Drew

Great suggestion Graham. Thanks. I also want to be able to use the boat as a 'pointy caravan' when on the road. My current thinking is a mizzen tabernacle that is high enough to clear the cabin top for lowering masts to travel or clear bridges but the hinge pin will be similar to the type we use in some aircraft, a smooth stainless pin with a safety circlip in one end. That way the foot of the mast can easily be removed and lifted up onto a temporary crutch to clear the cockpit and companionway.

Hi Capriosca, nice to hear from you. I did some flying with Vanair years ago out of Vila on the milk run up to Santo and back via Ambae etc. I have had no trouble with mixing the Bote Cote epoxy. It is only my preference because of chemical sensitivity as it is promoted as less toxic than other 2:1 epoxies and it seems to have a high resistance to degradation in water. I would think that the humidity in the islands is going to work against a paint that is already way too heat sensitive. I also found that the undercoat finishes with an orange peel finish off the roller, although, unlike the finish paint, I had some success with rolling and tipping. It cures very hard which means huge amounts of sanding and the inevitable scratches that are too deep to remove without filling. If I use the rest of the paint that I have left over, I will do it with a wet floor and a cool air temp in the shed.

Alex, I too am having trouble finding suitable tubing that fits the specs without the expense of importing a special order, which I find very surprising. I tried the contacts that Alan recommended some time back, but they claim they can't supply without importing. Their 3 inch tube has a wall thickness of 6mm, so is not only heavy but won't mate with any suitable tube for the top mast section. I have no idea why. If anyone finds a suitable supplier in Australia, please let us all know.

Thanks Steve. I am just designing my own based on the main tabernacle and giving it enough height for the mast to clear the cabin top. It means I will have a great big stump in the middle of the cockpit, but I won't have to lift the mast up out of its socket to dis-mast, which could be good when solo sailing which I like to do.

Thanks PAR, that is reassuring and fits with what I am seeing with the epoxy. I have buffed the hull finish (four coats of finish) and it is a good 10 foot finish, so it will do. I will say though, the undercoat and finish coat combined is hard as a rock. Hi Amos, I bought the large Anderson bailer and removed the little flap on the end of the venturi, so I will use the one for both filling and emptying, with a portable electric pump as a back up. I hope to have the boat in the water by middle of this year. Behind schedule but that's life. The fun is in the journey as well as the destination.

Well guys, I think it is time I reported in. I have watched every day as progress is made on the other boats and the Everglades Challenge prep and finish. Congrats to all, especially to Graham for knowing when to withdraw gracefully to come back another year. I have fitted in a good deal of work on Dragonfly in between life and paid employment. The boat is back in her cradle, I have completed a trailer that isn't the prettiest trailer around but will do for now. I have fitted the self bailer and the reinforcing pad for the mizzen mast base. The cockpit sole is ready to epoxy in place and then fillet and glass before painting. I am currently building the forard tabernacle and considering a mizzen tabernacle as well. I built it with oak, but that is probably overkill and more weight than needed. I decided to put a screw-in hatch in each of the three bouyancy chambers under the cockpit sole to allow for storage and also drying out if any moisture gets in there. I used Aqua Cote paint on the hull and am a little disappointed. Despite diluting, it flashes off so fast that it is hard to avoid some dull patches, but this will do for now. I really like the Bote Cote epoxy though as it is a bit safer and I need to be very careful of chemicals (gloves and mask at all times). PAR, I would love any comments you might have regarding epoxy that is now 18 months old, quite thickened and harder to pour, but still seems to cure as hard as ever.

I just like his tool selection. I'm jealous Amos! Oh yeah, boat is coming along nicely. Mine is back right way up and ready for completing the topsides.Pics soon.

You are so right Howard. When solo sailing outside, and when my crew mate was down below (when I had one), I have had a rule that I don't step out of the cabin without clipping on. I intend to transfer that rule to the 20 footer once she is in the water. It might be a smaller boat, but the ocean is still a big place. I haven't tried this one, but I have known people who also trail a line attached to the self-steering disengage lever on the theory that once over the side and being dragged along like live bait they can grab the disengage line and let the boat heave-to.

What a great adventure. As some people say - the adventure is as much in the journey as the destination, which is why I love to sail. Regarding incidents and accidents, in aviation we call this "press-on-itis". I have attended, as well as read reports of, many fatal accidents that should never have happened except that someone had a schedule in a light aircraft. When I teach navigation I hammer this into my students - area and terminal weather reports exist for a reason! Great decision Graham and good luck with your prep for the EC.

Will Graham go out into open waters now? What is the weather like? Would he make more ground speed in open water? I would love to visit that part of the world - in a small yacht of course

Nice! Very satisfying to play blacksmith

Interesting idea. Kind of like a bow thruster for sailing vessels.

This looks very interesting. It will be interesting to see what it does to your centre of effort and helm balance. I'm sure that different points of sailing will have different effects. Good luck and fair winds Graham.

