buck

Summer is just starting here, after listening to all your inspiring sailing stories all through winter. Nows our chance. We'll post some pictures! Robbo where are your 3D pictures? I never get sick of seeing these boats built. Sad you can't be with us. When are you off?

You're quite Frank, on all counts, I suppose my beef is when people come to the board and ask if these are blue water cruisers and we have to say no, after which people seem to write-off the seaworthiness rather than saying no 16' (or even a 21') boat is seaworthy. In actual fact in line with the competition the Weekender with its heavy and solid (good for punching through waves) wooden keel stacks up very well. Most boats this size have a flat bottom, ah but I can here you say "what about round bilge boats?" In reality unless they have a deep keel they are often pretty flat in the bottom too albeit, with round sides rather than straight sides. Which brings me to the Navigator, a lovely boat but look at that bottom its almost flat, now I'm a John Welsford fan, his boats are beautiful and reasonably seaworthy they are based on New Zealand's fast, light racing dinghy tradition only these are traditional looking boats. His 21' Penguin looks as though it could handle a reasonable sea and therefore would be a better boat than the Vacationer in rough conditions, but the truth is its a lot bigger, bulkierand weightier. The problem with the Welsford boats (and why I didn't build one) is they are differcult to build, all those chines look pretty but for a cackhanded person like me they would be a real stuff-up. Why he didn't go for stitch and glue in the first place I don't know. They look a nightmare to build. Which brings me to his book, which is excellent, a great mixtureof boatbuilding and cruising stories. I started off liking the boatbuilding bits but after a while the cruising stories get you! The design I like best is his Houdini design (a sort of Catboat) but he needs to make it bigger say 17' (which would be a nice size for a Catboat) and have a cabin on it (like the PC or CapeCod style Catboats) to appeal to American buyers. The design is only one chine and all the better for it. The Navigator is very similar to my built up Finn (although a bit wider) and although the Finn is round bilged in a heavy sea and strong wind I'd rather be in my Weekender if it came too it, the Weekender seems to have just an extra margin of safety built round it. http://groups.msn.com/WeekenderBoatbuilding/finncatboat.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=728

The first NZ meet of the summer will be on the 20th December at Karitane in NZ's South Island. Wayne is bringing his wonderful little ship down to meet mine and high tide is around 2pm so we'll meet at midday. So all are welcome, I know its too far away for most of you but there's alot of lurkers on this board! We will off course post photos!

I'm championing the Weekender's seaworthiness on this and the other board. I'm challenging protractors to come up with a more seaworthy design than the Weekender under 15' I don't think there is one, especially one that will still get on a trailer in any reasonable time. I suppose everyones going to suggest the Pocket Cruiser. Doh!

Now you tell me! I am building one for my son as a camping cruiser and am fitting a pivoting centreboard (see links) and a removable cabin. Sailboats you can build is a great book. I 'm still loving it long after i brought it. Theres lots of Stevenson philosphy which is good and great (B&W) pictures of the Skipjack. http://community.webshots.com/photo/79586377/79586530SQrnzU

Well done Robbo, Good to hear you're started, This is becoming a fleet! Instead of buying a new skill saw get the timber milled at your local joiner/woodwork shop they'll do it for next to nothing and make a better job. (especially if you tell them you're building a boat) Or alternatively join Wayne & Buck's 'misuse of power tools' club fair them down with an electric planer (the warehouse ones are $70 and new blades $10 whereas Ryobi is $90 and new blades $50!) or as Wayne does use an electric sander (the things that boy acheived with that sander of his astounds me (still it can't control the wind yet can it Wayne?) By the way Mitre 10 has some great plywood specials at the moment if you're looking for pine ply. They had some very good looking DD grade with surfaces better than the CD I brought! I wonder if they bang it all together at the same time and label it later. Pleased to here about you starting, can't wait to assemble the fleet!

Fintan I do sympathise, that was a very close game, The Irish played out of their skin. (Oh that last drop kick!) Keith Wood is such a fantastic player! Rugby at its best. Likewise the Welsh/Allblack, Fiji/Scotland games and the Samoa/England game were brilliant. Go the underdog I say. It makes for a great world cup! AS for you Frank,how about running for office! America needs you!

Although the All Blacks could well be favourites to win and the English are on fine form right now. I wouldn't trust the Wallabies not to hang on to the cup. They have a remarkable talent for pipping people at the post and other teams negate them at their peril. We shall soon see. Meanwhile I've enjoyed some of the 'Minnows' games. Romania played pretty well as did Canada and Samoa certainly gave England a fright.

Sorry guys, a bit off topic but you should know how well your team is doing even if you don't know what rugby is. (Its a bit like gridiron but tougher with only one person being able to be tackled at once and you can only pass the ball backwards, it goes continuously for 80 minutes except for half time) The US is a relative Minnow in rugby circles in a pool of countries which consists of England, Wales Scotland Ireland, Sth Africa, France and Italy Samoa, Japan, Fiji, various eastern European countries, Japan, Argentina and Australia and off course the mighty New Zealand. Your next game is against France on Friday (probaly Thursday in your time) Best of luck!

Wayne I am not alone! Another Weekender sailing in New Zealand! Congratulations! But oh the capsize! On your first day, well I guess you don't have to prove you can do it now. Sailing in gusty conditions can be hell with the wind coming from everywhere at once. Every boat has teething problems when it first hits the water. I found the Weekender quite hard to sail at first, its a bit different with that long keel and I'd never handled a jib before. Talking of which your sails look really good! and your new beard adds to the Piratical look! Shes a damn fine looking craft out on the water. Well done!

