Tim Diebert

Thanks for the input Jim. Interesting info. As I have said before, the single greatest and most clever design feature of the Weekender is it's quick rigging. Just one detail, the tabernacle above the boom, does it all.....and makes it all work so well. Sounds like you take about as much time as the larger plastic boats that sail my area. I went out with a buddy with a 26 foot MacGregor Classic. We launched and retrieved that day. Man, what a workout. Rigging was the least of the hassles (which he prefers to do on the water)....getting that giant hulk off.... and back onto the trailer was wicked. Surely the VAC must be not so bad...as say a Marconi rigged boat of the 20 foot variety? What is it that slows you down mostly? The weight-mass of the boat? Or walking the mast up?

...oh and with the nice heavy rails, they really beefed up the cabin top. Mine is a lot more solid now. How have you liked your VAC? I have been toying with the idea of butchering up a VAC to have a multi chine hull. But starting from scratch this time rather than with a existing boat. It is a good looking boat...and with a deeper hull it would have sitting headroom and perhaps some performance advantage. Just a thought.....

Thanks. Fire away. Well, close. 1/8" bronze actually.....but I have used brass before as well. I have a local supply for the bronze. I have made many hatches covers before, and I pretty well always do them in a rendition of this method. Little friction, nothing to wear out. Yes, there is a 'dam' between the rails and aft of the scuppers. It also acts as the 'stop' for max aft movement....and stop for max forward movement as well. You have to be able to add it after putting the cover in place....and be able to remove it before removing the cover. A bit of a pain I can tell you. Any additional things to note would be to use a nice thick rail, be sure the pair of rails are both vertical and parallel. I know these things may seem obvious, but the cabin top of this boat was all over the map. Nothing was symmetrical, straight or the same. So it was time consuming to get it right. If the slide grooves aren't parallel, the cover will bind and that sucks. Have fun with it Jim. If you have any more questions let me know. Don't forget to take pix.

Hey Conrad. Have you got any actual speed figures for your boat? Or heard of any? Just wondering how much faster a VAC is over a WE....if at all. Also, is your boom high enough to clear human heads? Thanks.

I had never seen any images of your boat Conrad. Excellent job. That is a fine looking rascal. Nice choice of colors and tight lines. I also like the way you overhung the house top. Cool. So those things are called rat lines. I had thought of adding a solid wood version. I thought they would be very handy for tieing things off and hanging stuff from.

I used that stuff years back....though I thought it was called UHMW.....but whatever. I got a block of it and turned some heavy bushings for the oar locks on my rowboat. They were set into a nice white oak ....thing. Rowing this boat was a joy, totally silent and smooooooth. When I got my Weekender, the PO had installed some of this material the full length of the keel. It was 1/4" thick, and even though there were not quite enough screws close enough together, it was pretty plain to see that it did not have the backbone to not have these huge gaps and 'looseness' between screws. Maybe unless you go to something a lot thicker....it might not be the best thing for the keel....just a thought. Great stuff though. I still have a few chunks of it laying around. If you don't need much, I suggest going to a local machine shop. They use it a lot and might have some scraps in stock they can sell you.

Hi Shane. I have done a few odd things to my Weekender as well. I made a different mast head fitting, sorry I forget what you call it. You can see a distance shot of it in the first image on the webpage this link is pointed to. You can see that and most of my mods here: http://www.timtone.com/tt/ttphotos/PhotosSailing2.htm If you wanted a closer or better image of the mast head fitting (mast hounds...?) , just let me know and I will pop one off.

Hahaha. What a great idea Mike. Though I have never seen a boat trailer with a crane on it, you'd be right guy to be the first. The version you found there looks like the cat's meow and it seems very inexpensive. But then again.....maybe you should just keep it on the transom.....sounds like you have beefed it up plenty. Even if you have the arm, it will only get the motor from the boat to the ground and back again, you'd still have to grunt it into the garage for storage .....................................unless................. you made a small vehicle it could be attached to.......like a golf cart.....then just ride the boom cart up into the back of the truck for the long trips...........Bob's yer uncle. Like this.....

