. Let me know if you have any questions about the design and construction of the tent, I'll be happy to clarify! Michel

Just to add to Oyster's comments about mixing quantity: I've found it's much easier to mix two batches of 2 ounces, than to mix one batch of 4 ounces, especially if you're thickening the epoxy. It doubles your working time, too -- the second batch is fresh, while the first is already starting to thicken. So you get more time to get things right. One other epoxy tip: keep a notepad on the workbench. EVERY time you mix up a batch of epoxy, write down the time, volume, and ratio of thickeners. Otherwise, you will not remember exactly when you mixed the current batch, and how much working time you have left. My log entries look something like this: April 17 -- center frame 17:03 1 floz thin 17:10 1 floz, 4:2:1 epoxy/flour/cabosil etc [thin: straight epoxy; 4:2:1: 1 floz epoxy, 0.5 floz wood flour, 0.25 floz cabosil] Hope this helps, Michel

I can't think of a reason not to. For the mini-paw, I'm planning to laminate 2" pink foam to 1/4" ply (for the forward seat) or 1/4" balsa (for the aft seat) and fiberglass / vacuum bag the whole shebang. That way, I get flotation and strong seats in one diffiicult step . The foam I have has a 30 psi rating, so the fiberglass will help to reduce the number of dings in it from feet and oars. One other foam comment: I tried hot-cutting 2" foam by using a loop of 14-gauge copper wire in a 120-watt electric soldering gun. It takes more skill than I expected. The wire gets flexible when it heats up, and it's rather difficult to draw the wire through the foam in a straight line. I ended up using a knife for the trickier cuts (this was for hull stiffeners on a fiberglass kayak I fixed up recently). Michel

Matt, this is the exact thinking I've been using with my mini-paw. I've omitted (or removed) screws wherever possible, in favour of an epoxy joint. For example: I used #10-24 through-bolts to hold the keel in place while the epoxy cured. Once it was cured, I heated the bolts to remove them, and filled the holes with epoxy and thin scraps of wood. Michel

The Meranti ply I used for the mini-paw is 1/4", 5-ply. All layers are almost equal thickness, and the wood behaves very predictably. BTW, I purchased mine from Noah's in Toronto (www.noahsmarine.com). They do mail order as well, not sure about shipping charges for full sheets of plywood. Michel

Hi Joe, I recently did the same work on my mini-paw. What I found was that I needed to cut a "dart" (that's a sewing term) in a couple of places, to get the glass cloth to lay flat. This was done while the epoxy was still wet, so I could immediately see the improvement. I had the same issues with cloth that cured with a bubble, but they were 1/2" diameter max, so I just filled them with epoxy filled with milled glass fibers. For larger areas, I would be tempted to put a small patch over that area. As for the cause of the problem -- I think it's related to the curve in the joint, and the fact that the glass tape runs over the corner, so it doesn't want to follow the curve. What I did to minimize this problem was what I'd call "poor man's vacuum bagging". Once the glass tape was wetted out, I covered that with a strip of nylon peel ply, covered that with several layers of newsprint to soak up the excess epoxy, then taped the whole thing down with clear packing tape. The tape was applied at right angles to the fiberglass, from the bottom of the boat to the side. This applied pressure on the corner, without having to "bag" the entire hull. I'll post pics on my website soon. Michel

The wing dinghy looks nice. I actually bought the plans some 16 (!) years ago, but ended up buying a fiberglass sailboat just before starting construction 10 years later :oops:. It's a plywood construction with wood stringers in the corners. If I were building it today, I'd probably try to modify the design to stitch+glue where possible -- I think that's an easier way to build the boat, and probably lighter. One lesson I learned with my first boat (a Bombardier Invitation, 16' long, 200 lbs): just because it's car-toppable, doesn't mean you *should* car-top it. I used the Invitation much more often after I bought a trailer for it. Michel

