Kennneee

Anybody know the dates?

That is the same motor bracket I put on Rosie for the kicker. I think Panther makes some smaller ones that might work. At the moment I am thinking of fabricating something simple. Thanks for the idea Don!

Thought I would throw this out again. Duckworks doesn’t have motor mounts these days. The fabricator isn’t producing them these days. Any suggestions for an alternative for my Lapwing? Thanks.

Stunning!!

As the saying goes “life happens when you busy making other plans”. Hope YOUR plan can get back on track soon.

Graham- I came to the same conclusion but a bit late. Should have read the manual, eh. I can’t unring that bell and learned an expensive lesson. Trying to keep my foot from swinging around a kicking myself in the behind. Unpacking and soon to get back in the shop. Have to decide whether to do yearly maintenance on Rosie or finish Lula. Could have worse decision to make in life. Thanks for the input.

There was a time I loved working on cars. That is no longer the case. I grew up with my dad owning a junk yard and cars were my playground. These days I would rather eat worms than work on my car. I can’t even identify the parts under the hood anymore. I will stick with boats! Most days I know the difference between a halyard and and anchor.

Well, here is another chapter of Ken’s Less Than Excellent Adventure. We ALMOST made it to Port Angeles to catch the first of 2 ferries to get home. Around 64 miles shy in a pretty remote spot our transmission totally let go. Had to get towed to a repair shop that is backed up 1-2 months before it can get to the $6K repair job. Left the car there and strapped my 2 surfskis on top of Lula. Rented a UHaul truck and loaded it up with all of our stuff and on we went. We made it home yesterday. All in all, I would certainly would have preferred not to have had this happen. I have found over the years these sort of problems often lead to meeting some nice people. The tow truck driver was a great guy and bent over backwards for us. The women at the Uhaul rental drove 20 miles to deliver the truck to us. Another guy followed the tow truck which was towing the van which was towing Lula. He was a long time sailer/circumnavigator and loved Lula’s lines. He hung around and offered us his help and had great stories to tell while we waited for the Uhaul truck to arrive. The good news is my tanbark sails are finished. Now I just have to unpack and put my tools in action. Still a lot to do before those sails are ready to be used.

The Van has a 3,500lb. towing capacity. The trailer weighs 250-300lbs. Lula at this point probably around 200lbs. Should be an easy tow. I think the 2 surfskis sticking up pretty high and creating a lot of drag as well as the load in the back created part of the problem. The terrain is pretty hilly and I passed a lot of trucks going up grades. In hindsight I think I was pretty rough on the van. I took it to the dealer yesterday and they changed the trans fluid twice and $450 later wished me luck. We have around 300 miles more to drive and will baby her with my fingers crossed. I don’t think this leg of the trip will be very relaxing, especially with the rain.

As we all know, life is an adventure. Some of these adventures we can do without. We had a great trip to Portland, Oregon from San Diego with Lula obediently following behind. I was impressed with how well the boat towed. When we got off the freeway in Portland our transmission made loud clunks when shifting. Thank goodness Luanne’s sister lives 2 minutes from where the problem began. So, we have spent a couple of extra days here waiting for mechanics to return from the Easter weekend. The car is in the shop and hopefully we will get some good news, as in the problem is easily repaired. We were flogging our van pretty hard with 2 surfskis on the roof, a full load in the rear and of course Lula following behind. Not to mention the hills and the extra ballast in my right foot. A few days before we left I had U-Haul install a hitch and wiring. Long story short the ham handed Neanderthals destroyed the wiring harness. Luckily I knew of a good repair shop and they were able to get a replacement harness and get it installed before we took off. Just the beginning of this adventure. When we were in San Diego I began shopping for a trailer. There were not many available and I wound up buying a new one over the phone. It is a Karavan 1250. Looked at the website and it looked like it would work fine. The catalog shows leaf springs but when I went to pick it up it wound up having a torsion suspension axle. For me it was a pleasant surprise. Lula seems to ride nicely on the trailer. Hopefully we can get on the road again soon. Looking forward to some boredom.

Time to head back to British Columbia. Taking off in a few hours with Lula in tow. It will be hard leaving the sun and heading into the rain. Lula is unfinished but getting close. A bit over 1400 miles and I will have her in my shop to get finished. Sails are ordered. More soon.

