lbrewer

Here is the list of competitors from our group. If I've missed someone, please let me know. The "Messing About" Fleet Boat Name ----------------------- Forum Name Ebee Ann ------------------------------lbrewer Hirilonde --------------------------------Hirilonde Yellow Scourge ----------------------Ken_Potts wyvern ----------------------------------ChrisObee Morgaine Lady of the Lake ------adla RYD Yachts ---------------------------PAR PAR Yachts ---------------------------PAR

Joel, Welcome to the fleet. I've sent you an invitation to join the group. You have to go to the "my account" page and accept. You can add any or all of us as "friends" and you'll be able to follow our progress along with your own. Larry

The first boat I built was a skin on frame kayak/canoe hybrid from a plan in one of the "*mechanix" magazines of the mid 1960's. I used "mattress ticking" for the skin as suggested in the magazine and just kept painting it till it didn't leak! I had a blast in that boat. I was the only kid I knew who could "run the rapids" (that would be the area drainage ditches after an afternoon thunderstorm) in a boat that I built myself. Xynole is a tight-weave polyester fabric used with epoxy as hull sheathing because of its abrasion resistance. I've never heard anyone use it in SOF construction but it might lend itself to some experimentation. Maybe Tom Lathrop will chime in. He uses it and recommends it. Larry

Welcome Fuzzy, That was certainly an interesting introduction. I'd love to know more about the boats you've described and what made them unique in their appeal to you. It's great your dad drew up a plan before the idea was lost. You'll find a wealth of information just scanning through the posts that have already been written. You'll also find that there isn't a nicer group of folks on the internet, all willing to help, when you have a question. The materials that you described as "no longer available" may have an alternative if you can give us some more info. Larry

Thanks Greg. I got a lot of nice comments from people around the cove. I think you are right on target Dave. The sail is smaller than designed. I had the sail before I built the boat. Graham and I discussed it by email and we arrived at the same conclusion, that the center of effort is a bit too forward. He saw the sail in a picture posted earlier in this thread. Since I had the sail, I wanted to try it at least. I was ok with the sail being too small on that first try in the gusty winds . Even underpowered the boat got up on a plane. I think it will take a few trips for me to get a feel for dinghy sailing in general. I have purposely kept as little rigging as possible thinking I will probably change the sail to the correct one for the boat. You could be right about the tacking issue. I was just assuming it was me being all thumbs.

It has been officially splashed now. I launched at a friend's house in Orange Beach on Saturday. The pictures were taken on Saturday afternoon after the wind started to behave a bit. Saturday morning my camera operator didn't get any photos because he was obviously waiting for an upside down shot during one of the 25 mph gusts. It sailed very well, even in the difficult winds of the morning with no mishaps. I did have a little trouble swinging thru the wind on a tack but that was, I believe, a skipper problem, not a problem with the boat. It was my first time sailing anything smaller than about 20 ft.

I was hoping to have a core sound 17 done by then, but this working for a living thing is severely interfering with my boatbuilding. I've been trying to get the centerboard case installed for 4 days and something keeps coming up. On a happier note, I do have a spindrift 10 that I finished a while back. I think I'll launch it this weekend sometime. Or should I work on the core sound....hmmmmm? In any event, I am going to try real hard to make it to Pirates Cove on the 14th

Same here, I have room to get it out of the weather in the shop but not much room to work. It's great to be able to just wheel it out or in.

mobile with all-terrain tires 8) I also used the forward and aft bulkhead dimensions to make the cradle. I added a support in the middle as well by taking the angle off the hull bottom at that point. I

We had a pretty good discussion on various fillers in epoxy the other day on this thread: http://www.messing-about.com/forums/index.php?topic=6098.195

Nice work!

Great video! Thanks, I enjoyed it very much.

