Jump to content

MikeStevenson

Members
  • Posts

    398
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by MikeStevenson

  1. I think we call for walnut shells if you can get them, rather sand, but sand will work. We have seen boats with the stick-on non-skid and it works fine. It doesn't look as nice as the more traditional types, but it's fast and easy. Mike
  2. The Babe-Magnet effect hasn't been well researched here at Stevenson Projects, but we're willing to work on it... Actually, Todd Schmitt built his Weekender with that at least pertially in mind I think. :wink: It seemed to work. As regards his boat, he needs pestering to get it back in the water. It's been languishing for a couple of years. Send him notes, needle him into gettingit out this Summer. mailto:gminor@hotmail.com Mike
  3. Great looking boat! That's a serious hoembuilt...I suspect you'd actually need a boatyard to build in, but maybe not. A note about the scarfing of things: We have never built our boats this way. I know a lot of you are doing this, but be careful. The boats work fine with the joiners. I just don't trust that scarfing actually works, and to some degree the rubrail failure justifies this feeling. Mike
  4. It sounds like there's critical mass for a group of builders in Australia. You face the same problems we do here in the West of the US: Everybody's spread over hundreds and thousands of miles. There are probably around seventy or eighty sets of the Pocket Yacht plans since 1995 (when we started keeping a d-base.) New Zealand has about 25 to 30 plans out it looks like. I'll email people to see if they'd be willing to have their e-mails shared. You'd need to start thinking about who wants to coordinate things; Andrew from Canberra has already volunteered at one point but I don't know if that still stands. Mike
  5. Johannah: From the good old Muppet Show. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his ever-whimpering lab assistant Beaker (who mostly got blown up it seems like...). Tim: Thanks for the notes about the Spruce. Being occaisonally aero-minded, I wouldn't want the Sitka Spruce to go away. I guess it's not a problem. I'm not entirely sure, but I think the Spruce Goose's plywood was actually something else. My grandfather worked on the project a bit, and we have a bunch of knick-knacks made from cast-off bits of the plywood (trivets, chessboards, etc.) It's nice stuff; a box we have has I-have-no-idea how many layers. It's about 3 1/2" of laminations... Mike
  6. I think I'd have to agree with Knut: the 2hp. is probably fine for the Weekender. I guess it depends on how you want to motor. If you want the smallest weight/volume that will work, and don't mind if it has to go at full throttle once in awhile to do its job, then the 2hp. range is more appropriate for you. The other approach is to go with the larger motors, which means you probably won't ever slow down, just give it a little more throttle. This is fine; you'll go at half-throttle most all of the time, then every once in awhile open it up more if needed. Either would get the job done. I think I'd rather have the smaller machine, as long as it was as dependable, but that's the fun of making your own boat: YOU get to chose what you want to do! Mike
  7. BEAKER!!! Sorry, not having anything to do with the thread... Mike
  8. Well, I don't know if I agree altogether. We have had everything from oars to a Merc. 2-cycle 4.5 hp. on the Weeenders. The Merc. 4.5hp would push the boat at hull speed at about half-throttle. There's no reason to go with anything larger, we think. We have settled on a 50lb. thrust electric for our current Weekender, as we don't need more. If you have big currents, you need gas. I can't imagine that a 2hp. wouldn't do the job you need. Mike
  9. I'm looking forward to seeing that article (we all are here). They called last week and said they were sending a copy over. I'm glad to hear they're more small-boat/d-i-y types; they sounded nice on the telephone. Mike
  10. Marlinspike Sailor was going to be my reccomendation. I've had a copy since my tenth birthday. It was a fun book to have as a kid. Mike
  11. We don't claim any speeds for our boats for the very reason that over the decades we've been boating, almost all boat-speed claims seem insanely high. A standard joke is "...over a waterfall!" or "...of a bridge!" or similar. I'd reccomend taking any speed claims with several grains of salt; maybe a whole spoonfull. Mike
  12. Hello to all, I've noticed that a bunch of postings mention cleating the main sheet in one way or another (this note is for the larger Pocket Yachts mostly, as I don't think anyone would be cleating the main on the smaller boats, but if you do, read on...) We really advise you not fix the Main Sheet in any way. This allows for letting it run free in an unexpected gust. I suspect that a lot of the capsizes (and close calls) might have been avoided if the boats were sailed with the idea that they're big dinghys with cabins (which they sort of are). Another thing we always try to remember to watch for (as we've learned this many times the hard way): Don't sit on the Main Sheet. Just when you think everything will be cool when you let out the main, it stops running out...The same goes for not letting a knot or tangle get in the line. Ok, that's all of the safety-speak for now... Thanks, Mike