I'm with you Charlie -- I don't see the point either. I've used peel ply (actually, the cheap alternative: taffeta nylon from Fabricland) for vacuum bagging my oars, and for the outside edge tapes on the mini-paw. Its huge benefit is that epoxy doesn't stick to it at all. In both cases above, I used a thick layer above the peel ply to absorb the excess epoxy. In one case, breather fabric (or felt from, you guessed it, Fabricland), and for the edge tapes, I used newsprint. The entire point of the peel ply is to allow excess epoxy to bleed through. For epoxying a surface, I would simply not put so much epoxy on if that was an issue. For glassing, it's more difficult to get just the right amount of epoxy to wet out the surface AND the glass, and push down the glass so it doesn't float in a thick layer of epoxy. Michel

My tip: don't use sandpaper. I'm most of the way through working the fillets on my mini-paw. The single most useful tool for this has been a carbide scraper. Here's the scaper I'm using: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?SID=&ccurrency=2&page=20095 The huge benefit here is that the scraper produces shavings instead of dust, and it doesn't load up like sandpaper. Also, you can easily see what you're doing, so there's less chance of accidentally going too deep. I would say that this tool has saved me many hours already on this dinghy. Michel

Charlie, my plans only mention the fire-hose bit. The page "Assembly Details & Gunwales" shows a last-updated date of 11-29-2002. I don't know exactly when you bought your plans. The cove and rope idea was just me dreaming -- it's not in the plans. What I was thinking of was to extend the gunwales around the bow and stern, rout in the cove, and then make a huge 3-strand grommet which would get snapped around the perimeter of the boat. But, it sounds like the rope won't protect well enough, and there's enough curve in the top of the stern transom that it would be difficult for the rope to stay put. So, I'm probably going with the fire-hose route. The idea is that it's fabric fused to rubber. So you cut it open lengthwise, then slip it over the gunwale, leaving an air pocket between the hose and the gunwale. It will have some give. Let me know if this doesn't make sense. Michel

Ok, next set of questions: the dinghy is right-side up again, and the next step is to install the gunwales. 1. bending + position I tried clamping the 1x2's at the transom and bending them into shape, and I'm hitting the same problem as with the keel -- excessive force required. So, I'll probably rip them and do a 2-ply laminate. The bigger question is the vertical position. When pulled together at the bow, they don't follow the top edge of the sides, and sit a bit low at the bow (like 2 inches). Any hints on how to get this to line up? 2. fendering The mini-paw will be used as a tender for my Tanzer 22 sailboat. So, I'm concerned about protecting the gelcoat on the mother ship. This would point towards using the fire-hose-and-foam gunwale cover as suggested in the plans. On the other hand, I really like the look of a rope that runs all the way around the dinghy, set into a small groove in the gunwale. But -- will this provide sufficient protection when the dinghy moves around? I really don't want to bother with tiny dinghy-sized fenders :roll: . Thoughts? Michel

Ah, so that's how you hollow out the oar blade -- using a spoke shave. I can't bring myself to use the belt sander to shape the oar blades after my experience with the jigsaw on the looms. Michel

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=44502&category=1,130,43332&ccurrency=1&SID= Michel

Very interesting discovery this weekend. I carved the looms for my oars. They start off square (done with the bandsaw), then cut the corners at 45 degrees to 8-side them, then 16-side, then round. The first oar, I did the 45-degree cuts with a jigsaw. Produced a tremendous amount of sawdust, and wasn't all that accurate :x. The second oar, I did those cuts with this drawknife: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=44502 It went faster, easier, less mess (shavings, not dust!), and it was more accurate to boot. I think I've found my new favourite tool . I shaped the first oar blade using the knife as well, with similar great results. Michel

Be careful that you don't buy a motor mount that's too big. I have the Fulton 4-stroke mount on my Tanzer 22. Check out my webpage for some comparative pics of the 2-stroke and 4-stroke brackets: http://sailing.guild.org/tanzer22/projects/motor_bracket.html Now, my new motor is an 8hp Honda extra-long-shaft which weighs about 105 lbs. It just about balances the return springs on the heavy bracket. With any lighter motor, I would have to shove down just to get the motor into the water. It's good to remember that sometimes, overengineering is a bad thing . Michel

