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Pat Mellema

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Everything posted by Pat Mellema

  1. Russ This is a good topic as I just launched last summer. When I pulled the cover off this spring I had a couple of small spots that needed attention to get it back to the way I want it. I feel with a wooden boat you are always going to have something to fix.
  2. Jim Is that pirogue a canoe with a deck on it. I like the looks of it.
  3. Samuel You have the advantage in this contest. The water warms up here alot sooner than it does in Alaska. I almost took my boat out tonite on Muskegon lake but I want to do a little work on her.
  4. Welcome back Mike glad to see you are feeling better.
  5. capt I used livewell plugs put into short lengths of 1/2" pvc pipe epoxied into a 1" hole. I located them in the rear of the cockpit as that is wherethe water ran to in my testing on the trailer. I found that in Sanndragon water pools in the rear even when in the water.
  6. Frank I would go with the thickness planer as you need something to make your wood the proper thickness. I have a jointer and it does not handle wide boards that are not flat. I built a thickness sander that will make boards flat and it works well but it is very slow to use. the biggest problem is you have to use a real corse grit sanding belt with it to make it work and it takes a lot of effort to make the lumber smooth after you run it through it.it is nice to be able to make wood to a size other than stock thickness for a lot of woodworking projects.
  7. Mr. Scott I built a weekender for my first boat. It was a large learning experience for me but I am glad I did it. It was easy to learn how to sail and it is a very forgiving boat to sail. The site that Johannah was talking about is. http://www.pragdata.com/philboat/ It has a lot of good information on it. He has done a good job of showing the parts that are a little vague in the plans.
  8. Jan It is easy to make your own chainplates. You sound like you have all the tools needed to make them. I used a drillpress a hacksaw and a vise to make mine. I would wait to put them on after you finish the hull.
  9. Jan I rolled my weekender Sanddragon with one person helping me. We had no problem turning it over. I put a furnature dolly under the stem and a milk crate under the stern. I had no problems with it and it kept the cabin roof from laying on the concrete. After I had done the glassing and paint I raised it up on 4' tall sawhorses and was able to paint the interior standing up there was no problems painting this way. I had not painted before the sides went on.
  10. Barry I had a call this afternoon from my doughter asking me if the ground hog saw his shadow this morning. She was taking my grandchildern to school and was asked by my granddoughter if the ground hog saw his shadow this morning so she called me knowing I have the radio on all morning to ask the question. Did the ground hog see his shadow? . I asked what differance it made out in Hawaii as that is where they are stationed. She said it makes a differance in the amount of rain they see out there. They say spring is right around the corner or they will have 6 more weeks of rain. I felt bad telling my doughter that I had about 3' of snow around my boatand didn't think it would melt for another 2 months where I could get the boat out.
  11. Captn I also have a 36# electric it is fine if the wind is not comming at you. Where I sail the wind is straight up the channel out of the marina. I found it had enough power to get me out but just barely. I have picked up a gas motor that does the job very well for me.
  12. Greg That sounds like it could be a fun afternoon.
  13. Tom When I was building I did not paint any of the interior. When it was time to paint the forpeak and cabin interior I built a set of 4' sawhorses to set the boat on. I was able to stand up and paint the forpeak and cabin interior. It was easy to paint the cabin roof and the forward lockers on the seats. It was worth the effort doing it that way. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]
  14. Jan Another way to cut the grooves is to put a bolt through the center hole and chuck it up in a drill press and turn it like it was on a lathe. I have turned spools for another project that way and it worked well. Your boat is looking good.
  15. Frank I know what you are going through as I lost my father to cancer 5 years ago. He was the man I looked up to to give me the answers to life that never could be answered. He was not one to fix or do anything. He said I could use any tools that were around and started me on a life of fixing and building anything. His strong suite was sales and he could sell anything to just about anyone. I ended up with his abillity to sell things but also with the ability to make anything that I put my mind to. I will always remember his ability to tell me I could do anything I wanted to. One thing he didn't pass on to me was the ability to pass on an idea in words. It is one of the things I most wish I had the ability to do. He was my hero.
  16. I have a 36# electric that I have used but had problems as the battery was old. I was at least 4 years old and it wouldnt last. I had enough to get out of the marina but was out of power by the time I got back. If I had a new battery it would probally work fine. I ran accross a 5hp Mariner at a garage sale and bought it for $350. It moves the boat well but is a bit over what the Weekender needs. I liked the electric for its quiet. You feel it as a slight vibration rather then hear it.
  17. Jim The 3x8 size foam you mentioned is 4 cuft at aprox 64lbs/cuft or about 256 lbs floation. less the weight of the foam which is about 3lbs so it would give you about 250 lbs floation. A full 4X8 sheet of 2"foam board is about 5.333 cuft or about 340lbs of floation
  18. Wayne I have tried spreaders that were 6" wide and found that my gaff still hangs up on the shrouds. I am planing on making a spreader that is 12" and see if that will allow the gaff to turn. It does make a difference when you are out sailing in a blow and the top of the sail is running straight because it cannot turn on the mast because it is hanging up on the shrouds.
  19. I am also having a problem with quicktime. I run the program and quicktime opens and showes a blank video.
  20. Frank That is what I thought it was when I saw it.
  21. Wayne I like your interpretation of what I described. I drew a crude sketch of what I did. I had made the mount in about an hour as I had to make something to put it on. It was the quickest way to do it that I could think of. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]
  22. Wayne I had made a mount like it shows in the plans for my electric motor. A friend of mine loaned me an antique 3 hp Johnson and it didn't reach far enough into the water so I built a bracket that ran on tracks that I attached to the sides of the brackets. I looked and didn't find any pictures of it. I bought a piece of aluminum channel that was 3/4in inside and put it over some strips of wood that were cut to fit the size of the channel. I then screwed these to the mount. I then built a mount that slid down the the original bracket. I cut dados in the piece that fits the channels that I added to the original mount. It worked well for me to use the motor. I was at a flea market and came across an adjustable aluminum bracket for $25 and have mounted it on my boat. About 3 weeks ago I found a 5 hp Mariner outboard at a garage sale for $250. I took Sanddragon out with it on saturday and found that is about all the motor you would want on a weekender. It just about puts her up on plane.
  23. Greg No it was from Menards it was cheeper there and I think it is a little heavier.
  24. This past summer we had a fleet of tall ships in Muskegon. We took Sanddragon out to watch them on parade and it is amazing how many people took pictures of our boat from the tall ships. We were within 50 yards of some of them and could watch them putting the sails up and getting ready to sail out.
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