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Al Stead

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Everything posted by Al Stead

  1. I saw an interesting setup in a SCA recently. This guy cut a length of radiator hose to hold one of his deck mounted blocks upright. He was a little concerned with how it looked, so he wrapped it with one of those nautical type knots. I tried it on the deck mounted block for my weekender's jib and it works great. I may have cut it a bit too long, but I have yet to experience a problem with the sheet flopping around. I made my own blocks, so this may not work for little bitty ones. but hose does come in a lot of different sizes. Al
  2. congratulations on your launch. I've only had my weekender out two times, but your story sounds familiar. My mast is also fairly square and the only problems I am having with the plastic hoops that the plan calls for is they stick on the hinge when I hoist the sail. I also made a set of deadeyes and I like them a lot. So far they are very quick to tension at the landing and they have held solid under way. I wouldn't trade them for turnbuckles right now. That might change, but so far, so good. My brother in law, the schooner skipper, told me I should round off the inner edges of the gaff jaws which the plan doesn't ask for. Having done that I noticed a little chafeing but it is not making any marks on my hardwood mast, with the cheap hardware store varnish on it. And the jaws are only a little buffed up. I just got back from the wooden boat show here in the twin ports and I can verify that these little buggers sure draw a crowd. I was particularily gratified that the old timers were impressed with the overall practicality of the weekender as a fun little cruiser. I will definitely go next year if for nothing else than all the good info I came home with. Al
  3. I did this all on my lonesome. I don't recommend it. I guess I made it sound better than it was. I spent the rest of the day fixing things that I didn't know I needed to fix and rigging a topping lift. I only brought a pair of canoe paddles for backup. Totally useless. When they tell you that if you get in trouble to let go of everything, they are so right. Ducky rounded up into the wind so fast I couldn't believe it. I found out at that moment that I had cut the main sheet too short. It took some doing to get a hold on it again from so far over board. Still, I can't wait to take another whack at it. Al
  4. Hey Bill, I finally did it. This morning when I woke up about dawn the wind seemed to be about right to try sailing for the first time in oh, forever. So, I hooked up the Weekender to the toyota and took her up to a landing that I had scoped out a few days ago. The trailer set up has been working great so I was only looking to try launching procedures at the very least. By the time I pulled out of the driveway, the wind was a bit stronger, but no problem I thought. As I was driving over the causeway at the lake, I noticed that there were whitecaps on the west side. No problem I thought, I will be protected by an island and the landing faces the right way for an easy getaway. Before I had the mast up I got my first compliment on the Duck. Kind of nice after all that work last winter. I got her all rigged up and backed her into the water. The water was not quite deep enough to float her off the bunks, so I had to push her into the wet. It felt pretty good to see her floating free for the first time. I hand hauled her around the dock so that she was facing out and tied her off. She and I shared a toast and sailed away just like we knew what we were doing. We were in a protected spot, so the building wind wasn't a big deal. We sailed out to the main part of the lake and tried tacking into and running with the wind for a while. The gusts were getting worse to the point that I had to let go of everything to keep her on her feet. When I realized that my mouth was getting dry, I figured that it was time to head in. The dock was dead into the wind, and I tried to tack right to the dock, but the more I tried the more dissheveled the cockpit became so I beached her and walked her back to the dock. Everything else went pretty much as planned at the dock. We both had wet bottoms but were dry on our topsides. I figured that I kept her flappy side up and her woody side down, so it was a successful morning. I also learned that I need some instruction and advice on rigging the controls before I go out in the gusty stuff again. Al
  5. Make sure that the grain is running across the piece. I had the same trouble this spring with mine. I started out with 5 ply birch and it broke every time. When I went to 3 ply ACX, it stood up to the bend, though just barely. You could try bending the piece with a ratchet strap. I found that when I did that, the wood took a greater bend than was needed. I ran into trouble when I started putting screws through the bottom into the stringer. If you have the time, bend the piece with the ratchet strap and leave it for a few days while you do other things. This will help it accept the bend with a better attitude. I kind or liked that the plans tell you what to do, but not how to do it. Once it was in place, and the walls and rafters were installed it amazed me how well the roof laid down, like it was designed by someone to do that. I was dubious when I was doing it. Sure is fun though. Al