Hi Graham, The plywood is 6mm. For the stringers, I was thinking of them more as wear protection than as structural members. I think Charlie did the same on his dinghy -- one on either side of the keel to take the bumps on land. Also, I'm diverging from the clamping suggested in the plans. Rather than use wood screws into the keel, I'm using #10 through-bolts to hold things while the epoxy cures, then removing the bolts and filling the holes with thickened epoxy. I'm trying to minimize the number of screws in the boat. Michel

Hi Brent, I'm planning to follow the plan dimensions for the keel + deadwood (ie, 2" thick at the stern). Just looking for a less-stressful way to install it. I've already got the V grooved into the keel and deadwood (plus an innovative way to do that, which I'll describe on my website). Regarding length of keel: it will follow through to where the centre chine meets the bow transom, which should cover any beach landings. I'll also be adding a 3/4" x 1/8" aluminum wear strip to the bottom of the keel (but not the runners). I'll want to test-fit the gunwales first, before I decide on whether to use the ply approach for those as well. Michel

I was about to test-fit the keel and runners tonight, and was lamenting the large bending force that the keel is subjected to at the forwards part of the hull. This got me to thinking -- is there any reason to not make the keel out of a double thickness of wood epoxied together? Each piece would be able to bend more easily to match the hull curve, and when epoxied would have the same strength as the one-piece keel. This would also reduce the stress on the hull from the keel. Now, about the 1.5 part. At the stern, the hull is fairly flat. So what I'm thinking of is ripping the keel on my bandsaw (1mm kerf) from the bow to about 24" from the stern, where it will remain one piece. This will also make installation easier, as the keel will still be connected there. It will resemble a really long 2-tine comb. Thoughts? Michel

Greg, I've had good success with a ratio of 4 fl oz epoxy : 3 fl oz wood flour : 1.5 fl oz cabosil. I use plastic shot glasses from a party store to measure things out. It spread out fairly nicely for my inside fillets. With a lower amount of cabosil, the mixture tended to drag along with the spreader. Can't tell you how it sands yet -- I'll find out once I flip the boat again . Michel

Hi Charlie, I'm building the Jim Michalak-designed oars. Each oar is cut out from one piece of 1x6 stock. Here's a link: http://marina.fortunecity.com/breakwater/274/2001/0215/ The neat thing is that there's almost NO waste with this design. When cutting out the centre section, the angle matches the two side pieces exactly for them to line up when flipped around. Look at the diagram and you'll see what I mean. The only waste was the 1/16" saw kerf on my bandsaw . Once I've rounded the looms and shaped the blades, they'll get a couple of coats of varnish, then a captive oarlock held in place with a turk's head knot. His plan shows the oars as 7' long. I'm building mine 6' long to match the smaller dinghy. Also, as I'm using pine, I'll be glassing and vacuum-bagging the oar blades for ding protection. The wood is fairly easy to dent. Michel

Hi Graham, thanks for your kind words about my work and website. Hopefully I can steer some more business your way through interest generated by my construction pics! The boat is made of 1/4" (6mm) meranti ply. I opted for the 19ga wire as (1) it's what I already had a 50-yard spool of, and (2) it only required 1/16" holes in the boat. For the remaining overhang at the front, I used an electric planer to bring the bottom panel flush with the sides + transom, once the boat was inverted again. All the outside corners are now flush, and only need to be radiused before applying the outside glass tape. I'll be sure to update the site regularly. The building process should go quickly, too. I still have to finish the oars, and build a new rudder for my Tanzer 22. The winter will pass quickly if I keep this busy. Michel

Hi Roger, Some people have reported difficulties reaching my website. What you can try is using an anonymous proxy such as www.anonymizer.com. That's worked well for others. Let me know if you still have problems reaching the site! Michel