Great link Frank. I am printing off those two pages to give to my son. Some lessons pre summer cruise. I have used all those knots at one time or another, used the Two Half Hitches all the time when tying up boats during my shipyard days, but don't get to use it much these days. For me, I find I use the bowline almost daily for tons of things and often use the figure eight. Otherwise I use a truckers hitch for tying down loads now again. But if a person had to learn but one 'hard' knot...I would always recommend the bowline. As the sheet says, the king of knots. When working for a 70 year old 3rd generation shipwright in Sidney years ago, I came to the shop as a joiner. Although I had built a few boats and finished out or repaired many others at that point, I had done very little work afloat. The boss, Ron, gave me a four foot piece of line the first day I was there. Told me where to keep it on a nail in a beam. Every coffee break and lunch break he made me re-tie knots over and over again. For months...maybe a year. Even after it was easy. His thing was is if I was to be moving very expensive boats around the marina, tying and re-tying boats at the work float...I better bloody well know what I was doing. His other thing was knowing that even if a person did learn how to spin a useful knot...if they did not do it over and over again, it would not be embedded into your bean. In my case he was right. I can tie a bowline several different ways, in my sleep or in the dark....thanks to him. At the time I was not too pleased at having to spend my chill time getting frustrated and yelled at over a stupid piece of line. My Dad was a knot 'artist'. Boy he could impress the hell out of me with his rope work. A person that remembers all the knots is like a person who remembers all the good jokes and can tell a hundred at will. Clever. I envy those folks. I can hardly remember my own birthday half the time.....

On this topic I am a 'as much as you can afford' dude. Although I have said this before on this forum (somewhere), I use an older 6hp Johnson on my WE and it is not too much. Yes it is big, and kind of ugly...but man, it is so cool to have that power back there. I have had the opportunity to try a smaller 2hp gas and didn't like it at all. I have towed up to two more sailboats out to 'the wind' when becalmed and I can make headway in any conditions if needs be. I can't imagine you guys in the saltchuck using those electrics. :shock: But then, that new prop might just be the ticket for the electric lads who are not getting enough jam.

I am with Dave on this idea Mike. Or even throw it in the back of your vehicle. That's what I do if I go any distance.....but then my motor does not weight 100 lbs......more like 60. Looking forward to some progress pix on this project. It will be interesting to watch. A welder is on my list of future purchase. Really, what I could use is someone to give me a primer on all the new welding types. I can run an arc welder and have done miles of gas welding (brazing) but have no clue when it comes to TIG and MIG and whatever other acronyms are out there. I would love to get a small machine that is handy for a range of work. And get another Oxy Ac unit as well. It has been 20 years since I replaced the entire floor pan and rockers on my 66 Mini Country Estate Wagon. My knees still hurt from that one.

Great info lads, thanks. Thanks for your costing Kidd. Brent. I know what you are saying...and you are right. I would most likely boil down to a simple decision rather than a cost issue. Thing is, if I go 17...I may have a lot of stuff that can be used on that hull...save a bit of time and money. I sail a 16 foot boat now and feel that the rig I now have might just swap over with a little bit of work. The new rudder/tiller/rudder stock will swap over to the new boat...etc etc. Just an idea. Or I could just try and sell the boat I have now (complete ) and put that towards the new one. Whatever, details. Ray This is my biggest fear.....and I think you know me well enough to know it is too real.....but 60 grit? Is it possible?

I was just re-reading this thread and am still thinking this is the best way for me...for now and so far. (Although my wife is digging the Belhaven). I am just wondering if anyone can share with me an approximate cost of materials for a 17 and a rough guess at hours expected to completion. Thanks all.

I like the shot of the June Bug as it shows the chap without a hand on the tiller and trimming or adjusting the dagger board. Interesting. A well balanced boat....or just seconds from excitement. Great shot of your daughter(?) Jim. Your weather looked like what we had here yesterday. I should have been sailing as well, but I am working on the boat instead.

....and I should add that the keel addition will be the same thickness as the existing keel.....not like the pattern shown in the photo. In case you were wondering. I see what you mean by the dowels Frank. They are flush plugs.....the tiller, which is in it's full 'down' position in the image, actually rests fully on solid wood. The open area aft and under the tiller is a 'scoop' or roundish shape to allow the tiller to be raised up. Once it is all done I will post some clearer images. Thanks for the interest lads.

Thanks Barry. So far so good. I always enjoy the details. You know, the reason I am adding this deadwood to this area is I feel, even with the changes I have made, that the boat could balance a bit better yet. As you may remember, my dagger board is adjustable fore and aft....a total distance of about 30 ". I did it that way in case I made any major sail plan changes that would effect the CE. I also did not have any actual drawing of the boat, so was shooting a bit in the dark in terms of calculating the CLR....hence the adjustable clr...so to speak. I have found that even with the forefoot removed, I pretty well always balance the boat best with the dagger board in the full aft position. Meaning to me that I could use more plane aft. So thats what I have done. Just an extension of the lowest point of rocker...with a straight run aft. I had another thing in mind for doing this as well....better tracking and less 'slew' sailing downwind with a following pattern....specially a quartering pattern. I though she might be a bit more......steady.? Just goofing around really. Now as for as the shape at the rear of all that, I have two reason for going that way. One is practical. That cutaway allows for me to use an 8" through bolt that will be nutted in the lazarette area. (There will be two more forward). I worked on a ton of old wood work boats, power cruisers and sailboats this is a really common thing to see on them....I think maybe for the same reason. The other reason is because I see it all the time. Just about every one of John Welsfords designs are finished off this way....and many other designs as well. So I figured those folks must know what they are doing....because I don't....and I like the way it looks. How will it work? Beats me. I guess I will eventually find out. Thanks Frank. I think you are talking about the 'cheeks' that the tiller is housed in. Yes, my old rig did the same thing...got all loose and noodley. On big wind days I could hear the thing creaking and always feared it would break some time when you least needed it to. IThe one I had was always meant to be temporary as I knew I would be replacing it all eventually. This one is very tight with little chance of slack. The 'dowels' are not dowels at all...I think you are just seeing some flush plugs maybe. I hinged my tiller well aft so it can be raised to vertical whilst at anchor. I can also raise it enough to move under it when tacking with a full cockpit, and still have some leverage even when lifted. Part of the reason I made this change to a gudgeon/pintle style was to easily be able to take the whole contraption off whenever I like, rather than working around it all the time or having it sticking out the back of the boat when trailering. I prefer the look of this system as well.

