Joe Anderson

What a joy to be able to sail together. Thanks for sharing the photos and video.

Have a wonderful trip. It would be great if you can post a trip report and let us know how it went. You were right the paint did dry.

I first painted LPUs outside under a tarp with the 3M respirator in the foreground. This time I have been painting inside using supplied air and a hood. The hood is a bit of a nuisance and overkill for rolling and tipping. On mornings when it was between 50F and 60F with 50% humidity it was like visiting heaven but having to wear a hood. As the ambient temp and humidity increase you reach a point where the supplied air needs to be temp and humidity controlled. It is a strange experience to be working very close to paints and solvents that you know have incredibly strong fumes and the air smells like roses.

Perhaps you are aware of this. If you have a sensitivity to epoxy and probably even if you don't. It pays to be cautious when you are sanding epoxy, especially if the epoxy is not completely cured. (Potentially several days.) Contact with the incompletely cured epoxy and epoxy sanding dust could be problematic.

Could you post a couple of photos. I don't think that marine plywood readily delaminates so I would want to know what the transom is constructed of. Also some clue as to what caused the problem. I have used a syringe with a heavy guage needle to get epoxy into narrow areas but if there is an underlying problem the cure may not be that simple.

I launched out of Potters Marina several years ago and explored Rose Bay and Judith Island. It is a beautiful area and I have wanted to go back. I would love to join you but I am not sure if I can be ready. I am doing some repainting.

I hook my foot under the seat but a strap as Alan suggests would be an improvement. The thing I really miss is a comfortable well cushioned seat on the rail.

Scarfing should be fun. A scarfing jig for your table saw helps. Pete's scarfing sled If you are laminating three 1/4 strips I would think you could get away without scarfing just stagger the joints eight inches and place them where there is not much bend.

I would say that an occasional capsize should be considered part of the game plan. Under controlled circumstances capsize and recover the boat so you feel comfortable. Then you can push your limits and increase your skill. When you have crew on board who are not interested in getting wet you can ratchet back and give them a relaxed ride. Flotation is there not just to keep your boat from sinking. It should be of sufficient volume and distributed throughout the boat so as to allow you to recover the boat with a minimum of water aboard.

Dave, I noticed you were posting from South Africa. And then you posted this Just curious. Have you moved onto your boat? Wish you the best where ever you are heading. Joe

It suddenly occurred to me that my Spindrift mast is not entirely a wooden spar but the lower half or so is aluminum tube. Don't ask me how I forgot that.

I really enjoyed building birdsmouth masts. I did a couple of test glue ups first. something done with scrap wood to get my saw lined up and build my confidence. I do not have the plans or info at hand but here are some photos. good luck have fun. I have used my Spindrift 10 masts pretty hard with zero problems. I also have birdsmouth on the upper sections of my EC 22. What ever wood you choose expensive or cheap make sure it is as knot free and straight grained as it can possibly be. I think old bicycle inner tubes cut into strips make the best clamps. All my ideas were borrowed from someone I can't remember most of them, but the building jig is from Graham. Blocks are all fastened down and level first strip is fastened down with a headless nail. The other strips are then gathered around and wrapped with inner tubes. If remembering correctly I stacked all the staves and brought them to a tapered line with the hand plane. I am pretty sure that is the base of the Spindrift 10 mast with the quarter dollar for size reference. The cut off must be from my EC 22 mast. This is my table saw setup for cutting the staves.

That was great Alan. So I guess I just did not realize how human you racers are. You have to employ strategies to keep yourself in the race. Such as: Do not linger near a take out lest you be tempted to drop out. Anchor far enough away from a good restaurant ( Havana Cafe at Chokoloskee) so you are not tempted but close enough so you have a decent internet. Seriously it was fun to follow along with you on the course and have some insight into how you make decisions and plan routes.

Beautiful video. Very poignant. Is it true that all of the video and photos were done before you knew that Jim Slauson was gone or even in trouble? Also just watching the tracker it seemed like you and Paul stopped more on this trip is that true? Lovely shots of you and Paul at Cape Sable? Usually I think of your race as more frantic without time for reflective walks on the beach. Is that just the power of editing?

There are numerous ways to draw your waterline. Carefully because it is one of the first things everyone will notice at least for the first year. This is some suggestions from some of the forums best. Though it is hard to go wrong watching Lou. https://messing-about.com/forums/topic/9887-grahams-bootstripe/?tab=comments#comment-90417