Charlie Jones

and be sure to go with exterior ACRYLIC latex enamel. That's a very different stuff from the old latex wall paint- much better and you can get it in semi-gloss which looks quite good. We painted the sign for the business with that and it held up for 7 years, until we were moving and somebody stole the sign :cry:

Test that spray gun against the wall do ya? The boat is looking really good. Nice work from what I can see.

Years ago I was building a 35 foot trimaran. The main bulkhead in the main hull was 4 sheets of 3/4 MARINE ply laminated together. Scarfed down the 8 foot dimension and laminated so it was 8 x 8 and 1 1/2 inch thick. A total of about 200 bucks of ply, 1970s prices I laminated the whole thing together, laid out the bulkhead and cut it out- 10 inches too short!! There was a measurement on another page of the plans and a note referring to it that I missed. I did evenutally use up most of the thick stuff as bulkheads (and a table top) and backing in other parts of the boat but that sure hurt at the time. At least you saved the wood and were able to correct the problem

And here's someone who's not so enthused over Brightsides. I haven't found it to be very durable and the coverage isn't very good at all particularly in the darker colors. I've used Brightsides on 4 boats- never again My Minipaw was done with some OLD Easypoxy I had around and I like that better than the new Brightsides. You need to be careful with 2 part LPUs because some of them state they aren't for under the waterline use.

Sorry about the tent- It was pretty intense HERE for a bit - I can just imagine being with a family out on a beach in a tent OUCH!! We were watching the bay and being very glad we weren't out sailing or anchored out somewhere. Drop by any time. I'm in the shop Tuesday through Saturday from about 9 on until I get done with what I schedule for that day. I'm in the rear of the building that has South Texas Sailboats. You may have driven past us if you came through Victoria. We're on 87 south just about a mile inside the loop- drop me an email and I'll give you the phone numbers. Take the "nospam" out of the email address

Graham- we must be this year. The high school gym lost it's roof in Claudette. They repaired it and Monday evenings little "event" took it off again. We had about an hour and a half of winds in the 50 - 70+ range during a frontal passage on Monday afternoon It looks as if this one will pass to the south of us (they keep saying). We'll believe THAT when it's actually ashore somewhere, cause during the last one the forecasters didn't really seem to have a clue! Thanks for the compliment- but you designed the boat- all I do is create what is on the paper

Nah- ya see- there are TWO holes- water runs in one and out the other

Hull epoxy coated- one more light sanding and the hull is ready for glass. Love the flow of the lines on the bow Graham:) [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

further planing of keel flat- a pair of Bailey # 5's and some sweat:) [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

Centerboard slot in hull bottom. Also the initial planing of the keel flat. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

Getting close to being ready to apply the fiber glass. Still need to add the bow cap and fill a few small uhohs found while epoxy coating. First picture is the motor well from the bottom. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

lol- the thing with the coffee was BEFORE it got real windy and before it started pouring. Winds were only around 50 mph at that time.. The heaviest winds came during the heavy rain. This wasn't a microburst either- these were long sustained winds at that windspeed. The NWS was warning of 80+ MPH winds but I don't think we got quite that strong here- and no hail. But the rain was blowing horizontally past the front windows and I could see it sucking spray up off the bay before the rains started. See the palm trees laid over in this picture? Just above the deck railing. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

Well here in Magnolia Beach we kinda got our behinds stomped in that one! Had winds around 75 mph again during the passage of that system. That's hurricane force again Before it started raining and before the REAL winds got here, I walked out on my front deck with a cup of coffee in my hand- the wind sucked the coffee outta the cup!! No damage to our place, but I'm sure many down here got wet again cause there are lots of temporary roofs still around this area. Last nights storms dumped a LOT of rain, but fortunately very little wind. I"M GETTING TIRED OF STORMY WEATHER!!!!

exactly what I did, except that I put a goodly amount of silica into the final coats of epoxy on the inside glass. Then sanded real soon after it cured. I figure that that will help a great deal in resisting abrasion on the inside of the case. I see no need to paint or otherwise cover the epoxy on the case interior, particularly on a trailerable boat.

Working in the heat is a serious thing Roger. We get this hot only when the winds come from the SW, which brings the air right off the Mexican deserts. Fortunately the humidity is a bit lower in these conditions, but temps over 100 are still very hot. I share a building with a sailboat shop and we keep five gallons of water in the refirgerator there. He and I normally use about three of those jugs per day when the temps are high like this. Plus when I get home I normally down 2 to 3 glasses of iced tea before I go out to do anything here. I keep a thermometer hanging on the tool rack behind my workbench. When the temp there hits 105 I'm under orders from my wife to close down:) And I do! She used to work with me in the woodshop until four years ago when she suffered a bout of heat exhaustion. Although she is a good bit better now, her internal thermostat STILL doesn't function correctly and she has trouble handling heat. I can't afford that happening to me so I'm really careful. I try to do the heavier work during the morning hours, and then around 2 or so, I knock off and run errands or just go home. We do have a 4 foot fan blowing air into the shop- without that it would be totally unbearable in there. We call it "Gale" cause it blows a gale:) I will say working with epoxy is really a different thing when everything is near 100 degrees. You learn to work with smaller batches and learn to work FAST!!

Try this site. he's in Victoria Australia. Mike is a nice guy and is really into wooden boats. If he doesn't have what you want, perhaps he can advise you. http://www.woodenboatfittings.com.au./

Of course, now the boat is upside down again, getting ready for glassing. The motor well is cut out, the centerboard slot is cut and rounding is underway on the chines. Being something over 101 degrees in the shop today isn't helping my working speed. IT'S HOT!!!! [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

and there's the motor well sides. The cockpit sides are installed also, but I don't have a pic [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

Although it doesn't look like a helluva lot, getting the centerboard case built and installed took a while [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

The boat went upside down again after you left Travis. Pictures tomorrow. Frank- he already PAID for the boat, not just bid on it, so I gotta give it to him

John - you'll have to sit down and read the info on the web site. Harmony came about during a chat one night on the TSBB. A bunch of us were batting stuff back and forth and viola!! Harmony was born. It's pretty spread out as of now, but I think the company will become a Texas entity shortly, in conjunction with my current company, CNL Woodworks. CNL holds the MIC's and sold the boats to Harmony, but I think the two will be merging before long. It's an interesting read though, so I think you'll enjoy it. Bear in mind that there was some $35,000 invested in this venture before any one met anyone face to face- this was ALL done via the internet, and mostly on the chat rooms via TSBB Crazy huh? But it's been fun And no, I haven't received an email from you today. Not yet anyway:(

This site needs to be redone cause things have changed a bunch, but here's a web site where you can see pics of all the boats I've built in the last couple years, save the dink for me and the Princess 22 I have under way right now. There are a good many pics of the Weekender under construction there. http://www.harmonyboatworks.com/

A friend of the owner took the Weekender I built for him up to the Classic & Wooden Boat Festival at the Door County Maritime Museum at Sturgeon Bay this weekend. The EMYLYN won first place for sailboats under 20-ft LOA.

Yes there are things to use to check the tension on shrouds, Called a "LOOS guage" You can get them from West Marine among other places. I've used them to pre-tension rigging on racing sloops, and to check the rig tension on other boats, including my 21 foot sloop. Hnady gadget, but not real cheap

- until your trailer wheels drop into that little dip there at the top of the ramp- you know the one- to drain away the water? and it's 3 inches deep- and then the rudder goes blooie!! - again. :cry: Make a sign to hang on the steering wheel that say's "raise the rudder, dummy!!" :?