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ScottWidmier

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Everything posted by ScottWidmier

  1. Just got done glueing up a birdsmouth mast for my 12' Knot Yacht. I had to replace the thin walled aluminum flagpole that gave up the ghost on the florida 120. I tried to find an aluminum solution but the price was just so high. This is the second birdsmouth mast I have made though I still will need to plan eb it round. Birdsmouth masts, if built correctly, are both lighter and stronger than a solid mast. Also, you can use inexpensive 1x pine for our sized boats. I would not use.mahogony as it weighs too much. A few tips. First, I like using a table saw to make the staves. Second, I make a cradle to put the mast together in by having a 1x backbone and make half round cutoffs the diameter of the rough mast in scrap wood and mount them vertically on the backbone. Third, I like off-center birdsmouths with the shorter side on the outside of the mast leaving more material on the inside. I accomplished this by making regular staves out of 1x and then shaving off 1/4 inch on one side leaving 1/2 inch staves. Lightens up the mast as well. Good luck!
  2. Nice new forum Frank! My new comfortable boat is a dark blue hulled Compac Suncat so I will get to experience your pain. One thing I am trying on that boat is teak oil instead of varnish. Have to apply it more often but it only takes 15 minutes with a rag to get all the teak. No worries about sanding off old varnish.
  3. The Florida 120 challenge is happening May 12th to the 15th this year and we already have 26 skippers signed up in a nice cross-section of boats. The Florida 120 kicks off Thursday morning at Pirates Cove in Josephine, AL with an 8am skippers meeting. The route is the same as in previous years with us stopping and camping as a group at Sand Island thurs., Navarre Fri., and Sailboat Cove Saturday. The goal of this event is to eventually do this who route without a motor though we do support 4 different classes ranging from unlimited use (class 4) to no motor on board (class 1). We also differ from the BEER cruise in the number of small open boats we have participating in the event. This is a great route in protected waters so a great place to test out your small-boat cruising skills before some of the harsher events such as the Texas 200 or the Everglades Challenge. One change for this year is we will have communal dinners Thursday and Saturday nights thanks to Pat Jackson and Pat Johnson. The costs will be $5 per person for both meals so really eliminating the need to carry any dinners on-board! Pat Johnson will be providing support in his new Bolger Microtrawler! For more information go to our facebook page by searching florida 120. Current list is shown below. Also, the signin link is below. www.florida120.com
  4. Some of you may remember my experimental 12' boat that I designed and built and called "Knot Yacht." Well, I sailed her a few times last season and decided on some modifications over the winter. The mods that will impact sailing are: 1) adding sailtrack and spreaders to firm up the mast, 2) lowering attachment point for forestay which also lowered the fractional jib, 3) moving the mainsheet to the end of the boom though I still need to add a boom vang. The mods that will impact comfort are: 1) a spray diverter, 2) oars to get back to shore when there is no wind (I also have an electric motor I can put on), 3) lines on either side of the cockpit I can tether things to like waterbottles...maybe a six pack? I plan on getting her out on the water this afternoon or tomorrow depending on weather. Yes, it is warm enough down here to sail something like this! Depending on the trials, I may use her on the Florida 120 hence the oars. BTW, when my wife looked at Knot Yacht with all the sails up she immediately christened it the "Nuts Yacht." :{
  5. Puddle Duck Regionals at Red Top Red Top Mountain Lake Allatoona, GA Come bring your Puddle Duck Racer to beautiful Lake Allatoona, location of the 2009 World PDR Championship, for the Red Top Regionals hosted by the Allatoona Puddle Duck Fleet and the Sea Scouts. Date: September 17th to the 19th, 2010 (campground reserved Thursday the 16th to Monday the 20th) Location: We have reserved the Pioneer group camping site at Red Top Mountain State Park off of I75 North of Atlanta (see: http://gastateparks.org/RedTopMountain). The Pioneer camping site is separate of the general camping area on the shore of a beautiful little cove with plenty of sloping shore to park the puddle duck racers on. The camping site has plenty of room for tents and limited room for camping vehicles (about 5). It has a roomy pavilion in case it rains, a nicely set up fire ring with bench seating, and several outhouses. If you want a more traditional camping experience with flush toilets you can book a campsite at Red Top Mountain State Park and drive to the Pioneer Campsite. Right across the cove is the Red Top Mountain Lodge which would be available for non-campers to stay and provide a restaurant except Georgia State decided to close the lodge down this June. If you want hotel accommodations, the nearest nice hotel is the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Cartersville, GA (see: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/atlcv-fairfield-inn-and-suites-cartersville/) There is a paved boat launch ramp near the