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Don Silsbe

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Everything posted by Don Silsbe

  1. Oh, Lord, you painted her dark blue. That is going to be one sexy boat!
  2. Well, OK, maybe just this once. LOL
  3. I dunno. I don’t see a lot of attention to securing the bottom of the tent to the boat. When I did something similar, I had problems. The one time I used the tent, the wind was blowing around 15. Look at this video, especially around the bottom edge of the tent. If it had been raining, I would have been drenched. IMG_6350.MOV
  4. @Kennneee— Your boat sails like a dream! The sails are not only a beautiful color, but have a gorgeous shape. You’ee going to have loads of fun with this boat. One thing— You didn’t sail downwind much, but when you did, the mizzen kept flipping over. I am not ashamed to say that when sailing downwind, I set my sails a little by the lee. That is, a little further forward of perpendicular to the wind. I lose a little sail efficiency, but the sails stay put. Thanks for taking me sailing! p.s./ It looks like you must have heard Hirilonde, because you took your fenders in, later in the video. Funny.
  5. Amen to that, brother! LOL I just pleased to see that I’m not the only person who finds this practice unsettling.
  6. I love that Vulcan anchor you sent us. Can’t wait to get it dirty! I leave for Florida on Wednesday. Woo-hoo!
  7. Here’s the latest. The c/b is back in, and it looks like it might actually pivot! (No photo.) The companionway storage units are all done, and in place. The forepeak storage is also done. Tomorrow, I finish the runner on the trailer for the c/b. Then it’s time to start packing!
  8. @Nick C— Thanks for the input. I was given a gift of their 2-3/4” PSA rolls and a foam sanding block. That paper was made in Poland. It is pretty poor stuff. Good to hear that they have other grades that perform better, because there’s a store 45 minutes away. (I live in the country, so almost everything is at least 30 minutes away.)
  9. @Paul356– Thanks. I am leery of off-brand sandpaper. Good info. I agree with you about Shopsmith brand. They’re great, but mu Lowes no longer carries them
  10. I’ve been feeding my Random Orbital Sander a steady diet of varying brands of 5” sanding discs. I’ve tried Shopsmith, Diabolo, Craftsman, and Norton ProSand blue discs. I’m not totally pleased with any of them. Which brand(s) do you prefer, and where do you order them from? Russel Brown prefers Norton sandpaper, but the blue stuff I can get at my local lumber yard doesn't last very long. What do you use, and where do you buy it?
  11. Thanks, Amos. Working on this boat has been good for my marriage. I want to build something, but The War Department wanted to know which boat I was going to get rid of. It didn’t make sense to me, but I did sense that the answer was no to the new boat build. Making improvements to Ted’s boat has fed the Beast. I’m good until next fall. We’ll see how that shakes out. I’m hanging out with the WCTSS in Florida. Here are their cruises. I’m going to all their Feb. and Mar. events. Check out their FB page, by searching for “West Coast Trailer Sailing Squadron”.
  12. The bow roller is finished, and just in time! Ted bought a sexy new anchor— a Rocna Vulcan. I am so excited to try out this new toy! I think I’ll add a rope tether, since I just don’t trust rubber. She also got a first coat of varnish today, to cover the new work below as well as the exterior brightwork. On rainy days, I work on these add-on panels for the inside of the companionway. And the keel rollers are now in place on the trailer. She’s setting a little cock-eyed on the trailer. I hope that launching her will make everything align properly. I take her to Florida in 12 days. I think I’m gonna be ready. Maybe. I hope.
  13. Thanks for this, Alan. I’m not lengthening the c/b this year, for a couple of reasons. If I store her next winter, I’ll probably do that. One question— We usually stand on the c/b, when righting after a capsize. Are we confident that this modification will sustain that load?
  14. Southern Express is a fine boat. Happy that Carol put her foot down. With Avocet, no matter what trick I tried, she would always veer OFF-wind, if I let go of the helm. This is dangerous. Besides, it’s difficult to tack, when the tiller is already halfway over. And the boat is slower, too. I think this is the reason that the previous owner had a reef in only the main in this photo. That is the one trick I did not try.
  15. @Jknight611— Two Bits comes north with me every year. It seemed only right to have her tag along on this adventure. I didn't use her much, but it was fun rowing her around to greet the other boaters. I’m looking for a good excuse to build a nesting Spindrift 10. (The need for speed requires feed.). Would you like to buy her? I gave her a tall rig last year. (Again, the need for speed.)
  16. I’ve got a little Awlgrip white primer. I might just hit it a lick. But thanks for the option.
  17. We finally got a warm day, so I did some final epoxy work. I gave the interior a final dress coat. More importantly, I glassed up the slot underneath.p
  18. @Jknight611—This is a serious change. If Avocet had not had so much leeward helm, there’s no way I’d be cutting into her.
  19. I belong to the WCTSS, the West Coast Sailing Squadron (Florida). They do an incredible amount of sail cruising and messabouting in Florida, mostly on the west coast of Florida. I plan to join them in Avocet in a few weeks. Dan Roeder is the unofficial commodore of the squadron. He just posted this video of their latest adventure. They have a Facebook page. Here is the link to their website: http://wctss.net
  20. I thought the c/b location thing was limited to the first few 17’s. (I always reserve the right to be wrong.) It is interesting to me to see your new stem and that 1” high keel. Has that always been there?
  21. @PadrePoint— That was going to be my answer. You beat me to the punch!
  22. Two coats on. Gotta sand some ridges, and give it a final coat. I still need to finish the under side, but I’m happy with it.
  23. It is going to work! I took the clamp out of the slot, and inserted a stick as wide as the c/b is thick. It moves freely in the slot. My fear has been that the buildup of materials would make the slot narrower than the c/b. Not a good thing! Here’s a better shot of my slot clamp. The bottom piece has packing tape on the outside of it. It released easily, btw. The top piece makes up the difference for the slot width. In the middle are a pair of shim/wedges. I used a glue gun to stick the shims to the sticks. This worked like a champ! Finally, I filleted and taped everything. No photo now, maybe later. Oh yeah. And yesterday, I picked up the bunk cushion from a trim shop. It needed a chunk taken out of it, to make room for this extension.
  24. This morning, I did the operation that I have been dreading. Gluing the inboard side of the c/b trunk. After discussing it with Graham and Alan at the Messabout. The key was leaving a flap of glass on the inboard side of the plate, and attaching the plate to the boat while the epoxy was still green. The blue tape covers the picot hole: Now, the tape and glass have been cleared away. Clamping the flap to the trunk was a big concern. It would be easy to eat up the clearance between the board and the trunk. Here is my clamping system:Wedge/shims on slides. (It’s resting on a treated 2x6.) The parts are all gobbed up with glue: I‘ll know tomorrow if the c/b will still fit in the slot. Fingers crossed! The three little screws are locators, and will be removed, when I glass the cap. Tonight, I need to fillet and tape.
  25. Perfect!!! 1000 is certainly a lot of BS.
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