Ken_Potts

It's looking really good!

I'm really sad to hear that. Paul was always happy to offer his experience to help those of us who haven't slopped as much goo as he has. My heart goes out to his family and friends. I never met Paul, but like Robert the Tiger I am reminded of the community we have here. I've long considered these forums to be the friendliest place on the internet thanks to Frank and his one rule (be nice) and to the people who enjoy helping each other and just talking about boats and other related matters (dogs, brides, grandkids, motorcycles, blah blah blah). I've also thought that we all have a funny kind of community, though, because there are a lot of unknown lives going on behind all these discussions. I've recognized forum contributors in passing just by their boats. I passed Scott and his beautiful yellow Belhaven on Highway 40 once in North Carolina and I recognized him instantly just because he posted the first pictures of his yellow paint job immediately after I bought my yellow paint for Southbound (Aargh!) But even though his boat allowed me to recognize him at a combined closing speed of 130mph (113 knots or 208kph), I could easily have walked past him in a store or something without ever knowing who he was. Actually, I had that happen too. I was at lumber reseller once looking for a nice piece of hardwood to make something or other (maybe the banjo?) and there was a couple who seemed to be buying every piece of mahogany in the place. It struck me as funny at the time but a few days later when I checked up on a build I was following (a powerboat way up on Highway 321) they mentioned having bought pretty near all the mahogany in the Piedmont for their project. So although I had been following their build avidly I had no clue who they were when I walked right past them. Like Robert, I've lost someone in the last couple of weeks and in that context it's strange (to me anyway) how hard it is to hear that Paul, who I never met, is gone. If you look at the sheer word count of my post I think there will be an indicator of what we've lost. Paul would have written this many words about one specific aspect of one part of boat building and at the end of it we'd all know the implications of (x) to the final whatever-it-was. Meanwhile I've used the same number of words to ramble aimlessly and haven't helped anyone advance their project by the slightest skerrick of a suggestion of progress. Raising a glass to you, Paul. Ken

That's very slick. I just put that sort of mechanism into a concept for some lab equipment and it was very well received. It's much better on a pretty boat, though.

It seems less wrong than the Ohio river, though... Thanks for the pictures Alan. It's nice to know you're still having fun with the boat.

He just drives his motor boat down the river every day.

I'm envious. I was never in the Exumas at the right time for the regatta. It looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for the pictures. If you want to get in there and race, though, you'll have to get to work on your immigration papers - The boats have to be designed, built, owned and crewed by Bahamians. http://www.bahamasgeotourism.com/content/national-family-island-regatta/bahAED49E7DAF831017A|

Alan, if your old Honda 2.5 was the one that I sold to Dawn and Paul it wasn't just not-a-two-stroke. I think it was also only-a-2hp. I may be remembering that incorrectly, though. Please post pictures of the trials - I still miss that boat (not that there's much left of the original after your repairs and improvements, mind you). And Capt Oyster - I have it on good authority that Graham long ago ceased to drive on the correct side of the road and now is following your example of driving on the right side instead of the correct side. Wait - That's making my head hurt... Nevermind.

Aaak! For a second that looked like the beginning of a Viking funeral. I was glad when I figured out it was just a nap. So the real reason the boat ain't done yet is that you're so exhausted from working on all those other things that you fall asleep when you try to take a day off to sail? I bet you still got more done that day than I did.

It's a veritable palace on the water! Looks like fun.

Robert how do you know about drop bears? We're not supposed to tell any outsiders about them in the fear it will kill the tourism industry. In my case it's probably not drop bears, though, as they are mostly found in the eastern states. Aargh! what I meant to say was "There are NO drop bears in Australia. Please feel free to visit without fear. Just don't stand under that gum tree... Especially not at night."

It got to where my work area was so messy I had to move to another country just to get away from those tricksters. It's just my luck that I'd end up in a place where there's no bears but there's still somebody making a mess out of the shed. I think it may be the goannas, but magpies do have a sense of humor.

I should have known you'd already have seen it Chick. That looks like some good fun (mostly). Hey Denny - I found this discussion from a number of years ago and I thought it might interest you. There are some links to other little powerboats and some plans.

See, this is why I don't live in bear country. You just can't trust them around power tools.

That's a pretty cool dual-use of space.

A river trip? These aren't Superdinks but there's an annual river race here called the Avon Descent. There are paddlers as well as power-boaters who participate. The powerboats have flat bottoms, tiller steering and two-person crews. I'm pretty sure Chick will get a kick out of this video (although you'll have to turn the sound off and make you own motorboat noises) and hopefully you will too, Denny. Some of these boats have flat vertical sides and a pretty hard chine so they'd be easy to build and they might provide something similar to the Superdink experience.

Nope. I'm not sailing, I'm cooped up in a hotel. I'm here - I just haven't had anything good to add. Go Chick! Paul, what's on the back of that boat in the picture you posted? It doesn't look like a regular outboard but maybe my eyes are just too tired to see it.

