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She looks so much like my birder II did before it started to accumulate its current inventory of nicks and scrapes... This summer I have managed to spend quite a bit of time on the water and am very happily exploring Lake St. Louis (off the southwest corner of Montreal). Its amazes me that there is so much to see on a lake I have been living next to for 30 years. Hope you get as much enjoyment out of your boat as I have had with mine. Ed

Interesting. Thanks. I would worry a bit about that strap hinge. It has to support quite a bit of weight when the rack is up. I would be tempted make the 'but' piece out of three pieces of 2x4 instead of one, putting the lifter hinge between the two outside pieces. I would then round the top of the lifter and drill a hole through all three pieces, insert a metal shaft (I) and cap the ends (+) .This would be a bit more work but would be less failure prone (the "."s are empty space where the lifter pivots). You could probably get away with a wood shaft if you put a plywood top on the 'but' piece such that the lifter is in contact with the ply when lifting so the ply takes some of the load. ---+------- ....I....---- ---+------- I may be worrying for nothing? Comments? Ed

I too was wondering about using the 2x4s on edge. This would also allow you to make the car to loader hinge such that when the loader it in its 'up' position the hinge is not exposed. This would make moving the boat onto the car a little less risky (eg minimal need to lift the boat when passing the rack/loader hinge joint.) On the down side the attachment to to car is a little harder... Ed

Gary, Thanks for posting the pictures of how you built your dobberish cartop loader. The idea to use hoops and hooks to hinge the lift is ingenious. One comment though, why not position the dolly nearer to the center of the boat? This will make it take much less effort to wheel it to the water or shelter. Ed

I have plans for the Phoenix III from duckworks. Its about 15+ feet long, 4 foot beam, glued lapstrake and comes out to about 150lbs. I've built a birder II and like Graham's designs and had no trouble following the plans. Its probably a stupid question, but will lapwing plans include panel shapes for the planks or will they have to be worked out on the fly? In my case, due to space restrictions, it would be much easier to precut the planks - even if they had to be trimmed later. I have slowly been reorganizing my garage preparing for a fall build. Lapwing could be an interesting alternative. Thanks Ed Tomlinson

For a slot top you can use canvas. You can also make a hinged cover that opens flat to one side of the slot. This would make a more secure and drier alternative when it gets rough. Ed

Hi, I cut rough cut the cockpit and assembled it on the hull. Once the splices were dry I faired and cut the opening on a flat surface. I also attached the doubler flat. Then I attached it to the hull. I used screws into the inwhale. If I did it again I would install an outwhale and use lots of clamps and trim to the edge of the outwhale. Making the combing is tricky. I used cardboard to make pattern. Then I carefully made a piece of wood to join the two sides. I glued the combing sides to this wood making sure the angles were correct. Then I installed it. Again using clamps and cardboard to support and position it. There is no support under the deck on the sides or front. Once you create the fillets its quite strong. By the way its worth getting the combing angles correct. If you do its a real pleasure to watch a wave come over the bow and be split beautifully. Most of the time no water makes it into the cockpit. Enjoy Ed

Graham/Tom, What is the projected weight of this boat - if built light? Thanks Ed

Results from watertribes: Roo and Tinker aka Graham Byrnes and Randy Marshall Class 4, Double Male 0 Days, 12 Hours, 46 Min 1 Days, 9 Hours, 30 Min 1 Days, 20 Hours, 30 Min 2 Days, 8 Hours, 56 Min This link may also be of interest: http://www.pdmartin.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/SouthernSkimmer.html Ed

From the tracking info looks like they are going at about the same rate as last year...

Here she is on the beach. Ken I managed to delete one picture. If you have it please post it.

Both of the above shots reached me too. Ed

Lets post any race info here. This picture was sent last night. My phone had trouble downloading it - not at all typical... Not quite sure what it has to do with the race but Gordy sent it so it gets posted. Ed

Looks like Gordy tried to send message last night. My phone was unable to download it... This is not typical, I have had very good results with it. Guess we will see. I am planning to keep the stuff I need to get from cell to here with me while the race is running so as long as the messages arrive they should get posted fairly fast. Ed

Here are three pictures received by Cell. For some reason they have acquired a violet hue. Ed