Try zinc rich or cold galvanize paint. Pettit makes some to keep barnacles from growing on metal. I think there are less expensive alternatives however.

Hi Guys- Things are coming along on my Lapwing build and it is time to fine tune some details. I have an EPropulsion Spirt Plus that I use on my Spindrift 9. I plan to use it on the Lapwing as well and would like some suggestions for a motor mount. I see that some of you are using a Duckworks mount. It that the way to go these days? Anything better? Thanks. Ken

Beautiful!!

No tube going on this Lapwing. Thanks for the advice.

Today I got a chance to glue the seat tops down on Lula. The hatches are installed and I should be able to get the center board trunk in very soon. The hatches took a bit longer than I would have thought. Seeing the seats in feels like a milestone. The carlins are complete and ready to be installed. I have the parts made for the tabernacle and installing that is near the top of the “to do” list. Any thoughts on a mast tube for the mizzen? I am inclined to NOT make one and go with a traditional mast step. Any of you out there that have experience stepping your mizzen masts please chime in. I hope to flip her back over in a week or so and begin painting the hull. Still lots to do!

The bulkheads are fileted and taped. Got the first coat of epoxy on the inside of the hull yesterday. Centerboard trunk glassed inside, etc. I have the tabernacle bulkhead fitted and ready to install. Today I will start to assemble the hatches. Now a gazillion details to finish. I marked the waterline with a laser so when I flip her over again I can apply some epoxy/graphite to the bottom.

Dave- Are you a Connecticut guy? I lived there for much of my early life. I remember Stonnington as being a sweet place.

I am leaning towards some graphite in epoxy. It might make cleaning the bottom and sliding on to the trailer marginally easier. I have both on hand and I think a black bottom will look good with the color combo I am going to paint the topsides with. No perfect solution. Thanks for the input guys.

I need to come up with a plan for coating the bottom of my Lapwing. She may have to remain in the water for weeks at a time when I am in British Columbia. I have used graphite in epoxy on quite a few kayaks, mostly for abrasion resistance. I have doubts that it would be effective against marine growth. On Rosie I have used Pettit Hydrocoat which has served me well but it is not legal in BC at this point. Ask me how I know, urrrrh. Any suggestions?

Oyster- I am really enjoying the pics, more would be great to see your progress. Brings back memories, mostly good. Ken

Dave- That sounds like the most elegant solution. I think Peter Bachelor did something similar on his Lapwing. On Rosie we used KiwiGrip and it works well but the cockpit often looked lousy with dirt. We used this eventually and it solved the problem. https://www.recreonics.com/product-category/deck-equipment/flooring/dri-dek-non-slip-flooring/ This is a great product and looks decent. I also used it in the forward anchor well. That said, on a Lapwing your floor board idea would be the best way to go. Ken

Thanks for the recommendation Paul. Creative solution Don. Lucky me, I get to filet and tape today:).

System three says their new version, Pennant is easier to apply. I will let you know how it goes. The problem with 2 part LP not reacting well to prolonged immersion is another reason to skip it in the cockpit and go with something like the TotalBoat non skid that Paul mentioned or KiwiGrip, etc.

Today I flipped Lula over to have a look at her upright. The hull has been primed and is pretty much ready for the final finish. Pretty pleased with what I am seeing. I decided to use System Three Pennant primer and waterborne LP. This is an updated version of the older product WR- LPU. I have used their primer in the past and it is nice stuff to work with. I am hoping the Pennant LP finish is a good. I used Alexseal on Rosie and it is a great product but I am taking a break from some toxics and also don’t want to have complaints from the neighbors here. That stuff really smells. I am trying to decide if the sole should be coated with a non skid. Thinking about Kiwigrip. Good stuff and easy to apply. My original plan was to use the LP finish coat and use a coarse roller and hope that is rough enough to prevent sliding around. Any thoughts out there? What have you used on your builds? The inside of Lula is going to take some sanding. As careful as I try to be, I always have cured epoxy drips to sand when I do this kind of work. Not the most pleasant part of the building process! I plan to put a small filet between the planks on the inside to keep water from accumulating. Lots of filleting and glass taping should keep me busy for a little while.