I usually buy wood flour as well because of its consistency. That being said, sometimes I can't get the color I want with the store bought stuff. Using sanding dust from the wood you are working with will usually turn out a lot darker than the wood itself once saturated with epoxy in a glue or fillet mixture. I find that adding some of the snow white cabosil (or sometimes maple flour) to the mixture will lighten it allowing you to match the wood better. If I am catching the dust for the purpose, I usually put a 120 grit belt on my belt sander. With the finer grit I don't worry about sifting. Larry

I use the fumed silica (cabosil) for its strength and anti-sag (thixotropic) properties. When glueing, I either use it by itself or with a bit of wood flour. For fillets, I usually use it with wood flour added. I have done fillets with only wood flour but the cabosil adds strength and helps the fillets retain their shape while curing. On areas to be finished bright, I vary the amount of silica with wood flour or sanding dust from different woods to achieve the color I am looking for. I do like Ray when fairing, mixing silica with microballoons or Q-cells, or I use Quick Fair. Larry

Ditto! And I was just about to catch him He only has about a 900 mile lead on me ;D Larry

I use a free program called GIMP to resize photos. It does a lot of other stuff too that I haven't taken the time to explore. You can do a google search on it and get different places to download easily. Here is one link: http://download.cnet.com/GIMP/3000-2192_4-10073935.html Larry

I let Tom Lathrop do most of the experimenting and bought plans for a 27 ft version of Liz . I may personalize it a little but he has had such success with that hull design in using lower hp and great fuel economy that I don't think I'll stray from the plans on the bottom. I've been planning this one for a while, but have held off starting so far because of the "all at once" expense of the ply that I need to have shipped. Business is not that great right now (go figure!). I've been feeding the boat building addiction with smaller, less involved projects. I have to admit, watching you're project going so well is getting me kinda antsy about taking the plunge. Who wants to be normal? ;D Larry

Okay, I rolled up the windows,locked the doors and drove through the lions den . The additional photos and narrative answered my questions. Thanks for sharing with us here as well. Its not off topic with me at all since I am planning a power cruiser project too. I seem to learn something every time you update!

Oyster, It

Me too! As usual, Oyster you have my attention. I'm anxiously awaiting the progess. Larry

Doesn't academia give you such a warm fuzzy? I was somewhat of a late starter to higher education, starting when I was 29. I recall, on several occasions, having to remind more than one professor that I was actually paying for an education.... with real money.....out of my pocket.....at great sacrifice to myself and family. I reminded them that, in fact, the students were not there for the instructor's benefit, but the reverse was true. I said it respectfully, but let it be known that he/she would not "steal" my money by not providing the service that I paid for (in advance) in a professional manor. I will stop there and hope that I have given you food for thought. ...Page 2! (I'm really gonna miss Paul Harvey) About your possible seizure incident, some information that you may find interesting can be found at a website authored and maintained by my veterinarian. Yes I said veterinarian, and yes, I'm serious. He has done a lot of research on controlling idiopathic epilepsy in dogs with diet rather than medication. While his research is nominally having to do with pets, he obviously wants you to draw a parallel human conclusion. I found it very thought provoking, but not being medically trained, I asked a medical doctor friend of mine what she thought about his research (she is a research pathologist and he is her vet also). Her reply was, "He's absolutely right, but not many people will do as he suggests". For what its worth the link is: http://www.dogtorj.com/ To keep this from being completely off topic....Would you please fix that silly leak! It's sounds like you really need to go sailing! Larry

Excellent! Be sure and let us know how she sails. Larry

Tom, You mix the epoxy and hardener together and then put it in the cooling box? That makes sense. I wonder why I've never tried that? I have cooled the resin and hardener in their own containers but never liked doing it because of how it thickens the resin and makes it harder to pump and mix.

I think you made the right choice Dave. I had originally planned a similar route and only changed my mind after that unpredicted wind change early on in the race. You went ahead and toughed through it, while I kept waiting for an easting opportunity that hasn't occurred. Unless we have another unpredicted wind change, those of us SW of the rhumb line are going to lose ground when we have to turn east to keep the New Zealand gate to starboard. Larry

A.though I did not see it at the start, I see the logic of their decision now (Ariadna & Aldabra) as I try to inch more eastward. My decision to take the more southerly route to the ocean is coming back to bite me. This is definitely a learning experience for me. Larry