  13. Is anyone doing anything to preserve the Sitka Spruce (and other good types of Spruce) forests? I know that they were Strategic Resources during WWII, but since the military went all metal or composite, I don't think anyone cares militarily. I know that the Rayon fabric producers were shredding Spruce trees to make ugly shirts during the fifties and sixties; I don't know if this is still happening. It would be too bad to lose the best wood to idiotic wastes. Mike
  14. Yet another amazingly nice Weekender. Well done! You're all making such nice boats...I now am convinced that we'll never bring ours to a meet! I think we're better off letting the superior work of our builders speak for us than showing our old beaters! Good looking sailboat! Mike
  15. Hear, Hear!! Well done Lonnie; not just for the completion of his Weekender but the cracking of the Wooden-Boat-Barrier. As John says, we never thought we'd see the day either! On a more positive note, another English mag has called us mentioning that they ran an article on a Weekender. It's called Watercraft, and we have yet to see the magazine (they just sent us a copy on Friday, so we hope to see it in about a week!) The British boating scene seems to be open to Weekender builders, and I hope we can meet up with some of them next time we're over there! Mike
  16. We're fairly proud of the fact that these are monococque hulls: No framing. In a monococque structure, whether it's a Weekender, a Mosquito Bomber, or a D Jag, the skin of the machine IS the structure. On some machines, like people, the internal frame takes the loads and the skin is just a cover. A monococque structure, like an egg, gets its stiffness from the outer shell. These are monococque plywood constructions of a modified Dory or Sharpie hull. If you don't want to say plywood, use something like bi-axial cellulose laminate, or as if it's glassed, cellulose-core composite construction (although this could just as easily refer to a Balsa-cored boat, but neither would be inaccurate). Try to avoid stitch-and-glue, as it's inaccurate (and we don't like the concept much around here.) Mike
  17. The post just above by Mike Pennington is how I have had mine set up over the years. On our Marconi-rigged boats, we'd fly the Ensign off the stern on a flagstaff. Mike
  18. Well, being all solar-boat-minded, we've always liked these. I don't know what the current price is, but they've always been a little expensive-seeming for a vent. The thing is, they do work well. Mike
  19. Hi, Denis is correct: the line for the corner points (where the sides and transom meet) is one inch aft of station 13. Mike
  20. Hi, I have to make a little observation here regarding this thread and something Knut wrote ("So, what I am saying is (from the small cockpit of a Weekender), that in dense fog, pitch dark night and other difficult conditions...") Please keep in mind that the Weeknder was designed for a bit less nasty conditions than this. They're intended for what most people use them for: daysailing and weekend campout-sailing. Don't get too set on big night passages to Catalina or the like; these are little boats. Granted, something might get you in a situation where you DO get stuck in a fog or out after dark (in which case you'd be well served to have a compass and a GPS), but don't go looking for this. None of here at Stevenson Projects has ever used a GPS, so we can't comment on how to handle one (though they do sound like fun). We have had a lot of boats with nice big compasses though, and they're very nice to steer to. It's nice to glance down and see how things are going, make little adjustments to and fro. I can't imagine that a GPS would be as nice to sail to. I think I'd most likely want the next bearing and sail to that. More experienced sailors should probably correct this if they have any thoughts. Mike
  21. We would, and probably did, do it the way Frank did his: find a can or something round which has the right diameter and trace around it. Mike
  22. Can we compete for worst trailer? Ours used to look like a lot like Capt. Jake's, but now it's rusted entirely through the main frame member. No longer road-worthy. It is scheduled for a rebuild this Spring, so I guess I'll be getting some more acetylene... Mike
  23. We used to build most all of our boats on our lawn. Peter can't stand to build indoors, so we have only seldom had shops set up (one example was for the video). You can build on the grass without a problem. Prepping for paint, glass, varnish requires some thought, but is not that hard. You'll be keeping the boat up off the grass on blocks (put the keel up on a scrap of ply or something) anyway. If you can cut on your driveway, and assemble the keel there, it will help. Mike Need to add something: As Frank points out, it almost makes things easier in some ways. You won't spend anywhere near as much time cleaning up on a lawn. You have more room to toss thnigs out of the way (your building area expands and contracts as needed, unlike a fixed room). And ventilation is good...
  24. Nice job! Launch ramps are not fun. I know a distant acquaintance who will sit with a cooler just watching the hi-jinks in San Diego. Of course he was there the day I had my biggest launch-ramp-fiasco! Congrats on the Pocket Cruiser; I like the color scheme. Mike Stevenson
  25. It sounds like a good price, if the motor's not too corroded. Six hp. is far more than you need. A 3hp. or 4hp. is more like it. Mike
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.