Mike Pennington

Okay I get the idea, it's always nice to see a picture. I don't think that will work for me though. Does Joel have a bunch of little Keebler Elves with vacume cleaners or what? Mike

That's what I said, Wow! WOW! Now that boat is going to give you a ride. Would you post a picture of the whole boat? Mike

Hello Barry, What's he doing for a motor mount? I'm putting a motor on the Vacationer this season, pretty much made up my mind for one I can lift up. But heck your words caught my attention. Dang, I gess this makes me a Lurker, I saw a Barry post and I had to go snoop. :roll: Good luck with your boat Willie, this could be the best adventure you have had in a long while. Be warned building a boat could lead to a serious disorder called boat builder-itis. Some folks can't stop at one. :wink:

Good point, about renting one. One of those air bags with a handy emergency pull would be a good idea. Yep, I would like to look at one. Oops back to work.

What kind of inflation nozzle do they have? Like a tire tube? Do you think they could be inflated by a charged co2 canister? Or by a battery operated pump in a pinch? I suppose those plastic thirty gallon drums would do the trick too. Might look a little funny, one strapped to each side at the back stays. But you wouldn't be turning turtle thats for sure. In keep thinking of Steve's roll over off Ketchikan. I've been out in some rough stuff on the lakes with the Vacationer. The bays may be a little tougher. I've always sailed in bigger boats while off Homer. I have been looking at buying a motor for the trip to Homer. What size would You choose for my Vacationer? I would like to stay light. The 9.9 hp's are about a hundred pounds - plus the motor mount. :?: I am wondering if a smaller motor would do the job in your opinion? Mike

Jeromy, Will be there too. Looks like the whole Fleet will be there 8)

Hidden lake is above Skilak lake, you take the same turn off. It is the closer to the Kenai lake side of the cut off. There is a federal park and launch. The lake is fairly well protected from heavy winds. There are several islands at the southern end. The water is clear like Harding and I have seen some nice looking fish jump. Not a lot of trafic, because it is out of the way and most folks don't know it exists. How big are these bags?

Argh, depletion of the Fleet. We'll miss those yellow sails. Glad to here you can make it. We'll give you a good send off. Are you sure you can't find a better job that pays twice what your making at half the days of work? :wink: You know, I always say to those who leave Alaska, "You'll be back!" Instead of saying, goodby. Mike

If the water is relatively flat and no real wind is expected for the day, I might go out. :roll: I think Hidden lake may be more suited to the Weekender. However, I've seen the inner bay flat all day, for days in a row. We'll have to check the tides and make a judgement call at the time. My tax return is just enough to buy a 9.9 four cycle long shaft outboard :wink: I got a lot to do on my boat too. And it is parked at a friends house buried behind a six foot deep snow berm. Did you purchase some air bags a while back? Mike

Yepper, looks like it is a go, the Homer Boat Show will be seeing both the Vacationer and the Weekender. I will be in Homer Alaska the 6-9 of May. Mark and Doreen are coming too, this should be a lot of fun. So anyone lurking, if you want to join us, now is the time to give a shout. I offically decided I had cabin fever today. In an attempt to get better, I started getting the gear ready for the season. Even bought two new float coats, I figure I might as well be safe, if we're going to try sailing Kachemak Bay. Weather providing, we're going to head inland and try sailing Hidden Lake, too. http://www.go2marine.com/frameset.jsp?keywords=float+coat&searchType=regularSearch&servletPath=%2Fg2m&action=DoSearch&x=12&y=7

Yeah, they preferred John's horn over my bell. So now you know which is louder. Check out the video card: http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1483260750

I sailed the Oh Pa Shaw, a 30' Cal, there one summer. I really liked the Island, the mooring was great and the camp sites better than most. Maybe because there are no roads, and only boaters can get there, the place was not trashed. Just south is Orcus Island and a little sothwest is San Juan Island, Roach Harbor has a little store you can buy supplies from. Though the store on Orcus is much closer. It was a beautiful week I spent cruising those islands. I would suggest getting a current Waterman's tide table and chart of the area. Without a motor on can be at the mercy of the tide if you are not careful when you sail.

Frank, Do you folks really have a boat page under $500? We're lucky to even see a boat in the paper up here. Craig, Brings a whole new meaning to the term windwagon.

Really at a nickle an hour, I could aford a couple of Sanding persons, less your commission of coarse Mark. Yea, child labor! Did you decide on the design for Laura's boat?

Does this mean you have to work on the Swimmer everyday to keep your Dad from evicting you? :shock:

Thanks Craig I needed a laugh, one hour and a half to go at work and three days off.

I can't answer for Konrad, but do you remember one of the James Bond movies had a scene with two inch spikes out of the tires. The bad guys were chacing Bond in the snow. Well we decided to give it a try. Ran those screws through the tire from the inside. Great going until you hit a soft spot, then you would be flying over the handle bars. We studded the tires on an HD with a side car. Now that was fun. But Donor cycles in the winter? Hurts to much when you go boom. Konrad you becareful Don't do any broadies. You might be doing a cartoon character thingy and cut a hole in the ice. :wink:

That birds mouth mast will be a blessing to you. Sure will beat my slimmed down four by four. I expext the lighter weight will smooth out the tacks, sometimes when the old girl goes over you wonder how far she's going to go. Like she's slinging a club around. I have promised myself that I will be making another one this winter. My old boom has warped, so I plan to slim the old mast down to the knew boom. I think I am going to use Alaskan White Spruce for the new mast. Lighter than Doug Fir, I believe. Good Luck, hope to meet you for a sail somday soon.

I still have a few knives around. This is my J.L. Little collection. Minus a few the kids have. Check out page four of Mike's Vacationer http://www.messing-about.com/weekender/albums.htm

I might go for the serated blade, becuase that kind of edge is better for cutting line in an emrgency. As you well know we use them to cut seat belt straps some times. Nice looking kit. If the scales are unfinished, meaning just slabs of wood, I would look in to finding my own material for the scales. Like Dahle Sheep horn or bouffalo horn. Smells like burning hair when you shape it up on the grinder but both are beutiful. My persian dagger is buffalo, black and semi-transparent there's depth in the scale. The sheep horn tends to be blues and greens kind of like opals or mother of pearl. Speaking of Pearl they would be nice with that blade. Are those allen screws or pins? Hard to make out.

Speaking of! Hows that Vacationer?

Are they just screwed straight into the tire or do you have to pre-drill the tire like you would snow tire studs? Mike

John, Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Yes, heck yes! I like 440c, a good metal to work with. I like cocobola, very stable wood, does very little shrinkage. I used cocobola a lot. Shrinkage and expansion is something to think about if the knife gets thrown in the sink. At $99 a set you can't go wrong. Can't wait to see a picture of the first one finished. Mike

I added the site to my favorites too. Hopefully I'll get back to it and learn something.

Hi Laura, I got a Craftsman 19.2 volt six peice cordless power tool set. Should come in handy on the boat. :wink: Sounds to me like you made out pretty good, I think Captain Santa is spoiling you. :wink: Mike