Pioneer Campsite that lets out into the main lake or you can simply cart your Puddle Duck down to the shore at the campsite. The cove is a deep one so plan on some form of alternative propulsion to get your boat out into the main lake for the races. We will have tows available. People wanting to watch the races should go to the nearby launch ramp for a good view. Costs: There are no fees for this event though donations are gladly accepted to cover the expense of the Pioneer Campsite. There are no camping fees you will have to pay to stay in the Pioneer Campsite. Schedule: Thursday: Pioneer Campsite available after 2pm. Lake is always open. Friday: 3pm practice racing and race clinic 7pm Chili Cookoff 8pm communal campfire and meet and greet Saturday: 9am Skippers meeting for races 10 am to ? official regional race series (we will run multiple races) 4pm Pirate Poker Run! Arrgghh!! 7pm Dinner and awards ceremony hosted by the SouthWinds Sailing Club Sunday: 10 am long-distance race/cruise Events Details: Practice Racing and Race Clinic: Get familiar with sailing your boat around the racing marks on Lake Allatoona. Experienced racers will be on-hand to help explain racing and sailing rules. Chili Cookoff: Chefs bring your best Chili to share with the group. Prizes for best chili and most original chili will be awarded Saturday night. Skippers Meeting: Very important to attend as you will be learning about the race course setup, number of laps, and number of races for the day based upon forecasted conditions. Official Regional Race Series: We will be running at least three races weather permitting for this years Red Top Regionals. We will be doing a traditional water racing start across a starting line. More information to be presented at the Skippers Meeting. Please bring a trophy that will be awarded to another ducker. Pirate Poker Run: This popular event is back so bring 20
  6. Hi Ken, Sorry for the confusion but we are currently using the Florida 120 forum over at www.texas200.com and the two years are kinda mushed in there together. I have set up a facebook group however and will hopefully get everyone to switch over to that after this event. Sorry you won't be making the trip! As for oil-spill planning, there are some posts about this on the Florida 120 forum over at www.texas200.com. I am keeping an eye on things and will make the call mother's day weekend. Our alternative location is Pine Island Sound which is beautiful territory as well. I will be emailing everyone that is registered for the event to update them as to status. Scott
  7. Ken, the skippers meeting is at 9am and the first days sail is around 15 miles (more if you go outside into the gulf). There is time to either launch before the skippers meeting or after and make it to the first stop in plenty of time. So, if you want to find a hotel when you are getting close then get up in the morning that would work just fine. Personally, I do enjoy just hanging out with folks on Wednesday talking about boats and all. BTW, we are working up a backup plan on our forum on the www.texas200.com site for the oil spill. We are now looking at Pine Sound south of Tampa. I don't think we will have to use it but will make the call this weekend.
  8. Pirates Cove is a fairly laid back place and they do have camping there along with a bathroom and shower house. Not really any hotels right close by.
  9. She sails! I tookQueequag's Coffin out to sail today in variable winds with gusts up to 15mph and she sailed beautifully! I just couldn't get over the little rouster tail behind the rudder as we went flying along. She was wonderfully stable and very fast on the water. Kudos to Gavin for a wonderful design of Hot Rat whose hull I pretty much built verbatim other than 2" more freeboard. Perhaps the most successful first time sail of a boat I have ever had. The mast and sail are off of a captiva boat and feature roller furling around the mast which worked wonderfully and was a delight. The rudder is a kick-up push-pull and she has one leeboard which I got in just the right spot. I had one of those closed cell foam pool floats in the bottom which was great comfort when there wasn't enough wind to hike out which wasn't all that often. I did wash the rails a time or two but a little extra hike out with my toes tucked under the deck got her back from the brink quickly. Going to be a great one-person cruiser! I do have to mention that the hatches were underwater several times and only leaked a few drops. They were not yet modified and I think a little foam weather stripping around the edges will get rid of any leak. Will have my duck tape along just in case of course. We had some wicked powerboat chop and she plowed through just fine. Only took some splashes over the deck when I got hit broadside by a particularily nasty wave created by a slow powerboat towing kids behind who steered within 20' to look at the cute boat.....grrr.... I didn't get any pictures on the water but here is the latest picture I have showing the mast and sail with the electrical conduit boom. The boom fits down into a pipe in the deck and acts as a downhaul. Since this picture, I lowered the whole mast assembly a little since this picture
  10. Steve, sorry to hear that! Keep in mind, until I change it the Florida 120 will always be the weekend after mother's day. BTW, for anyone interested Mike Monies is looking for crew for the Florida 120 on his Laguna Dos