I did something very similar Amos, and am happy with the result. I kept the cut-off as a memento. The concrete method worked for me with lots of tape and wax to reduce adhesion, but I am sure that the green sand would have been better. I glassed the centreboard and now that the boat is upside down I trial fitted it into the slot (with heart in mouth). Hallelujah, no binding between board and housing.

Good thought Matt, thanks.

Thanks Don. Like all builders, I can see the bits that I wish I done differently or better, but overall I am happy. I am in the throes of painting the final coats right now and noting that there are still abrasion scratches that I missed in the final sanding. Oh well, too late now so I will live with it. They won't matter in the water. I asked my daughter what she thought of the color, she said, "Hmm, very blue". So three coats of Very Blue two pack later, here it is. When the paint hardens I will hit it with wet and dry paper and then decide whether to go for a fourth coat or just polish it. The keel batten will get several coats of epoxy and remain unpainted.

Pete, when I undercoated the hull I left the area for the keel batten or strake masked off. I have now glued the keel onto the well sanded surface using cotton flox in the epoxy mix for strength. The only hull penetration was a 1/4 inch dowel at the stern which I drove through the glass into the underlying timber of the transom vertical stiffener. A lot of epoxy went into that hole as well, and squeezed out through the scratches on the dowel. As for the rest, I used a lot of lead sash weights and bricks to position and hold it down. This morning I took the weights off and am pleased with the result. I then used a cake decorating piping bag to squeeze epoxy under the gap at each side and when that starts to cure I will lay a nice fillet of epoxy. The keel is 'merbau' hardwood and it is a strong and scrape resistant timber. It is a pain to plane! I routed a hollow in the underside to hold epoxy and mate with the keel line of the boat. I think that the epoxy will soak in enough to bond well, although I am tempted to carefully measure out a suitable place for a dowel up near the bow end of the keel strake. For better or worse, here it is in place. Main purpose, distribute the load when on a trailer and be the first to scrape when grounding.

Wow, what progress. The boat is looking great already. Your determination to be accurate will pay dividends later in the build.

The undercoat is on and I am about to glue a keel strake in place. Next task - finish coats!

Read and enjoyed your reminiscing, and added one of my own.

Here is a small contribution to the boating and cruising yarns. I grew up in a small coastal town (now a tourist mecca) called Caloundra, north of Brisbane on the east coast of Australia. My father owned and operated two coastal cargo vessels, so we pretty much grew up on and in the water. Us kids had a 12 foot gaff rigged dinghy that we learned to sail in and had many adventures sailing the local waterway called the Pumicestone Passage. During one summer school break our dad decided to take us for a camping trip about 15 miles south along the passage. The dinghy had a dagger board and a fixed (not hinged) rudder. At one point we were tearing along on a broad reach when we suddenly saw shallow water ahead. One of us got the centreboard up just in time but soon after the rudder hit bottom, just as dad was trying to go about without taking my head off with the boom and without a centreboard. The dinghy hit bottom and jibed with such force that the wooden boom crutch snapped at the same instant as the pintles pulled most of the way out of the transom. It was on for young and old at that moment! We managed not to capsize, so out came the oars and we headed for a likely looking camping spot on Bribie Island (go to Google maps). Bribe Island is mangrove and mosquito infested, think Florida, but in the old days people ran cattle and horses on the island, so we headed bush looking for an old fence. You see, my dad was the sort of guy who went nowhere on a trip without a knife, a pair of pliers, and a couple of screwdrivers. When we finally found the remains of an old fence we snipped off a couple of feet of otherwise useless wire and then I watched my father do magic. First, he cut a piece of wire in the shape of an old fashioned brace and bit. Then using the pliers he hammered the end against a rock until it was flattened and then cut a point. With this he drilled holes through the broken boom crutch and wired it to the mast. Next he cut some sticks to size and plugged the holes that the pintle screws had been in. Fortunately they had not come fully out, so we still had screws and pintles. He then drilled pilot holes in the wooden plugs and drove the screws back in place. After a night sleeping around a campfire burning old cow dung to keep the mozzies away we packed up and sailed home with a lovely breeze which by now had swung around to the south east. So lesson learned, go nowhere without the basic tools, and be prepared to adapt what is on hand.

Here is an interesting variation to the emergency ladder theme. https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemdetail.asp?cat=144&item=48460&intAbsolutePage=1

Amos, I have been flying private and occasionally light commercial since leaving the military. This was the third aircraft I have owned, but the only one I built. I like a challenge - don't you? (; Now I am going back to my roots and building a boat. I stopped flying when I had to surrender my medical because I was on chemo for Lymphoma, and haven't bothered to renew so I sold the plane.

After much filling and sanding, and four coats of epoxy undercoat, we have what looks like a boat. There are still a few pinholes and marks in the epoxy that need individual filling and only stood out once the paint was on, but I have a trick that I have used before. Slightly thicken the epoxy paint with micro balloons and use as a thin filler before sanding the paint in preparation for the top coats. Fortunately my garage is cool-ish, outside temp today reached 101F.

Steve, some time ago I built a fast little two seat aircraft called a Dragonfly, which I enjoyed flying for about ten years. Like the Dragonfly aircraft, the CS series is fast and has two "wings", so I thought it appropriate.