Stevensons themselves designed the perfect for the Weekender: its called the Amphora and its in a children's book with the same name . Its about 7' and built along the same lines, It uses a few sheets of ply and looks very cute. I haven't finished mine yet. You can propaly pick up the book through Amazon 2nd hand stores or your local libary

Well the weather forcast was right! Yesterday we had (unseasonal)snow down to sea level, Waves and waves of small snow storms, Looked very beautiful, but very little settled and it was all gone by nightfall. Today its back to being a mild spring day! Hope the sking was good Wayne. See guys you must come for a holiday here, Now you'll be to ski and sail a Weekender all on the same day!

Mike aren't you half Kiwi yourself? Didn't your Grandad spend time here in the war with a young Peter? I always thought theres more than a touch of kiwi ingenuity in those plans of yours. We call it the 'No8 wire mentality'. I think Waynes refering to snow in the mountains (Southern Alps) however the weather forcast is predicting snow to low levels tomorrow, We always have an early spring snowfall, mind you its been pretty mild, so we can't complain. Waynes boat is soon going to be ready and I can't wait to see them (both boats) together.

Wayne is being typically modest, this boat is finished to a high professional standard without being overdone. I looked at it a few weeks ago when passing through Christchurch and its beautifully robust and well constructed. It might not be overfinished, but NZ conditions are not mild and all boats have to take the rough with the smooth. Often its getting home that counts and faith in one's boat so rewarding. Wayne and i have had some great discussions on Weekender boatbuilding , but having seen his boat I'm redoing a few bits of mine again along his lines. Wayne I got given a belt sander for Fathers day! Here goes!

I just used one block, with no problems, It hauls straight up as long as you keep the gaff low or level (haul it up last), this helps stop the mast hoops binding. the beauty of one pulley is that theres less rope involved (the halyard can be shorter) and when the gaff comes down ,you have 1 rope not 3 going up.

What a great looking boat, Its going to be fun Wayne! I've never notticed checking with Meranti either. Looks a good rig for turning. Kiwi ingenuity rules.

Best to make sure the bow is facing the wind! Great photos Good to see a PC and a Vacationer together.

Jim, I find your comparisons very interesting, but how were they to sail? Is the Vacationer faster smoother as well as more stable, is the Weekender more manouvrable, Which do you prefer. I love my Weekender but I hope to start building a Vacationer this year. It will be interesting to here you comments on Scot's PC as well. And please a Photo! I can't say I can recall anyone having a photo of a Weekender, Pocket Cruiser and Vacationer together! Wish I could be there -Buck

Mike, I got the idea for a fold down centrboard from the Skipjack Insignia, which clearly shows a fold down CB. The cabin will be removable (i.e. bolted on) so he (my son) can sail with his mates as well. Unfortunately the way he's growing his head will stick out the end, so it'll have to have a wee boom tent as well. Never mind he definately wanted a cabin boat and I wanted a boat that was light enough for him to manage himself. I'm also putting floor boards in mounted on 2"x4" wood to raise it above the bottom. I find all boats get water in, luckily mostly rainwater. Thanks for your comments.

Thanks Frank. Robert the Skipjack is 12' on deck 5' beam (see fast daysailers on the Stevensons site). I have drawn a picture of what I hope it will look like: http://community.webshots.com/photo/79608050/79608108EpYRZK and the centreboard plan: http://community.webshots.com/photo/79586377/79586530SQrnzU

I am building a modified Skipjack for my son from "Sailboats you can build". He wanted a small cabin boat to camp in. We decided on a removable cabin lid but it necessitated a centreboard rather than a daggerboard. In the photos you can see the long slot needed in the keel. The keel 2 layers of pine with a 1/2"ply layer in between. We will build up a box on the other side. Will post more pics as we go. http://community.webshots.com/scripts/editPhotos.fcgi http://community.webshots.com/photo/79584416/79584618VnsIVO http://community.webshots.com/photo/79584416/79584702rEFDeg

Congratulations Konrad from all the New Zealand crew. Being a dad is one of the best things... and of course every child needs a boat of their own.

My tiller comes throught the transom and lazerette. I used stainless pintles beacause they are cheap (around$30 NZ) and very effective. I have a male & female one on each surface ( a female one at top of the rudder and a male one at the botttom, this also extends back and contains the bolt for the rudder blade to pivot on) The tiller is removeable. This makes it much better to remove the rudder for trailering. I have never had any problems with it floating off, in fact it requires a hefty shove to lift it off the pintles. But is very effective system for not much more cost. They are usually well engineered, I like the reliability compared with the eyebolt system.

Luckily I don't live near that sort of tidal race, thought I can well believe it, theres some extremme places around our coasts especially Cook Strait a rather funnelled gap between are two main Islands (which funnels winds from the roaring forties and takes the only tidal gap (between 2 major oceans)in a 1000miles. Our tidal gap here is 6-7 feet, nothing to radicle. One place I sail is the Otago harbour, 21 km long and only 1-2km wide. Tide pours in and out about 2-3knots, not much good fighting it in a little 16' sailboat with an electric motor unless the wind is strong. I've learn't to use the tides and just anchor and wait if the tides not going your way. There is however a large mudflats area which dry out at low tide and ads character to the place. I'm always a bit of a fan of these wetlands and saltings, they are valuble places to fishermen as they are great fish breeding grounds and often beautiful quiet places sort after by shallow draught yachtsmen.

Frank, I can't seem to upload my skipjack photos. I get this: Error creating resized medium image! Error code: 127 Command attempted: /usr/bin/X11/mogrify -format jpg -geometry 600x600 /home/fshagan/public_html/photopost/data/500/33skipjack5a-med.jpg They are 60kb photoshop Jepgs, this should be OK shouldn't it?