Dave Ruedel

My first boat was a pocket cruiser, which is a bit more sluggish sailer than a weekender, but has a bit more space in the cabin, due to its width. When I decided to build something bigger, I wanted something that I could put bunks in for more comfortable sleeping, that we could cook on conveniently, had storage for a few days on board, and was fairly inexpensive to build, and also would not be 12 feet high on the trailer, and light enough to pull with my minivan. Hence the Vacationer. There is a lack of standing headroom, which makes use of the potty somewhat inconvenient, however, it is not clostrophobic, and does sleep well. Handling is excellent, no problems sailing it single handed, and ample room for 4 people in the cockpit, and then some. There is a lot of flexibilty in designing an interior for it, except for the components needed for structural support, it is wide open. I don't think any two interiors are the same, and I would probably do something different if I built another. It does take longer to build than a weekender, and is more expensive, and depending on choice of materials could range between $3,500 to $10,000 (mine is decidedly low end, but it floats, and we have fun.) Our sailing is primarily on lakes, and the Ohio river, so we are not blue water sailers, and the design is excellent for shallow water, getting up into coves, and beaching. It pulls very well behind the van, and set-up time at the launch site is less than a half hour. Even my wife admits it is a much better experience than she ever imagined. It will move with very little wind, and we have experienced wind gusts in the 15-20knot range with no difficulties, or undue concern.

And all of a sudden it is starting to look like a boat. Of course, mine is the vacationer, and it always amazes me how the boats completed look so similar, but the differences in the construction. And my old PC was totally different. You seem to know what you are doing, and it looks good, so I am going to stay out of the way and watch.

If glassing is a joy, I wish you had been around when I was doing mine - I like the woodworking more. But it got done, inspite of my incompotence. And I didn't know how to build a boat the first time, or the second time either, for that matter. Present project is a bookcase for my neice, which I don't think I will fiberglass, and hopefully she and her fiancee won't try to sail.

That is a beautiful piece of work, and will probably be passed down through the generations! Can't wait to see the little swab in it. Good job!

Actually, the keel-prow assembly is one of the hardest assemblies of the whole project, and your's looks excellent. Wish I had had your power planer, I did mine with a draw plane and a jack plane. It gets exciting as you see the rest of the lumber all taking shape. Don't go cheap on the glue - use good stuff, and don't rush. Double check your measurements on new components against your construction - you will find there will be diviations from the plans, and it is hard to stretch a piece of wood. I think every one of us has some small diviations from the plans, which happens when you are custom building, rather than mass-produced parts, so don't worry about a eighth of an inch here, or quarter inch there. Build it, have fun buildinging it, and more fun sailing it. Ask all the questions you want, and you will probably get more answers than you want, because we all love to talk about our boats. (Mine's a Vacationer.) Welcome aboard.

You can almost see the Riders of Rohan moving across the plain! Isn't it dangerous sailing in Orc country, or do you keep an elf and a dwarf on board in case of emergencies By the way, the boat looks great, too.

I went with the pump in the companion way and then out through the side. I have had no water acumulate while in the garage.

Simiarly, I found I could clamp my belt sander upsidedown in my B&D workmate, converting it into a bench sander, which also works well on straight pieces and outside curves. It will also hold my router upside down with the table plate, making a good table router. Off course, with no guard, you do have to watch the fingers.

Nice looking crew member you have there, Greg. Congratulations on reaching grandfather status.

Dead on! My outside hull had a good smooth finish, because I wanted good flow over it. My topsides are not nearly as good, but passable. And the bit of uneveness does make the footing better. Yes, there are scrapes on the keel from beaching her. The boat is strong - I've banged docks with the sides, banged a concrete breakwater with the bow hard enough to bend the dolphen striker, tried to knock it off the trailer (the rudder box can take a good whack, too.), bounced the mast off the top hatch a time or two. and scoured the rudder with the outboard prop!! The pulleys are Ace hardware, the ironwork is painted galvanized, and the sheets and lines are Lowes racing special. Hell, it's a pirate craft, not NYYC! But the boat does get used, or abused, if you prefer, and it still draws attention wherever we take it. Time allowing, I may redo the topsides, and when wood is replaced, it may be with better than stained spruce, but until then - SAIL ON!!

Great post, Barry!! I was lucky enough to have a friend who builds cars who gave me about the same tutorial after listening to me lamenting about my sandpaper lasting about 2 minutes before getting heat-lacquer/glass/whatever clogged. Your tutorial should be printed out by anyone who has not het gotten to that phase of his project.

Mine is thru-hull only. It is located on the port side, 2" equidistant from the cockpit bulkhead and the seat front, so it is pretty out of the way of anyone's feet, and it is a 1" nylon thru-hull from West Marine. No problems to date. Drains rainwater and wash water out nicely, and we have spent 6 nights on the boat last season, plus day sails.

Ditto here - nylon thru-hull, sealed good, and trimmed off about 1 inch below the hull. I'm using the rubber expansion plugs with the release, and keep a couple of spares handy. I leave the plug out when trailering for those on the highway rains. Just remember to have the plug in when you launch. The good news is that with the Stevenson design, even with the plug out, the water only gets a couple of inches deep in the cockpit - just to the water line.

Rough the surface up with some 50 grit to give the new a textured surface to bond to and you should be ok. Save all the fine sanding until you are done and getting ready to paint. Even applying the first coat of primer paint you don't want anything smoother than 150 grit to allow the paint something to grab to.

