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Don Silsbe

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Everything posted by Don Silsbe

  1. Maybe I'm the lone voice in the wilderness, but I love rowing. If the boat is light and fair, and designed for rowing, there is no better way to move along-- except for sailing, of course. A pull and a glide, with no obnoxious noise or noxious fumes. Do realize that I could row a boat before I could ride a bike. (My hand is on the oar in this photo.) That might have something to do with my affection for rowing.
  2. I always reserve the right to be wrong. In this case, I'd love to be shown a way that one could do this. My main intent has been to identify the structural challenges that DISTELTK will face in doing this. I'm a retired mechanical engineer. My job (and current mindset) has been to identify the problems, and then set out to solve them. Additional thoughts: The pivot point will need to be quite high, because there is very little swing room below the plane of the deck. The first question to Graham is how small a distance can be tolerated, between the pivot point and the bottom of the mast. That's the key. The rest is figuring out how to retrofit this on an existing boat.
  3. Free ticket? Count me in! I'd love to come help paint a boat in Perth. My dad used to do that a few years back. Actually, it was Freemantle. That's where his submarine sailed out of, when he was winning the war.
  4. Clever solution! I used a router, and some fancy templates. It got pretty complicated, and the results weren't perfect. I think you're on to something.
  5. It's not impossible to do. But any solution that I come up with has serious structural issues. There's not a lot of distance between the deck and the sail-- maybe 12", 14" at most. The fact that the mast is un-stayed puts extra demands on the tabernacle and mast. It'd have to absorb a lot of stress in a very short distance. And the mast is so close to the stem, that it is not possible to do a conventional B&B Yacht Designs tabernacle, short of re-stepping the main aft about 15". That's gonna start to wreak havoc with the mizzen as well as trim. Here are some more shots of other boats, to illustrate my points. To me, the lippy-mast-hole-funnel-thingy is the best possible solution.
  6. Thanks, Matt. One of my goals is "clean" fittings. Keep the decks and seat/thwarts as clear as reasonable possible*, etc. The same applies to the rudder. I wanted it neat and tidy. We'll see how it all shakes out. * This will also be my fishing boat. The fewer blocks, fairleads, & other associated nautical stuff the better. Gotta keep the decks clear for fighting those huge Carolina Bass!
  7. Anybody with the name "ActionTiger" should like black and yellow stripes, eh? No, actually that is Black Walnut, which will be varnished. Thanks, Jay. I keep looking too closely at it, seeing all my imperfections I need to step away. It's fine.
  8. Here's the final product. I'm good with it.
  9. The thing you are all missing is that on a BRS15, the mast step is way forward. The base of the mast very nearly meets the joint between the stem and keel batten. (The BRS15 does have a stem, btw.) I've attached a photo of someone else's boat, since mine isn't quite to this point. I believe a scoop (second photo), or a temporary tabernacle are the only ways to help the situation.
  10. No worries, Chick! I'm fully prepared to make a new rudder 100% to the drawing, if this doesn't work out. I just had to pounce on that "if". So Jay's the originator. Duly noted.
  11. Great comeback, Ken Potts! I've experienced a storm like that, cruising Lake Huron. I was on a 41-footer, but a storm is a storm. Your boat looks great! I'm hoping to roll mine over in about a week.
  12. Jay-- The first of my final coats went on well, with good leveling. I thinned it a bit too much, I think. The sides will get a second coat today.
  13. Thanks, guys. Good to know that 6 oz is OK. I'll go ahead and double up at the joint. One layer of 6 oz and resin adds about 0.050". I measured the sheathing piece I cut-out for my Anderson bailer. I always intended to use gravity as a clamp, Chick. Alan's method worries me, for some reason. Is there any advantage to doing that, Alan? And does Cabo-sil = Q-cell? I've got fairing compound (Quick Fair and an Interlux product), but I think that epoxy thickened with Cabo would be stronger. Right?
  14. Is 6 oz cloth OK for glassing the c/b? That's what I'd planned on. It's what I have, and have accounted for in board thickness.
  15. I don't see any gluing "dowels" between the lead and the c/b. Not necessary?
  16. Epifanes calls for the final sanding to be with wet sandpaper. I used the regular Lowes 3M 320 grit, followed by 400 wet/dry. (Coarser wet/dry paper is not readily available out in the boondocks.) Hopefully between that, an alcohol wipe-down followed by a $24/pt brushing thinner wipedown, the paint won't peel off the boat. Who knows? You might see a real "fluffy" BRS 15 at the next Messabout!
  17. Normally, I don't expect to make much progress on a Tuesday, as it's my volunteer day. But I had a breakthrough. At the Messabout, I acquired some data regarding the kick-up rudder. I did some R&D (see Graham's recent definition) about uphauls and downhauls. I've been trying to come up with something new and clever. (I'm a retired engineer, and I can't help myself!) The downhaul was fairly straightforward, but I wanted something special for the uphaul. I really didn't want the line chafing on the outside of my rudder. I know it works, but... Anyway, this is what I came up with. The yellow line is 4mm Dinghy Control Line. The gray channel is made out of a 3/8" OD water line, the kind that you use to connect a faucet to house plumbing. It still needs to be trimmed, of course. Cutting the radius was another interesting challenge. But here's what I've got.
  18. Drew-- "Thrillsbe" was the name I acquired during my whitewater rafting days. It stuck, and ended up on the sides of my Catalina 27. Fortunately, I no longer name my boats that. I've only used it for my nickname on this forum. (Much to the confusion of some.) So, I understand confusing boat names. Press on! Looking forward to photos of your build process.
  19. Funny thing, Jay. I got home and ordered the paint. Then I checked the thinner, and found out I needed some more of that, too! Now, I'm waiting for a break in the weather. Looks like Thursday & Friday are my days. And I have it on my list to call the Epifanes tech rep, too. Those guys sure are tight-lipped, when it comes to sharing info on-line.
  20. Research and Duplicate. Love it, Graham.
  21. Looks like it has been a length of time, since I updated y'all on my build. Well, let's just say that I wish I'd really understood PAR's negative comments on WR-LPU earlier. I couldn't get it to go on without either a)running or leaving brush marks. Once I discovered that "other" 2-part epoxies were compatible (if one used the cross-linker), I switched to Epifanes 2--part poly. It is going better, but still requires a little caution. I'm currently waiting for the ideal day to apply the final coat(s). For the interior, I'm switching to Interlux Brightsides. (Yes, I'm a coward.) In the meantime, I've been working on my deck and thwarts, as well as my rudder. The deck will be built up of 1/4" X 3/4" strips of black walnut. If this works out, it ought to be gorgeous. Otherwise... The rudder will be a result of wisdom gleaned from the 2015 Messabout.(I know that the rudder is turned around in this photo, btw.) Here are some photos:
  22. It was great meeting you last weekend, Jay. Here's my favorite photo of Southern Express. I have more. Give me your e-mail address, and I'll send them to you. Mine is donsilsbe@gmail.com.
  23. I'm having a great time at the Messabout! Can't wait for tomorrow's fun. Here are a couple of photos.
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