Charlie Jones

A minor point here- there is simply no such thing as a totally "non-blushing" epoxy. Depending on climatological circumstances, they'll ALL blush to a certain extent. All epoxies contain amines- part of the curing process, and amine blush can occur with all of them. But it's also no big deal- ALL blush is water soluble- simply wash the hull down with fresh water and a rag, then dry it, before sanding or painting. On the paints- Brightsides I do not like, in colors. White is fine- colors are way too thin and take too many coats to cover well. It's basically an enamel anyway. But hey, on my own small trimaran, I used ACE Porch and deck enamel. about the same stuff as Brightsides really. Been through three Texas 200's so far and still looks good. And nothing to prevent using a good Alkyd. Alkyds have been used on boats for years, including epoxy coated boats. Won't last as long as a 2 part poly, but sure doesn't cost $50 a quart either Pic is of traveler-painted 2008.

LOL- Is this where I say- "told ya so"?? Glad the scraper is working for you.

FIFTY gallons of water for a week?? Oh boy do you use water!!! Tehani carries 35 gallons in fixed tanks, and about 10 more in half gallon jugs. Good for close to a month with two aboard. Fifty is a great amount, but I suspect you'll find it goes a LOT further than you think, even not being particularly frugal. Also- I found that having the boat pumped out was a less onerous task than dumping. Many places have "do it yourself" pump out stations and many are only $5. Of course in the Bahamas, you must have the ability to self pump- no pump out stations there, except one I heard existed in a marina at Nassau- one of the $$$$$$ ones. Also - off the Florida lower west coast, it's not 3 miles- it's 6 miles.

I'll be looking for you at SA. Plan to trailer Traveler ,my CLC/BandB/ CEJ designed John's Sharpie trimaran.

Nothing wrong with fir.. I also like cypress.

Planning to have Traveler there. Graham did design the amas

Look like "Smacks" Greg Spanish Mackeral

Looks a whole lot different from when I last saw it- when we realigned the hulls after Irene. Gonna be quite a boat.

Wish I'd have known. I'd have driven over. Very sorry about your Father.

Haven't heard from him lately

No rest days til that weave is all filled Gotta get that done while the epoxy is still green, otherwise ya gotta sand some more.

Nice. I watched "sailing with Bella" for the first time also. I love #2, with her snugged up eating her Cheetos They do grow up SO fast. I clearly recall my youngest steering when he was two. He's 46 now! Don't miss a chance to sail with her.

Had the same thought. Nice folks too.

LOL- True dat, but she's a MUCH safer boat now. Originally you NEVER cleated the sheet, and as a matter of fact , could not- there weren't any cleats. If it started to go and you couldn't IMMEDIATELY let go, you were over. Was a HOT boat, which is why John doesn't push it anymore- not a boat for novice sailors. Now I feel much safer beach camping in her, and have seen 13.7 knots on the boat on a broad reach. First Tex 200 was sailed in winds up to 30 knots. I would never have even tried it before. Graham designed the amas by the way.

Exactly the reason my CLC John's Sharpie is now a trimaran. It was almost impossible to self rescue from a capsize, unless you were in shallow enough water to stand beside the boat. Bow is so fine it didn't float high enough to keep water out. CLC doesn't sell the kit anymore, and doesn't push the design. But as a tri it's a great boat- three Texas 200's under her keel so far.

An interesting side note on this- Steve is a friend of mine by the way http://bbs.trailersailor.com/forums/trailersailor/index.cgi/read/842244 and one line from the post-"John Welsford, the designer, is there, along with Howard Rice, who did the capsize testing, and a bunch of other folks who are making this thing happen" Italics mine

Are you trying to say our politicians would LIE to us??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo :unsure:

LOL- That nice lady was most likely either Carla, or Marrisa ( name sake of the boat) Either quite well qualify as "Nice"

Exactly Dave. I clamp a short chunk of heavy copper electrical wire in each main clamp, touch one wire on one end of the tie wire, and just "POP" the other. That's all it takes- the wire gets red hot very quickly, doesn't scorch the outside of the ply and is easy to pull. Fastest way I've found, bar none. As I said before- I can pull all the wires from something like a CS 17 in about 20-30 minutes.

no experience with a Spindrift, or a 2paw, but I towed a MiniPaw many many miles ( and am building a second ). If the 2 paw is anything like the Mini, that's what I'd go for, as a dinghy. I had over 500 pounds of people in my Mini, and still had lots of free board. It's quite a nice design. And very light, all things considered Now if the primary use would be as a sail boat or sail trainer, then I'd go Spindrift.

lol- me too, particularly when I'm building for a customer. Even just for me, I do too. Seems like a waste of time. I guess that's a difference between someone building on their own time, as time permits, and someone working at it every day though. If someone is comfortable doing it like that, so be it. I'm not

Yep- that works fine, but it's an extra step or two, which is why I never spot tack with epoxy. So much quicker to just fillet and tape, then yank wires from outside, for me anyway. But hey- whatever you are comfortable with

after making the wire ties, you go in with a screwdriver blade and push the inside tight into the corner. This adds a tiny bit more to the pressure, and gets the wire out of the way of the filet... And yes, the external taping covers any little holes very well. Long ago I did a post about using the Jump-it and a piece of copper wire to heat the tie wires. Search doesn't seem to find it, but in a nutshell, clip the wires close on one side. Walk along and "POP" the wire with the jump it, touching both ends of course, then go back with pliers and pull the wires. Takes about 30 minutes to do an entire boat, like a CS 17. I pop about a dozen, pull .'em, then do some more. On the epoxy curing. 2-1 ratio epoxy doesn't seem to like cooler weather, say under 60. WEST's 5-1 ratio does better in those conditions, and that's about the only time I use WEST anymore. Of course, down here on the Texas coast, all I BUY is slow hardener- Carla doesn't even ask anymore- just ships it

I do the same, and have on every boat I've built tack and tape. Using a Jump-it, takes me about 1/2 hour to pull the wires on something like a Core Sound. I prefer steel wire also.

Nice catch- looks like Spanish to me