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Frank Hagan

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Posts posted by Frank Hagan

  1. Hmmm ... let me check and see if there's a setting somewhere I'm not aware of (it works for me, but I have Admin access to everything).

    (a bit later)

    I can't find a setting anywhere that would limit it; I'll enter a support ticket and see if there's something I'm missing.

  2. I used allot of luan from HD. Big mistake. I had to replace most of it this spring with a better grade. The epoxy seams to soak into the ply but it really only soaks in to the very outermost bit of the wood. So when you epoxy luan the onion skin on the outside get tough but the bond between the outer layers and the inner layers is not improved at all. I have literally removed all of the outer layers on my boat.

    About the keel. I built up the bottom of the keel with thickened epoxy. The boat is yet to get wet so I don't know how well this will work.

    A lot of the luan isn't really "waterproof". Its always recommended to test it by boiling a piece of it first. I used exterior grade "ACX" plywood; the "A" is the grade of the first side (pretty good surface), the "C" is the grade of the second side (unfilled knot holes, rough surface) and the "X" stands for the core, which in this case is of unknown species. I think our information in the Wood and Plywood FAQ still applies. Most of the "Exterior" plywood at home centers is really "Exposure 1", meaning that it is OK for exterior construction, and can be exposed for a little while before being finished with a protective covering. It shouldn't de-laminate if protected from weather by glass and epoxy. If you're planning to leave it unglassed, and just cover with epoxy, I think you're better off using marine grade ply (well, you are always better off using marine grade ply, but there's a cost/benefit equation to consider).

    I've heard of people using luan "underlayment", that is graded for use on a concrete subfloor under tile or hardwood, and having success. I would still boil a piece of it to see how it reacts.

  3. It would be an interesting test. I always thought the Weekender sailed much better than seemed possible based on its often maligned design (something you don't realize until you actually sail one). I had people tell me that without a centerboard, there is no way it would be able to make way at all. What isn't often remembered is that the original Weekender had a jack-knife centerboard. When Peter Stevenson removed it on his own boat, the very same boat sailed just as well with no difference in pointing ability and no increase in slippage.

    I remember an article about a boat by Bolger that featured a centerboard at the bow, an unusual design. The large "forefoot" with the board down was balanced by a deep aspect rudder. The Bolger article, with its emphasis on the "new math" of the forefoot and deep aspect rudder, related Bolger's assertion that you didn't need to follow traditional rules to get a well sailing boat. When you moved the centerboard forward, it didn't need to be as deep. And that, combined with a deep and narrow rudder, balanced the boat nicely. I wondered if that provided some of the answer to the Weekender's unusual sailing characteristics. The Weekender has a deep forefoot measuring 12 - 14" at the bow, and a deep aspect rudder.

  4. Sukie, we do limit posting of pictures to people with a few posts (because in the long distant past I had a very unfortunate picture posted by a new member). You may be able to post them now. You can also "include" images from other sites using the URL of a picture hosted elsewhere (there's a little picture icon on the bottom row of the editor, about in the middle, next to the "<>" icon). I used that to put in the URL of one of your pictures at Picasaweb:

    ladygrace2.jpg

  5. I dipped the rail a couple of times in my Weekender. I'm more of a flat water type of guy, so I can't say I enjoyed it! I always found sailing in a local lake the most challenging because the winds would swirl down different canyons and blast you from different directions. I always thought those guys sailing lakes in the midwest should have an ocean put in near them.

    You can dump a lot of wind by releasing the peak halyard and letting the main sheet go. I had reef points on my Weekender but never really used them. The boat doesn't have a lot of canvas to begin with, so if it was too hairy for my liking I usually did what maligno does: douse the sails and fire up the "iron ginny".

  6. The 2hp Honda 4-stroke I tried was nice but for a little more weight am going to buy a 3.5hp not sure what brand.. With the very strong currents I fought today I would like a little more speed without having to go full throttle. The 2 did push the boat really really easy.

    Check with Graham on this ... there's no reason to buy more outboard than you need, and the extra weight on the transom will slow the boat down in light airs.

  7. I removed the "Boatbuilding News" forum as the number of blog posts and news items just seemed unmanageable for a forum. The excerpts of the feeds are available daily at our news page, and I will soon incorporate them into the bottom half of the home page.

    The script I am using to import the news items relies on the expected knowledge of the content publisher to know what he is publishing. Previously, if the content publisher pushed out his content via RSS, the script didn't argue with his decision to either publish excerpts, or the entire article. What I am finding, though, is that many bloggers don't even know that they are granting non-exclusive rights to republish their content by having full posts in their RSS feed. The legal requirement is that the re-publisher provide attribution, with a link back, as my script does. One content author did object to seeing his post here.