It's been a long time since I saw a CS17 up close so I'll grab some numbers out of thin air. If your mast tube is 2 feet long and it's a quarter of an inch off at the base and the mast is 20 feet long then the tip of the mast will be out of place by 2.25 inches. I think that's a difference that you will only see when you're at the ramp and looking at the boat from directly in front of or behind it. When you're actually sailing I don't think you'll see it. I bet plenty of us have sailed with that much bend built into our unstayed masts. The center of effort of your mainsail isn't going to move much with that change in position, so you shouldn't notice as much change in performance as you will when you sit too far back in the cockpit. I'd say finish the work and go sail and have fun. If the difference in angle between the two masts eats away at you once you've gotten back on the water you can always adjust the angle of the mizzen to match. It'll be easier to get to.

Ha! Mine's a home-built, too. Who have thunk there'd be so many banjo builders building boats... Err, boat builders building banjos? Mine is a little more modern. It's got some store-bought parts but I did the wood parts myself. The neck and the rim are both maple. I cheated and bought a rosewood (or is it ebony?) fingerboard that had pre-cut slots for the frets. I did penance for my lapse, though, by doing some inlay on the peg head. It's an open-back but I'll have to make, borrow or steal a resonator sooner or later because I'm playing bluegrass now and if there's any other banjos in the room I can't hear myself (course that's usually a good thing). Are you going to go full-on Appalachian with a frailing scoop, cat skin head and no frets, or will you build a hybrid monstrosity like mine? I'm all for a synthetic head on an otherwise traditional banjo but the humidity in your neck of the woods is pretty stable (IIRC). Whatever you do I know it's going to sound good and make people happy.

Paul, you're right - GDAE. Drop by for a jam any time. I'll be the bad banjo player and you can be the bad fiddle player. My neighbors will just have to deal with it. The family to our left will understand and the family to the right don't matter (see my signature...)

I've suddenly found myself in Auckland doing some design work for the next couple of weeks. I'm working long hours but I've got some time on the weekends. Anybody up for a beer or a Murder Burger (or both)? Hey Richard W - Are you still on the forum? I was hoping to bring my blushing bride to meet your family this time but she hasn't come with me (next time for sure). Is it feijoa season again, or did i miss it?

Fiddles? Well if we're gonna go off-topic we might as well go shopping! There's a chain of stores called Aldi that opened up not too long ago in Perth (they've probably been in Germany forever but they're new in Perth). Aldi sells groceries, but not all the groceries you really need. The big draw to an Aldi store is the random extraneous merchandise that shares the aisles with the lettuce and pork chops - The selection changes weekly. You really never know what's going to be there when you go so people say things like "I went to Aldi to get some canned pears and I came home with a cordless drill." Well, a few months ago I went to Aldi to get some Buttermilk so I could make some nice fried chicken or okra or, no, I think it was cole slaw actually because I was cooking some pig to go with it, and I came home with a fiddle. Not a joke. Stop laughing! It's a real fiddle. It's not a good one but it's shaped like a good one. I don't know how to play it yet, I'm sticking with the banjo for now. I'll get to it eventually.

Hi Brent, I've been aboard a beautifully built P22 (Tony's) and I felt it was quite comfy at the time. I think I've heard that the cabin of the Belhaven is slightly more roomy but the cockpit is smaller (I won't swear by that, though). I think the CS20 Mk3 may be a bit less spacious than either the P22 or the Belhaven, but I have no experience with the Mk3 design. Given the conditions in Perth I would personally build the Belhaven or the PS22 over the CS20 Mk3 if my desire was comfortable cruising (as it is these days). If I wanted to shoot over to Rottnest Island on-plane or humiliate the masses I'd go for an EC22 and I'd leave the comforts of home... At home. Get in touch with B and B. They're nice people and will help you decide which design will work best for your mission. My guess is it will be the Belhaven or the PS22 but Graham or Alan will be more help than I am. Keep us updated as things progress and please post lots of pictures.

I'm working on one boat while sailing another and I don't seem to find enough tome for either but I'm having fun with life. Once the big boat project is finished we'll put the little boat in the back yard and sail the big one long enough to decide which one we really want (the little boat is a LOT of fun to sail but the big boat will be better to camp in). We'll sell the one we like least. My best guess is that it's 50/50 which boat we'll end up keeping. I have had a bunch of conversations with people who own larger, more comfortable boats and when I tell them I'm sailing a Red Witch they mist up a little and say "Ohhh... I used to have one of those!" So we're hedging our bets by keeping one boat while fixing another one up but then again, every day I sail the Red Witch is a day I don't work on the new boat. If you're confident enough that the new boat will be better than the old boat you'll probably accelerate the build by selling the old one first. After all, only a crazy person (me) would try to maintain one boat while building another.

I like the ring bolt hitches too. What size do I need? Well, there's a good question... I guess it depends on what boat I'm going to use it on, so if you send a size that won't fit any of my current projects I'll "have to" build another boat to fit. Waste-not want-not, after all. If you send me a Master-And-Commander sized traveler I'll be forced to build HMS Surprise and then I'll save some money on airfare for my next trip to (invasion of!) the US (Aaarrr!). Where's me parrot?!?

That's very nice! Unfortunately I think you've wrapped it backwards. If you try to use it in the Northern hemisphere it may unravel due to the coriolis effect. I'll tell you what, though - If you send it to me I'll find a good use for it down here and you can make another one for yourself.