Dick White

I am wondering if there are any builders of weekenders on this site that are located in New England. I am located in western MASS. I started my weekender a couple of years ago and have reached a point atwhich I could use some advise. I am contemplating removing the cuddy cabin to give me more space in the cockpit. It would be nice to talk to some one in person who knows a lot more about boat building that I do.

Is there anyone out there that has tried to modify their weekender by removing the cabin and opening up the seating space? If so what or how did yo do it?

I have just mounted the deck to the boat. I have noticed that the side deck stringers now have an angle that is very large in the stern and stem sections of the boat. This angle makes it impossible to match the top and and bottom so that I can attach the sides. Do I need to correct by gluing on some additional wood to the stringers so that I can reshape the angle? I'm also interested in eliminating the cabin to increase cockpit space and make the weekender into an open day sailer. I've only seen one modification such as this. Any suggestion as to ways to stiffen the boat in this configuration and seat modifications would be appreciated.

Early in December I asked a question about cutting out my transom for my weekender. The plan call for cutting the top and bottom edges at 90 degrees. It seems to me that it would be better to cut at approximately the same angle as that which is formed by the keel and the stern post. Am I wrong? Why? Any help would be appreciated because I'm too chicken and cheap to go on, with the possibility of wasting my plywood.

I would like to thank those who responded to my last question about deck dimensions on the Weekender. Now I have some more. 1. Why do the plans call for the transom top and bottom sides to be cut at right angles instead of 22.5 degrees to account for the slope on the stern end of the keel? 2. Are vertical stringers supposed to be attached to the sides of the transom to allow for more secure attachment of the side panels? 3. Are the front bulkhead and the cabin bulkhead attached to the sides or only at the top and bottom? 4. Are the stringers for the seats bottoms attached to the top of the bottom with screws though the stringer into the bottom or up through the bottom into the stringer? 5.Why doesn't the bulkhead, where the wheel is attached, go all the way to the sides? Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated and I will have the confidence I need to go on. Thanks. Dick White

I'm trying to make up the deck for my weekender but have a question about the width of the deck at the joint between to foredeck and the two sides behind the fore deck. The inset shows the fore deck as being 4' wide a station line #5 but the diagram in figure #5 shows the two sides (mid-section of the deck) being equal to 50" at the same joint. Which figure is correct. How do you correct? I have already cut out the two side segments. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Dick