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Don Silsbe

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Everything posted by Don Silsbe

  1. Wow, that's nice work! Mine won't be that fancy. I hope to start on it in two or three weeks. I'll post as I go. Your photos are inspiring. Keep up the good work.
  2. I'm making a "lounging panel" for the area forward of my mizzen. This will allow my first mate to take up her favorite sailing position (horizontal), once we're under way. I plan to cover it with Dynel, to give me a nice non-skid pattern. It should be friendlier on her backside than crushed walnut shells! I'll post a photo when done. (In a week or so, I hope.) Off-center Harbor (offcenterharbor.com) has a great video on laminating materials to wood with epoxy resin, including Dynel. I learned a lot from it, and am anxious to see how it comes out.
  3. Now it begins! Enjoy your beautiful new boat!
  4. Beacher-- I thought about that, too. But then I thought maybe it would just run down the mast and out the drain at the mast step. Not sure which mistake/decisions I'll make on mine.
  5. Congratulations, Richard and Michele! You finished her just in time for spring. Now you have a whole sailing season ahead of you. More photos, please!
  6. Which material did you use for the poles on your sunshade-- glass, aluminum, or carbon fiber? I start making mine the end of this month.
  7. Poplar can come light or heavy. If I can get some light 12 footers, I'll probably build a Wee Lassie out of it. The light version is down there with spruce and cedar. Haven't used it for spars, yet, but Chick has. I prefer a coat or two of epoxy on porous or grainy woods such as mahogany, oak, or walnut. It is an excellent surface evener, eliminating the need for about 5 coats of "filler varnish". My sitka really didn't need epoxy, and I don't remember now whether I did or didn't seal it.
  8. Naw, Michalek boats are OK. It's just that most of the ones I've seen on his site were not "fussy builds". You know-- "give her a couple coats of Kilz and Glidden, and put her in the water". My buddy has been building a Mayfly, and has added a cabin. We're hoping to launch her in a few weeks... maybe. (He procrastinates.)
  9. Wow, that's good stuff to know, if I ever build that Wee Lassie. Robert, you're gonna have the finest Michalak boat on the planet, if you keep this up!
  10. PAR-- I don't understand what you're suggesting, but it sounds like something I want to know about. Can you explain, please?
  11. The color band's a great idea. On my boat, though, the mizzen is shorter. I just use the short stick at the back of the boat. I had some sitka spruce left over from another boat. If I didn't have that, I'd be picking through the 2x6 (non-sitka) spruce pile at Lowe's. Poplar is cheap around here, and light, too. It's a great choice, too. Hirlonde is correct-- the loads aren't as demanding as a boom. (Your sheet should attach to the sail, not the sprit.) Epoxy+varnish or just varnish, plus a chafing leather. I've seen wraps of twine used instead of leather, too.
  12. I used a second hand stainless steel pot that had two handles. I built a small wood fire to melt it. I used some concrete blocks to keep the pot steady, above the flame.
  13. I arrive on Thursday, but it is all taken up with shuttling travel trailer & going back home for the boat (with a church meeting thrown in for the thrill of it). We'll be looking forward to being in camp and on the water all day Friday through Sunday, and breaking camp Monday.
  14. It just occurred to me, Chick. You run the long shaft Suzi on Turtler?
  15. Mine took two sheets, Robert. But it's inly a 13 footer.
  16. Where you buying your plywood? Don was talking about buying a few sheets from those guys in G-ville.
  17. Give me an email address, and I'll mail it to you.
  18. I recessed the inside surface, and mounted from the inside out. The photos continue to fail to download. Pity. It would explain everything. But it mounts from the inside.
  19. This is how I did mine. Don't know if there's an advantage to either way. The upload of the interior shot failed. I'll try a second post for that photo. Nope. It won't go!
  20. I hear you, alexscott. (Haven't fired it up, yet.) But here's the deal. I'm the proud owner of an open sailboat. I build her for day sailing and fishing. Camp-cruising is a new concept for me, an experimental thing. Not sure how much of it I'll even do. For now, I'm trying to focus my spending where most of my activity is. Currently, extended cruises aren't that big a factor. The chainsaw motor seems like a cheap entry fee into the world of cruising. If the bug bites me hard, I'll take the plunge on a "real" motor.
  21. Ditto, on Ken_Potts comments. Thanks! Yeah, it's bad enough trying to tie gooey balloons-- blowing them up with gooey fingers is probably even less fun.
  22. Minnesota and Michigan both have a larger version of this bird. They don't use fly swatters to kill 'em, they use shotguns.
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