Konrad

A WEEDEATER..?!? What in the... ? THIS is what we do with them weedeater thingies here in Nebraska.... 31cc Ryobi weedeater-powered airplane.

Pawnee Lake. 74 degrees, mostly clear. (Unheard of around here in November) Winds: 10mph w/gusts to 17mph @ 210 deg. Lisa's got too much morning sickness to go anywheree, so my sister from Denver (who knows NOTHING about sailing) went with me. The parking lot had one other truck/trailer. We were only under the jib in the last photo below. But after 3 years, MY BOAT WAS ON THE WATER AGAIN..!!

Lisa and I genuinely "Laughed Out Loud" that you posted it. (OK, maybe Lisa doesn't laugh as much as just shake her head and go "whatever..") That is so awesome. Oh, here.. Wait..! Make it your Avatar!! Crop it up, and make it your Avatar.

The range of trade off's among the various thickening agents is Strength vs. Sandability. e.g. Silica = high strength, but hard to sand. On the other end of the spectrum is microbaloons: easy to sand, but low strength. Wood flour falls into the middle of that range, so it's a good all-around agent. As a side note, I checked several hardwood suppliers in Lincoln and Omaha, and when I asked for "wood flour" they kind of looked at me like that RCA dog into the megaphone. Their reply was always, "Uh, say again..?" :

I can't get Movie Maker to detect my Canon video camera. It says "Make sure the device is turned on.. blah blah.." Is there some obvious thing I'm missing?

To quote Bart Simpson: "I didn't think it was physically possible. But this both sucks AND blows.. At the same time." For 6 weeks I've been trying to get my Vacationer on the water. And the following variables of the universe have conspired against me in the following ways on EVERY weekend: 1. Raining. 2. Blowing 25+. 3. Wife has some other danged thing on the agenda. Mostly it's been No.'s 1 and 2. Lisa's pretty good about letting me get the boat out, she knows I want it on the water before the water gets REALLY hard. (Ice) Stupid weather.. >

Lisa's jealous. (Of the location, NOT your Yamaha's..) And I'll Paypal you ten bucks if you put up the K-9 starfish photo. You know the one I'm talkin' about.. ;D

He's probably right. I doubt he said "stupid". (It was just funnier in my mind that way)

I was just so shocked and stunned that (after how many years now??) he's no longer able to use that top-drawer signature he had, which was: "Shameless lurker. And I never finished the stupid boat.." That always amusd me.

Well GOOD TO HEAR..!! I was getting worried, what with all them crickets chirping. Oh, and Ken...? You made the same fatal error I made. My Vacationer's 8 years old, and the cabin interior probably won't EVER be finished. :

This board has slowed down in the past week. So.. You're all in the shop building, RIGHT..? Poll it up, gents...

We got five smilieys out of him in one post. Someone musta said something right.

OK, I'm going to attempt to offer advice on matters such as yours which I have no personal experience in. But often times that one piece of advice that an old veteran boatbuilder from the Pacific Northwest once told me will also apply to other areas. Here's what he said: "Don't worry about the boat as a whole. Just go to your shop, and do one thing. Do it right, and when you go home that evening, take satisfaction in that one thing that you accomplished that day. Repeat the next day, and so on. If you do that, you'll finish your boat, guaranteed." I sure wish I knew who said that to me 10 years ago, because it's helped me get more than just boats built. Like Tom said: "All the best." Konrad

If you want a proof-read before printing, let me know.

Pictures, man. PICTURES..! We don't wanna READ. : We want PHOTOS...

OK, well a minor update with some succes to report... I stayed with the same brand of brush, but started loading it more. Dipping it in a full 1/3 and letting it really fill up, and then sort of ooze off the brush while moving along the wood. I can't say that this has completely solved the problem, but I will say it's reduced the air pockets by a good 50% from what I'd been seeing. It causes the varnish to "pile up" some, and I'm not so sure about that. But still... So basically, I must have been trying to apply it too thin, with too much brush pressure. I just let the weight of the brush do the work this time, and it's certainly an improvement. If I get real serious about this thing, it sounds like ultimately I can probably solve this completely with better brushes and better (mail order) varnish. Like I say to my 5 yr old: "Thanks for all the 'help'..."

"I have to do ALL the work around here..!" ~ My 5 yr old.

Don't worry, Charlie, I won't bite. No need to refer to me in third person.

We were like, "Wow! We're having another kid..!" And now we're like, "Wow. We're having ANOTHER kid..." ;D (Where's that ironing board photoshop job with my Hobie photo?) Ken..? Ray...? Hello... *crickets chirping*

Bruce or Ray... Help me think up a way to bolt an ironing board to a 16, will ya...?

Thanks for the replies. I learned something here, and that was the point of the post: To learn from others. Minwax's varnish is indeed a poly, and I never claimed it wasn't. Hell, I don't even know what truly decent brushes are. I just pick it up at the hardware store, and (for the most part) looks just fine on my boat. My boat lives mostly indoors, so my humble Minwax lived through 4 years of summer use and 4 more of dry storage quite admirably (except for the taffrail). Maybe it's because I like to varnish, and I put a lot of coats on..? I may try the thinner. Or I may just quit being such a hand-wringer about it. I'll let you know what becomes of it. I have a new cockpit sole that's about 75% complete now, and it's those big flat surfaces that are making me annoyed. The smaller brightwork is all good.

The air bubbles I'm dealing with aren't a product of off-gassing, but a result of application. They're right there at the trailing edge of the brush during the application, and they don't break. I may try the thinning thing, although I've always been reluctant to thin a varnish. Thanks for the input.

It's like a zen thing, or something. I just *can't quite* figure out what the problem is. I don't use the most expensive brushes, but I'm definitely not using that cheap Mexican and Chinese crap either. What causes the small air bubbles...? The stroke speed of the brush seems to not matter. The angle of attack of the brush matters for other things, but not for avoiding air bubbles. I'm using gloss spar varnish by Minwax, I assume that's an OK product. I don't get it. There's some voodoo secret, and I want to know it. >

Two lines is two lines, and there's no half-ways when it comes to these things (and I should know). Oh, and if you look at it again, the thin line appears whether you "are" or "aren't". It's that THICKER line that's the sooth-sayer. The penny is in there because my digital camera was struggling to focus on a mostly-white image.

NO WAY... We learned our lesson with Number Two. This one's already been dubbed "Baby Tote-Along".