  6. I ended up with the wedge idea because of a screw up building the mast box. I miscalculated the dimensions of the box, so my mast was in it with room to spare. If your mast doesn't have any room to move in the mast box, maybe you might want to rip it down a kerf or so to give you some play. Another mistake I made was to not read the whole article before running out the door to implement the idea. I made my frame out of hardwood with mitred corners which looks great for something that is going to get covered up for the rest of its life. The article suggested to make the frame out of plywood which makes much more sense and would be way easier. Tomorrow I'm going to knock out one wall of my shop to move the boat outdoors. Yehaa! Al
  7. Hello Dan, It looks like we are at about the same spot. Boy the painting and smoothing and deciding take forever. I got tired of hanging around so I just painted it even though there are some spots to improve. I want to go sailing soon so I am just making sure everything is sealed up and protected. The funny thing is that everyone that comes into the shop is knocked over. Go figure. I'm not thrilled with the finish, but it seems to fool most folks. It is so blasted hot here now that hanging around on the nice cold water makes alot more sense than hanging around in the shop. Take a look at the current Wooden Boat magazine. There is an article about mast boots and wedges. For a 5 degree shift, you may be able to get away with shaving the bottom of the tabernacle a little bit and wedge it to the right angle. Al
  8. Hey! I started the thread, and I don't think it is highjacked at all. I lifted my boom up about 8 inched higher than the plan calls for just to clear my delicate pate. I also made a mast boot setup with wedges to fine tune my mast angle. I got the idea from an article in the current Wooden Boat. I don't think my mast angle is off by too much or I would certainly do the adjustments that Barry recommends. I like the mast boot idea though, because it is both traditional and pretty much water proof. I'm off to pound away on my $50.00 boat trailer today so I can get the Duck on it by the weekend. Going sailing next week if it all works out! Al
  9. Thanks guys. I made a box full of wooden blocks long before I started the boat proper. I hope I made enough to rig her now that I have gone off plan. Al
  10. Hello all, I am just about at a place where I need to start considering how I am going to rig my weekender. Because I installed a lazarette hatch, I don't plan to rig a block in the middle of my aft deck like the plans call for. I have seen a rigging style that uses a rope fixed to both sides of the aft deck, but cannot find the pics of it. Could someone point me in the right direction? Al
  11. Yeah, that's what I thought. I made the cabin a couple inches higher than the plan calls for because of my stiff back. I also beveled off the main rafter just inside the hatch because I WILL bump my head on it every time I go below. The higher commings seemed to undo the look of the higher cabin, which is a nice consequence of trying to be more comfortable. I glassed the deck and cabin roof yesterday. The epoxy is still setting up because it didn't get out of the 50's yesterday. So far no big disasters. Because it is getting late for her launch, I will not make the port lights this year. Anything that I can get away without doing now, I am going to leave for later. It's time to go sailing. Arrgh! Al
  12. Whaddya know. Well somehow the image came through. This is the Jumping Duck. I named her after our dearly departed Australian Shepard. I'm going to screw my courage to the sticking place and take another whack at that fiberglassing thing today. Decks and cabin. Once I get that all painted up, it should be a quick job to get her assembled and rigged. I hope. You can see the splash commings with the sculpted lamenated fronts halfway cut out. I'm going to leave those bright, but the plywood will be painted. Al
  13. I must be crazy because I am going to do the same thing and expect a different result.[/img]
  14. Okay, try again. Hopefully there will be an image here
  15. hello Paul, Nope, the steel was untreated in any way at all. In fact after a year of sitting in my pole barn protected from the elements except for atmospheric moisture, the steel had a nice patina of rust over all of it. That is what got me to thinking about whether the foam was sealing it up. I did notice that the bottom of some of the studs had been eaten away by road salt so that I had to weld cripples onto them, so maybe water can mess with it. Anyway I don't want to take the chance, so the inspection port is going in very soon. Oh, and thanks for the advice on the epoxy fiasco. I scraped away alot of wood, but the patch seemed to work pretty well. Al
  16. I rebuilt a thirty year old motorhome inside and out. The walls and ceiling of the coach were supported by steel studs. When I stripped out the foam insulation, I was surprised to see that the thirty year old steel looked like it did the day it was installed. This led me to consider whether regular blown in foam insulation, the kind typically used in new home construction might not do the same for wood inside a closed space like the seat backs. The stuff sticks to pretty much everything and seems to create a water and air tight seal with whatever it is stuck to. The stuff is kind of spendy, so it might not be worthwhile in a boat like weekender, but it might be worth a sea trial. Al