  11. I moved both my puddle duck and queequag's coffin to the garage and took a picture.
  12. I have been working on the boat but, like most of you know, things start to go very slowly when getting close to finishing as you spend time sanding, filling, sanding and etc... Here are a few more pictures though: Deck is epoxied and if you look closely you will see a mahogany board to port. This is the upper part of my leeboard system and has holes drilled every 3" for the leeboard pivot bolt. This should allow for some adjustments while underway or when reefing the leg o mutton sail. The lower part is a bumper that keeps the board out away from the hull. Still might do a little more to reinforce the upper board as it will have a lot of stresses on it during certain tacks. Also in this picture are the flexible poles for the tent arrangement over the cockpit. I may cut them a little bit shorter so the peak is lower. Goal is for something that is comfortable but also something I could sail with in place on raining or bad weather days. http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn17/swidm/Expedition%20Rat/8b5a5588.jpg[/img] One of the things I have laying around the house is a closed cell foam pool float. I used the sister to this float for the cockpit cushions on my MacGregor 26D (with sunbrella coverings) and found them very comfortable to sleep on. So, this will be my sitting pad, sleeping pad, swim float, and add to my emergency flotation. http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn17/swidm/Expedition%20Rat/4b5db9ec.jpg[/img] With a name like Queequag's Coffin you have to paint the hull of the boat black of course. I will also be adding handles around the boat to make lifting easier. A good friend of mine in our local sailing club has a pirate raftup and he is insisting I make a paddle look like a skeleton leg with foot attached, dress up like a pirate, and come paddling up. Ever seen "Dead Man's Chest?"
  13. No, the experimental sail didn't work too well though.
  14. The boat behind me is a Puddle Duck Racer with an experimental sail. I am planning on one leeboard for Queequag's Coffin. Though, maybe I will do two with one further forward than another to balance out the boat when reefed.
  15. The coffin in Moby Dick was Queequeg's coffin. I love the literary reference and have decided to name the boat Queequeg's Coffin :-D ! Helps that it was an unsinkable coffin.
  16. Not quite satisfied with having only two boats to choose from, I went ahead and started a new quick build one person cruiser boat design. It is a crude imitation of a Barnegat Bay sneakbox but the hull shape is taken from Gavin Atkin's Hot Rat with the aft section being designed for planing performance. The pictures shown below are after about 4 hours of building. I will try and explain a little of what you see. First picture is from the bow which, while it looks square, does have rocker down below. There is a full forward bulkhead about 25" aft of the bow to which the mast-step will be braced. This also provides flotation and, with a good hatch, can also provide some storage. Second picture is from the stern. The aft bulkhead is at the aft part of the cockpit opening. Again, it is a full bulkhead providing flotation and a hatch will given access for storage. There is a little over 7 feet of stretching out room between the forward and aft bulkheads with freeboard of 12" for footspace when laying down. The cockpit opening will be covered by a flexible pole arrangement similar to dome tents. If I design it right, there is the possibility of sailing with this in place when raining. However, for true speed the skipper will want to hike out on the side decks. http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn17/swidm/Expedition%20Rat/Stern.jpg[/img] The next two pictures actually show there is rocker to the hull with a nice flat section aft for planing performance (hopefully). Displacement at 400 lbs. I plan on filling and sanding the chines before taping with polyester resin. The rest of the hull will get a simple paint job. I want to minimize time spent building and wind up with something light enough to hoist to the roof rack of my car. I am thinking of some different names like "The Box" for the actual name of the boat. Did think of "Casket" or "Coffin" but I am a little to superstitious to name a boat that. What do you think?
  17. I think a Hobie would do fine on the Florida 120. You can strap down some dry bags or convince some of the bigger boats to carry your stuff. The tramp on the Hobie would make a plenty comfortable bed and a tarp would be enough to keep the dew off. No worries about bugs on the trip.
  18. Sorry Ken, got you confused with Brian who also has a yellow cs17 :sad:
  19. Hi Steve, sorry I didn't make mention of you in the article but we really didn't get a chance to talk all that much and I kinda forgot. Besides, you moved so quickly under sail relative to my 12'er that I really didn't see you much on the water either. I want to correct that next-time...how about a beer or two on me at Pirates Cove? If you do have a smaller beachable boat I would highly recommend it for next year. Ken, glad you will be coming as well...or at least intend to come. Be great to see your CS17 on the water with some wind...unlike the time I saw it at Hartwell. I am trying to talk Keith into coming as well but we will see.
  20. Should be an interesting read. Information for 2010 is at the end of the article. We already have 15 skippers signed up. http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/10/gatherings/florida120/index.htm
  21. Jim, tell Meghan her kayak is looking great! You need to get working on that Core Sound for the FL120 btw. I am still planning on the 2011 Everglades challenge. Little Gem is in the garage getting watertight hatches, a new mast step, bowsprit, and a jib for more sail area. The benches have been lightened and lowered by 4" and I made a new dodger cabin that is lower and better than the original. Have to post pictures soon.
  22. Now that is some art that tickles my fancy. Fun to look at and think about!
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