AmosSwogger

Lara, myself, and our 5 year old had a good sail on the Pasquotank River recently. We launched at the park in downtown Elizabeth City. We beat up wind for about 3 hours. I'm guessing the wind was about 15-20 mph. This was good experience for Lara and I, as this was our first time sailing upwind in wind this strong. We didn't reef, but we did have the ballast tank full. The boat handled great and we learned to trust it. Lara was braver than me; she pushed the boat harder and healed it over more. We sailed past the blimp factory. This blimp hanger was built during WWII to support anti-submarine patrols. It is still in use today (pictures stolen from the internet). We anchored, went for a swim and had lunch. We had a long run back to the boat ramp and my 5 year old got to "steer". I posted a short YouTube video of his first time sailing the boat:

I saw 7 knots on a broad reach yesterday (using a Navionics app on my cell phone). I don't think the boat was planing, but I'm not sure. Here goes a dumb question: is it obvious when the boat planes, or is it subtle and something only an expericenced sailor would notice?

Generally speaking, quartersawn lumber is prefered because it is more stable (and it looks better if finished clear since the medullary rays are visible). It does not expand and contract as much as as flatsawn lumber. The reason for this is that quartersawn lumber wants to expand and contract along its thickness, while flatsawn lumber wants to expands and contracts along its width. As a result, quartersawn lumber moves less, and is therefore less prone to cupping and cracking if its moisture content changes. The wider the wood, the more advantageous it is to use quartersawn. Since stringers are not wide, and they will be coated with expoxy and paint, these wood movement issues that make quartersawn lumber more desireable are not applicable here in my opinion. I would just make sure they are knot free. I would try to select quartersawn or riftsawn for wider pieces however (the tabnernacle for example). EDIT: as I recall, I did make sure my port and starboard hull panel stringer grain orientation matched in hopes that they would bend equally as the hull was unfolded. I also made sure that when scarfing stringers togethers I matched the grain orientation (I didn't glue a quartersawn piece to a flatsawn piece). I'm not sure if any of this really matters that much.

That's a sizable limb that speared your house. After watching videos of boats sunken, dismasted, or adrift I can appreciate B and B's small and light designs; it's easier to get your boats inside and out of the way of storms.

Are you guys seeing a large storm surge?

I plan to put some of my heavier camping stores inside the ballast tank when I take my family of 5 camping.

Holy smokes Frowley, that is one amazing build. I've been feasting my eyes on all of the details. What kind of wood did you use for your toe rails?

We completed our first two sails this weekend: one launching from downtown Elizabeth City, NC (great boat ramp and park), and one from Hertford, NC (put in at a friends house right by the Route 17 Bridge over the Perquimans River). Everything went well, I made some small mistakes but nothing serious. I sure am glad I had the non-skid applied before I went. The boat generated a lot of questions and compliments as I was rigging it up at the park. One guy even watched us launch, than came back with a camera when we pulled in and got some pictures of the boat. I can't thank everyone on the forum enough; this wouldn't be possible without you guys. .

Enjoyed the pictures; brought back some memories. Epoxy runs/drips get me too, especially in colder temps when it is harder to put on a thinner coat. For larger coating jobs, wiping off the excess epoxy with a foam brush works sometimes; although in wintertime the epoxy would still sometimes sag on vertical surfaces afterwards.

Look forward to seeing you again Jay. Steve: yes, we will be bringing our boat. No name on her yet. Hope you can make it.

Sanding tips? Here's mine: listen to smooth, mellow, relaxing music when filleting and epoxying; your work will be better, therefore less sanding. When sanding turn on your heavier, more aggressive and faster tunes.

One quart of Alwgrip was enough for three coats of the red paint. As far the white paint (Devthane 379) I can't give you an accurate number; I mixed it up from gallon containers (still have some left) and as a result I don't have good sense of how much I used. What color are you going with?

The non-skid came out looking pretty good, but it is pretty aggressive. If I had to do it over again I wouldn't put down as much particulate. It was so much fun sprinkling it on that I just kept sprinkling, and sprinkling, and sprinkling. . .

Good question; I forgot to test that. Guess I'll find out on the first sail!

My 5 year old "helped" me raise both sails for the first time. The sail slides did snag on the track in a few spots, but after slightly hollowing out the backside of the plastic sail slides they slid like greased lightning (the sail slides don't have flat backs, they have a slight ridge on them that tends to catch in the countersinks for the rivets). Currently working on non-skid: I'm going with the following approach: 1) roll a coat of paint, 2) sprinkle non-skid, 3) apply coats of paint over the non-skid. This is how it looks after the first coat of paint and non-skid; I'm going to add two more coats of paint after this. I'm curious as to how well this will hold up long term.