The previous owner of my boat elected to glass below the rub rail and not to glass the panel above...from the rub rail to the sheer rail. The glassed area is cool, the above unglassed area is all checked and a pain in the rectum to keep fixing up. I am with you Doc....nobody hates glassfibre more than I do. It drives me nuts, but in the case of boats and plywood....I recon it is a gotta do. Speaking of System 3 expoxy. I was going to mention that they have a fact book....or an Epoxy book on thier web site as a downloadable pdf. You have to sign up to access the info. I have always found that this text covers just about any area you could want to know...and I am sure some of the info extends to other products as well. I happen to use one of their products in my shop. But I have yet to use any epoxy in relation to glass on a boat. I still use polyester.

Thanks Oyster. Yes, both and up and down haul.....not installed yet. The new stuff is still in varnishing stages, so I haven't got to that yet.

Mr. Frog....I too think you nailed the depth and the extended hatch looks like it will be perfect as well. I hadn't seen the images in this post before... Barry pointed out a really important detail with the potential for the rudder to hit the blade. Perhaps you could install some kind of 'stop' that would prevent range of motion to that extent...?

Oh, and I have been building a new rudder stock and rudder myself. In fact, I kind of changed the whole transom area. It may not be the direction you are going, but here is where I am at as of yesterday afternoon. I have reinforced the outter and inner transom and more to do yet. The motor brackets sits on the port side of the transom and the new folding swim ladder on the strbd side. Today looks very nice so I might be able to get some more painting done. The pine 'keel' is my pattern for the new keel shape aft...I am working on that today too. Great fun. Cheers, TT

Not sure if any of this would relate to you Mike, but my motor (granted, a wee bit large for a WE) is mounted on one of those fancy spring loaded stainless affairs where the motors can be adjusted for depth and be taken right out of the water. I have a regular length shaft 6hp Johnson....and so does my boat. (sorry, couldn't resist). The depth is perfect and it rarely cavitates.....oh, maybe sometimes if I am solo and go forward whilst motoring. I would kill for a new Honda four stroke. Grand motors. I am of the opinion that extra motor power is never a problem and can be slowing paid for through beachcombing and tow jobs.

G'Day Shane. Nice to hear your voice once again. This board has been a wee bit quiet over the winter, but I am sure things will pick up as the N/A Spring hits its stride. So you moved from coalmining central to where? Back to the coast? Brother, you will never settle on a design. That is the best fun for you. Once you think you have it sorted....along comes another. Plan is....stay away from the WB forum as the options abound over there. Every design that ever existed is discussed to death. I love it. You should start small and easy....like one of these odd little Stevenson Weekender boats (but with lots of mods of course). Or better yet, something of Johns...(Welsford that is).....or one a Grahams fine and easy units. Check out what Oyster has been up to. A design as you go project. It looks wonderful and the process was great fun to see and read about. http://www.messing-about.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2665 Did I read somewhere that you and your sporty daughter never did make it here to my neck of the woods? Something go wrong? Again, nice to hear you again, welcome back. Cheers, Tim in Grand Forks BC....Canada

Yes, there were surfers there that saved them apparantly.

Agreed. The part that amazes me, is they seemed to choose that direction. Not noticing that there were surfers there and shoaling water. If you notice the mast in referance to the background, at the trough they seemed to come to a screeching halt whilst the wave continued over (and into) the boat. I guess he grounded there. I was also thinking that they would have made it if they had enough water under them.

The opened up hatchway sounds like a grand idea. Makes total sense. A Seagull? You bought a Seagull on purpose? Wow. A boat I sailed on about 25 years ago had gone through two Seagulls. I can't tell you how much I hated those things. The fact that the owner never did any maintainance until something broke might have had something to do with it. (of course there was nothing stopping me from doing a tune up myself....) I do like the vintage appearance though.....and once you get one going, IF you get one going, I swear you could move a tug boat and barge with it.