Plenty of 1" stock available at Ace, HD, or Lowes. Cuts easily with a hacksaw, or even better, a cutting wheel in a handgrinder, which can also be used to round it off. Do it at night outside and it creates a good show for the neighbors. A vise, a heavy hammer, and a drill and you have all the chainplates you want in an hour for a couple of bucks total. Stainless costs a bit more, and is a little harder to drill - need the more expensive carbide or alloyed. Drill slow with lots of oil and pressure to keep the heat down. I went with plain stock, painted black after shaping, because it seemed to look more natural.

These boats are not that heavy, and really are strong. Three of us turned my vacationer (though I should point out that my 19 yr old is a 6-6 265 lb groceries pit). Due to hull curvature, actually only a portion comes in contact with the ground, and folded blankets or a couple of tires protect the rails well. For my pocket cruiser, which could fit in the garage, I used simple block and tackle (two of the blocks were also used later on the boom) at each end run up to the rafters, pulled her about 4 feet up, and turned her myself, lowering it back down on milk cartons. Used the same tackle to lift her up to slide the trailer under. Don't forget, the more people turning, the more beer you have to buy.

Welcome aboard, Mr. Scott. I also claimed my bachelor's at age 44, quite some time ago now, so congratulations on your scholastic, as well as boat building ambition. I also built my first boat while at college, a pocket cruiser, chosen because it was about impossible to capsize, and had a place to get out of the weather. I completed a vacationer last year, which is our present boat. You will find both old an young dogs here, and they will be most helpful with old and new tricks to aid you in building. As to learning to sail, not as difficult as far as the basics, but always more to learn, and always provides a feeling of usefullness and accomplishment.

Red lead (and white-wash, its white, household counterpart) have actually been around since Roman times. For red lead was the main coating for below the waterline paint, but is no longer in vogue in these enviornmentally concious times. Remembering my teenage days working as a laborer at a boatyard in Niantic, I can still imagine the sweet taste you'd get in your mouth after scrapping and sanding boat bottoms, when safety equipment consisted of goggles and a bandanna tied around your nose and mouth. Today's bottom paints for the most part are either copper-based, or urethanes, which are regarded as more enviormently friendly, and, of course, more expensive, but also seem to be more durable. Have often wondered if my present mental condition can be attributed to the red lead I breathed, the soldering work I did back then, or raising my kids.

Quote: "After a week of rain, I checked on my weekender this morning to find 2 inches of water sitting the bottom." (from your site) The good note is, if it doesn't leak out, it probably won't leak in, either. Keep the tarp tented high, and tight on the sides as possible. Allow air to blow through from the stern, as no circulation +dampness = mildew. I carried my tent back past the stern with a 2x4 until I had the mast on and laid back, now it is the roof beam for the cover tarp. Boat looks great, wish we could all stand up inside and fit through the hatches that easy ! great looking crew there. Notice you had some homeless person sleeping on it - was he lying on his "will build boat for food sign?" You'll be sailing before you know it.

Best of luck with you surgery, Mike. Certainly keep you in our prayers. As to your book, look at the great discriptions Alister MacClaine had in all of his - in "Convoy to Murmansk" and "Bear Island" you could actually shiver from the cold reading on a summer day. How about Melville? Two pages on chowders, whole chapters on tools!! Or Tolkien, pages of minutea, broken story lines, way too long, etc, etc. Write it the way you want, and let the readers decide.

Not having a lathe, I went the easy route, and also bought ne from Captain's Locker, which I believe is in either Newport or Bristol, RI. They are on the web. The wheel is now 3 yrs old, 1 yr in actual use, two on the boat under tarp, and is in good condition. Their prices are quite reasonable, and the workmanship is good. If I ever get a lathe, or a router lathe, I will probably attempt a wheel, but until the this weel work nicely.

And no vidio camera running so you could enter America's funniest home videos!! How today's bumbles and pain become the things we laugh at next week.

Thanks, Frank. I do quite a bit of traveling in my work, as do many others I know, and we all seem to have legitiment email address, accessable from about anywhere. How would you get into Yahoo in the first place? They also require a "real" mailbox address. Your forums are informative, entertaining, and pleasant to vew, and I am not worried about anything on the screen if my wife or kids look over my should. Years ago I dropped out of chat rooms simply because it was impossible to "chat" with all the hate and insulting going on. It is only recently, through forums like this and BYYB that I have begun engaging in any internet communications, and this because I have found them to contain the kind of people I would invite to my home, or anchor next to on the water. Your work is appreciated. Thanks again. Proud to be a citizen of the country that in its short existance has provided more disaster aid and relief around the world than all the other countries and UN groups combined.

The Mystic Seport Cam is one of my bookmarks, check on it every so often, since I grew up 3 hills west of there in New London, and the Seport is still one of my favorite spots to visit, and spent a good part of my high school years on the water between Mystic and Saybrook. The Seaport keeps growing, and is well worth a day's visit every time we are in the area. The anvil I have is an old ship's anvil, acquired from a friend of my Dad's in Mystic, and may very well be frrom a whaler.

Old boat could be used as a flower planter, however I would recommend getting a pack of construction waste bags from Lowes (extra heavy duty trash bags - not the leaf and grass cuttings variety), cutting the thing up, and putting it out with the trash. Keep looking, one might turn up. I'm not too far away, and will keep my eyes peeled. As far as loading goes. get the forward quarter or so up on the bunks, and use the trailer winch to do most of the work. 3 or 4 people should be more than enough.