Hirilonde

I really like the detail of the sides of the raised deck/cabin on Southern Express. It makes the boat look leaner. Was that before they raised the cabin top? Anyway, I think it is the white above the blue that just makes all the difference. Commissioning a boat, if you can find a trustworthy builder who doesn't have to make a living building boats. I decided that if I were ever to build a Lapwing for someone I would have to get at least $35,000 (complete on trailer) And even then I wouldn't get rich. There are people how ever who enjoy it so much that they would build for a modest fee. Good luck with finding a solution. They are great boats.

AYC is beautiful wood. It shape well also. It is almost as nice for oars and spars as Sitka. My Lapwing oars are AYC. Flipping a Lapwing, especially at this point is so easy. No reason not to do so and put in the inwales. The Lapwing is one boat where the hull is a lot of the work. You are further along than it seems.

I tacked my cloth to the keel very 6" or so with thumb tacks.

I dare anyone to prove with evidence that it makes even a half pound difference for products to properly waterproof a SOF boat.

The order one does things in sure can make a difference.

I am looking to buy some line and epoxy. The epoxy seems to be out of stock, and there are no lines listed at all. Any word on when these will be available on line?

I bet all would work. You may need to do a little culling of the pile to find the right board, and may have to buy a bigger piece than you need so you can cut out the good part. Can you get Douglas Fir? I know first hand that it works well. On a side note, the lumber marking of SPF has always made me laugh. I never heard of a Spruce Pine Fir tree. It actually means that you don't know which you got as all were considered acceptable for the structural rating it was given.

Same, 3 coats.

Block plane and hand sanding......................

West System (the Gougeon Brothers) has done more to bring epoxy technology, additives, procedures etc to the general public than any company. They wrote the book.

If your epoxy were meant to be thinned, it would come that way. You are sacrificing tensil strength and ability to water proof when you thin it. In boat building there is no need to try and improve penetration into the wood. Epoxy bonds so well it just isn't necessary. And thinking that epoxy repairs rotten wood is delusion. It makes it hard, but does almost nothing for strength. It's what you do to avoid doing the proper repair. As to cleaning, vinegar, alcohol, mineral spirits and acetone all work. Citrus cleaners also work because they contain acid, like vinegar does. For really clean hands, I use alcohol or mineral spirits, then citrus cleaner.

When I built my Lapwing the plans called for a notch in the mast end of the sprits. As I understand it, in the early days, the snotter ran through a notch instead of a cheek block. So when I finally learned the updated version, I had to cut and inch plus off the end to lose the notch. Well, it matters. It is just too hard to get the sail as flat as I would like in a good wind. Step 1 Cut a scarf and epoxy on a longer piece

I don't understand why you would want to use goo either. If after painting you have a hole opened up along the seam from sewing, then maybe use a dab there. But use a paintable goo and only if you have to, and sparingly.

Thrillsbe, I get the part about catching the sails, but why do you have to unbend at night when crusing if you don't have this? Just tie them up to the sprits and use a topping lift. In Peter's case, with luff sleeves he can't drop his sails into the webbing anyway. I was going to build wishbooms with my boat. A few of us were discussing them about 10 years ago. I decided to try sprits first because so many, including Graham suggested I try them. And as we have all learned by now, we can change our minds and make the change happen. Now, I don't think I will ever bother. The big advantage to them is sail shape, and it just isn't that much of a thing. If cruising, and with track/slides it would be convenient to flake the sails into the net and leave it all hanging from the topping lift. But I don't cruise my Lapwing. If I raced, or cruised, I would have wishbooms w/track and slides.

I would suggest you start a thread either here in classifieds, or in the B&B section. Include where you live (general area) and how far you would travel to get it.

Hmmmm, interesting question. Can't say that anyone has asked it before. It's the weight when dry that matters, and how much of the material it takes to waterproof the boat. I don't know where you could get data on either.

It's taking a little adjustment in my views to get used to the changes. It just looks so different. The planking, the gains, etc look good. I am a bit befuddled though concerning your rig. You went to a lot of trouble to make varnished birdsmouth masts and then cover up most of them with a luff sleeve sail. You went the extra mile to build wish booms, which add a little to sail shape, but then used battenless no roach sails.

By insure do you mean liability and property damage or the boat itself? My homeowners in RI covered liability and property damage as long as the boat was under 25'. I self insured on the boat itself. I figure I will do the repair any way and in the last 5 years I have probably saved enough on premiums to buy all the materials I could need for repairs.

Sitka Spruce is my #1 choices. But price and availability are why I didn t use it as well Alaskan Yellow Cedar is great, if you can get it. When I was in RI it was available 10 minutes down the road. I made my oars for my Lapwing out of it. Here in FL no one has even heard of it. Douglas Fir is a tad heavier than ideal, but it is what I used. I made my Spindrift boom, both Lapwing masts and sprits. You can likely get some nice pieces if you are willing to create a little scrap getting the best parts even at a big box store. (cringes at the thought of big box stores) By the board wide if you have to and figure out how to get the best part of it. I am skeptical that you can bleach Poplar and lose the green. I would try it first. I like Poplar, but it is ugly. The heartwood is white, but hard to find.

I take my main sheet to the center thwart as well. But instead of a block and separate cam cleat, both are one piece of hardware, the whole thing swivels, and the cleat leads in what ever direction the sheet is pulled in. Between this and a tiller extension I can sail from almost any where. Though I do prefer just aft of the center thwart

Bah, get out of that tunnel and just keep working.

Bursts? I wanna video of a burst! ?

You need one of these Don:

And I thought Garry built an expedition Spindrift. I have never built a plug for my trunk. But then a nesting version has an angled aft slot. I did once tow it fast enough for water to come up, but she was planing at the time. So I stuffed a rag in. Does water really come up the trunk on a conventional perpendicular trunk when rowing? It may not matter much with a Spindrift, but having your winch line come up over the bow means it will be pulling down harder as you get your boat up on the trailer. I have a similar situation with my Lapwing as I didn't want a bow eye or a hole in the stem. I have to get behind my boat after I retrieve it and push it on the last few inches. I have learned to live with that as I still don't want a bow eye or hole.

I will never again epoxy anything that gets varnished on my boats, with the occassional exception of plywood. If the varnish ever breaks down, and the epoxy is yellowed or cracks, you will never get it looking good again. If it is varnish alone, and it is damaged, it is easily removed with a heat gun without damage, and then simply re-varnish. In man's efforts to make things bomb proof we some times make things worse. I just now had to repair the seat in my Spindrift. The corners burnt in the sun and the epoxy cracked at the corner and started to release. I used a chisel and removed the compromised material, sanded to smooth, Built up the bare wood area with varnish and sanded/varnished all a couple time to feather out the old to new edge. The color will never look right again. Had there been no epoxy you wouldn't see that I repaired it at all. Port Orford Cedar