Bill Paxton

She's lookin' mighty good. I can easily envision her heeled over, sails pulling hard, slicing through the water under a bright, summer sun, with her proud skipper at the helm.

There are plans for making a lightweight, nearly hollow, box mast on Dave Grey's PolySail website. http://hometown.aol.com/polytarp/mast.htm Has anyone built one of these? I'd be curious to know if such a mast would work on a Weekender. Any thoughts? Bill

WOW! I'm really impressed that the poly-tarp sails hold up to that kind of wind.

I've enjoyed my Weekender for three full seasons now, and each year I appreciate it more. But there's one question of its design that I don't understand. Maybe somebody can help me out. The keelson on the Weekender gets smaller toward the aft. It's the only sailboat that I've seen where that's the case. The shallow keel usually gets bigger toward the stern on boats like Micro. I'm not complaining, nor do I want to change it. It makes for easier loading and unloading from the trailer, and I'm for anything that makes that job easier. I'd just be curious to know the thoughts behind the design. Bill

For the first two seasons I had the rudder set up exactly per the plans. Maybe I'm not a very good sailor, but I found as I was conentrating on beaching (or approaching the dock) I had one hand on the tiller, one hand on the mainsheet, and lacked a third hand for releasing the downhaul on the rudder. Turning around and leaning over the back of the boat while the dock got ever closer wasn't comfortable for me. Now I don't worry about the rudder. When it finds the bottom it automatically adjusts itself. I still have an uphaul to raise it when putting the boat on or off the trailor. The uphaul runs thru a fair lead and along the top of my tiller and cleats just behind the grip on the tiller. Very convenient. So far this arrangement has made sailing easier for me.

On the keel I was thinking of a 2" wide strip of flat aluminum. Not sure what the thickness would be. I'd attach it to the keel with some 3M 5200 and a couple of well placed screws. My biggest concern would be water sneaking into the keel along the screw threads, but the 5200 should seal it up. (Please let me know if I'm missing something here.) I like your idea for embedding a metal strip right into the leading edge of the rudder.

Fiberglass cloth won't hold up. Kevlar might. I've got two layers of fglass cloth on the keel, and the first layer is worn through in one spot. I only beach the boat a couple of times a year, but after three seasons, the first layer of glass has worn through. It's much more likely that the rudder will bump the bottom than the keel. I've actually been thinking of running a strip of aluminum along the bottom of the keel where it is most likely to contact the beach, and not worry about abrasion any more.

I've got a weighted rudder on my Weekender so it stays down by itself. When I come into shore it bumps or drags along the bottom. The sand and gravel tend to wear off the paint and the epoxy on the leading edge of the rudder. I'd like to sheath that edge in something that will stand up to the abrasion. Suggestions? Bill

Merry Christmas to you all, and may the joy of the season be yours! [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

How is Bellhaven's cabin vented. I'm thinking about sleeping in the cabin and want fresh air to circulate through the cabin.

What are the options on the Bellhaven when the wind really starts to blow? Can the sails be reefed?

You might want to take a look at John Welsford's Navigator. It's 14' 9", and a very good cruising dinghy. http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/store/plans/jw/navigator/index.htm http://www.openboat.co.nz/ http://www.woodenboat.net.nz/1WBNZOffice/Navigatorbasics/navigators.html

Mike, be assured that Nancy & I will keep Kevin in our prayers. As far as what to send him...can a guy ever have too much duct tape?

Don't know for sure, but there was a hint that the boat had to be more comfortable and safer for passenger service. They probably added ballast and installed watertight compartments. If you built an exact replica of America today, I'm not sure you could get it approved for commercial passenger use.

Nope. I sailed on the Liberty Schooner last March. There are several schooners that take passengers out for sunset cruises. One of them is a replica of America. (After talking to the skipper, he confessed that she's only a replica above the waterline.) The ship I saw was a three-masted square-rigged ship, along the lines of the HMS Rose.

Wouldn't you know...she slipped her moorings and left already. Oh well, it's a great way to watch the sunset in Key West without leaving your house.

Norton Internet Security was the culprit for me, too. I finally went into "Privacy Control" and had to turn off "Enable Browser Privacy." This is a function that prevents web sites from knowing the last web site you visited. Once I made this change I could see all the graphics and emoticons.

I recently found a webcam that focuses on Mallory Square in Key West. Today there's a nice looking three-masted shipped tied up. Don't know what ship it is, but it's reminiscent of something from "Master & Commander." You can check out the webcam at http://webcam.keywest.com/msindex.htm

Looks good, Joel. BTW, you may have the cleanest, brightest garage I've ever seen.

I'd like to make a prediction: your boat will be a beauty! Your care attention to detail is already evident. Enjoy the process, but don't forget that the real fun starts when she hits the water. Good luck, Steve!

No, the Skipjack doesn't need the centerboard. There's a fella here in Minneapolis that launched a skipjack last summer, and he eliminated the centerboard, but changed the keel to emulate that of the Weekender. He sailed his boat all summer, and she performs just fine.

Chuck Lienweber was kind enough to post an article about a messabout last August in Minneapolis featuring Stevenson-designed boats. I hope this link works so you can view the article: http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/r/gatherings/nokomis/index.htm

Opening day, and I was there. Great movie. I was not disappointed. The photography is superb, and the story is compelling. The THX sound system really takes the cannon fire to a whole new level. There aren't many DVDs that I would buy, but this one is a sure bet. In some ways it reminded me of A&E's Hornblower series, but I'd put Master and Commander ahead of it.

The outside edge of the gaff jaws touching the shrouds is not a problem. The open gaff jaws grabbing the shrouds and getting stuck is a problem. By boxing in the jaws, they can't grab the shrouds. To enclose the ends of jaws it is necessary to make the jaws a bit longer than the plans specify. Make the jaws long enough so that gaff can move freely about the mast when it is properly set. Now that I think about it, I believe I made my mast 6 inches longer than normal so that I could attach the shrouds 6 inches higher than normal. I hoped that doing so would prevent the gaff jaws from getting stuck in the shrouds, but, alas, it alone was not enough. The problem went away when I boxed in the gaff jaws. It's a very simple solution, and makes sailing more enjoyable for me.

The first season we sailed our Weekender, the gaff jaws often got caught on the shrouds, and it really bugged me. I solved the problem once and for all by making jaws that were longer than the plan called for, and then putting a plywood strip across the end of the jaws. (A bolt through each end of the strip holds it to the jaws, and allows me to remove the gaff boom from the mast if necessary.) Since the jaws are now a box instead of a fork, they can't catch on the shrouds. I've never had the problem again. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]