  17. Thanks Frank and Bill, I glued up the seat backs today, so they are actually air tight right now. I intend to cut an access port in the cabin bulkhead to allow for air circulation. I don't know if that will be enough, but I will at least be able to check if it is. To provide for floation in questionable conditions I will make a hatch that I can secure over the port. I painted up all the faces before assembling, using lots of PL premium. If those joints aren't air tight, I made a big mess for nothing. I've had a couple days to look at the high commings and the more I look at them the more I like them. My weekender will not look like anyone else's that I've seen. The added back support seems to be about right for my touchy back even if I made them more upright than the plan calls for. I'm shooting for launching some time in June: early July at the latest. This all depends on whether I make any more bad mistakes. I can't wait to start learning to sail. Al
  18. I'm not that good with this machine. I will try to post some pics I took last night, but don't be surprised if it doesn't happen. Al
  19. Al Stead

    Seat backs

    Hello everyone, I have a question about a modification I am making to my weekender. I have raised the seat back panel in order to make splash commings from the same piece the full length of the cockpit. I kind of like the look of it, and it provides better back support. I also made them fairly high. The front of the piece is about an inch below the roof level and the rear point is about three inches above the deck. Also I have sealed up the area behind the seat back to provide floatation. My lazarette is also sealed off from the rest of the boat. I am concerned about what is likely to happen to the wood in that sealed area behind the seats, as well as any downsides to the structure from doing it this way. I am also interested in any performance problems with the extra area above the deck. I haven't glued anything up yet, so there is still time to undo it if it proves to be a big mistake. Al
  20. So, what's with all the black weekenders this year? I just said "good enough" to my paint job on the hull and am going to flip her back over tomorrow. According to my count, this makes 4 black weekenders getting wet this spring, although it will probably be summer before mine gets wet. Nice looking job though. I hope mine can stand up to yours. Al Stead
  21. I'm using Marinepoxy with the medium hardener. That's not the problem. I'm just pokey. I live in Duluth Mn. right at the tip of Lake Superior. It is usually cold enough up here to hold off curing for a good while. Yesterday was near 80, so I got caught working like it was 45. This morning I've been feathering the edges of the patch and smoothing out the original layup with both sandpaper and glass scrapers. It is going pretty well. I have a question though. I bought some micro balloon thickener and the container says to cover up any mud with that stuff in it with another layer of epoxy. Is this really necessary? I am also mixing some wood flour into it and it sands okay, but not easy. I would like to smooth out everything one time and go straight to paint. Al
  22. Today I glassed over my mistake. The goo set just fine and it seems that it has stuck to the wood just fine. I subsequently learned another lesson. Get up before dawn if I'm going to do any more mudding. I tried to fair over some other not so good spots, but at 78 degrees the goo went off on me before I got very far and now I have to take that down. I'm starting to get pissed now. I was going to stop when I had a nice solid and waterproof skin on her, but now I'm going for way too nice. I might as well gain some new skills seeing as how my early June launch goal is out the window. She who must be obeyed is getting impatient for me to go back to work for her, so I better quit messing up and start messingabout. Al
  23. I learned something this morning. I found that if I use pretty coarse paper on my RO sander but only take a couple passes, then use a cut glass scraper to haul off some of the wet wood, the paper lasts a lot longer. I have been using cut glass scrapers that I get from my local hardware store to smooth out joints during the layup. They take the epoxy down quickly without creating any dust. I took down about 2 sq ft to fresh wood in about the last hour, and only went through three sheets of paper. Thanks for the advice and encouragement. Al
  24. I also use graduated mixing cups. This time I was using old prescription pill bottles with masking tape on the sides marked with a felt tip pen in 1/2 inch gradations. Where I messed up was losing count when I was using full bottles two to one. Not only did I lose count, but I also mixed up which was for what. Now I have two bottles with nice little solid plugs in the bottom: useless. Next time, more coffee. Al
  25. Thanks guys, It sure took the wind out of my sails. I really know what that moaning chair is for. First thing tomorrow, off the the lumber yard to pick up more sanding belts than I can afford. I use them instead of regular sandpaper because they don't clog quite so quick and I can use a steel brush to clean them at least for a little while. I'm pretty sure I know where I went wrong. I got up before dawn to start mixing goo in the cool hours of the morning so I would have more time to get used to doing big areas. Unfortunately I should have had that second cup. I lost count somewhere and didn't have the focus to toss that batch. I will next time. It is interesting. The second side that I did came out pretty good. Oh well that is a big part of why I am having so much fun on this project. I like figuring things out. It might take me longer than I can afford, but it is still fun. Al
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