    Legal issues aside, I don't want to offend anyone. I removed all the posts this morning, and then reset the subscriptions to exclude the site from the publisher who doesn't really want to publish (he really should edit his RSS settings!) I edited the script this morning to publish only the first 200 characters (give or take a few, depending on where the word breaks are), and added yet another link to the original content. The purpose is to drive traffic to the original sites and expose their content to the wider boat building community. Readers coming to messing-about.com will be able to quickly scan the most recent articles from subscriber feeds to find new sites of interest.

    messing-about.com's forums currently get 6,200 unique visitors with over 50,000 page views, with 42% of that traffic from search engines. And that's just in the forums. As we create more news and other content, that traffic will only increase. Google lists more than 27,000 links to our content currently:

    post-2-0-27300400-1313866429_thumb.jpg

    Link backs from our News Feed will improve a site's listing in search engines, and drive traffic to their site. Republishing an RSS feed excerpt is not treated as "duplicate content" by the search engines due to the indexing tags I use in the script.

    If you have a blog or site with an RSS feed you would like included, let me know. As I find sites publishing their content via RSS I will continue to include them in our News Feed, and will continue to honor any publisher's request to have their feed removed.

  8. My brother bought a Grizzly 8" jointer, and I think it is probably the same as the Shop Fox. He likes it.

    I scored an old Craftsman 8" jointer, and it is sitting on the new jointer base I made for it ... still have to put a hole in the base and mount the motor.

  9. If you're only worried about liability insurance, you can often get a rider on your auto or home insurance policy to cover it. My insurance company covered sailboats with outboards under 10HP at no extra charge.

  10. Time is usually your friend with cleaning up after Bond-type activities. I would start with a little bit of dishwashing soap like Dawn in a bucket of water and use a car washing brush to apply it, mist it if you have to in order to keep it moist, and then wash off after 20 to 30 minutes. Trying to clean up without allowing things to soak and soften often leads to using stronger chemicals and more elbow grease.

    Or, make a rule that anyone who pukes on your boat has to clean it up themselves!

  11. Sorry I didn't catch this earlier, sooncome. We have some illustrations of typical gaff rig rigging on our Gaff Rig Pages. You have to go to the page for the thing you are looking for, i.e., halyards, etc.

    There are a couple of books that have more detail, John Leather's "The Gaff Rig Handbook" and Tom Cunliffe's "Hand Reef and Steer", both available from some on-line bookstores if you can't find them in your local library system.

  12. I have family in Missouri, and they are melting too. Some of them farm and they are looking for more rain (that's what farmers do ... complain about the weather!)

    It's looking good for an under-$100 boat! On the Weekender, we used 3M 5200 sealant along the inside of the seams that are under water. It works really well to keep water out but is messy to work with. Are you using something like that, or PL construction glue, etc. for the bottom?

  13. I have added the ability to embed the shortened "Share" button shortened link for YouTube Videos.

    post-2-0-82218400-1313346232_thumb.jpg

    Click the "Share" button to reveal the shortened link. Copy the link to the clipboard and paste it into your post where you would like it to appear. In the editor, it will look like the link, but when you post it will embed the YouTube video. You can click the "Preview Post" button at the bottom of the editor to see how the video will look in your post.

    I pasted in this link:

    http://youtu.be/KCM2bizpQOs
    

    To have this video displayed when I clicked the "Add Reply" button:

  14. Thanks for the clarification, Mike! In all the times we had our Weekender out, I never went into the cabin. My wife did, abandoning me at the tiller to nap contentedly in there. But I'm thinking for day sailer use, the larger cockpit is probably a good addition.

    I was thinking you would save about 1/4 on the materials, so the material cost might be about 75% of the Weekender, but I didn't state it very clearly. On the modified aft portion is it beamier? I always thought the Weekender was just a bit cramped by the tiller, and would have better trim with heavier sailors if the aft was wider (similar to the Potter 15, an ugly little boat but a fun one to sail).

  15. YouTube videos will embed automatically, assuming you use the right type of URL. Using the URL from the address will not always work.

    Here's how to embed a YouTube video into your post:

    On YouTube, right click on the "Link" or "Embed" selection and choose "Copy video URL":

    post-2-0-88185900-1313255876_thumb.jpg

    Back in the forum editor, paste the URL into your message:

    (Note: I modified the code to accept the shortened "Share" link, as noted in the post below).

  16. New options for "View New Content" link:

    Now, when you click on this link, you get a page of the new posts and a control sidebar in the left column. Want to only see the new posts in one or more forums? Click the bottom link, "Filter by Forum" and select the forums you want to follow. The system will remember this setting for later visits.

    Note that you can filter for content you haven't read, content posted since your last visit, within the last 24 hours, etc.

    post-2-0-61488300-1313183917_thumb.jpg

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