Johnny Socko

1 side on :-D now I am out of glue, screws, and I have an extra dog. My parents dropped off Lou Lou. He is a Border Collie and Lab mix. He was an accident at the breeder. Both of Lou Lou's parents are AKC. Kind of funny.

Well not quite :sad: 4 hours on the transom, this and that, and the next thing I know it's time to clean up. The deck is just sitting on the transom and the front bulkhead. So I guess it is 3D but just barely. I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Going 3D today!!

Well it's about time I got going on Gwen. I lofted the hull bottom and cut the bow half. Frank thanks for the user friendly site and search features, I got stuck at station 13. It took me less than 5 min. to find the answer in the archives. The Wife and I had to sit in the lines to see how much room in the cabin there will be. That was fun. Here is a link to my facebook photo album for Gwenivere. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gwenivere-Stevenson-Weekender-II/208603149579?v=photos John

No wind no boats John

Today I get to watch real boats sail. CABBS - Cleveland Amateur Boatbuilding and Boating Society - is having a Mess-about at the LaDue Reservoir this morning. I met some of the guys at the boat show last Jan. The LaDue is almost in my back yard, this is where most of my learning will take place. Aloha John

I have a new love, she is a $29 Royobi angle grinder. I was filing and sanding the top of the keel to get it even. I was getting about a foot every half hour. After about 2 feet I was shot. The wife wanted to go to the Home Depot so I said lets go. That's when I saw her. She is now mine and a half hour after getting home the rest of the keel was done.

My Weekender is named Gwenivere, This is her story. Keel is laid (odd ritual, still pulling out the splinters but who am I to question tradition). I used Poplar for the keel. I forgot how nicely it cuts, although it was slow going. It is heavy, top heavy as well. Though I can lift if my self it takes 2 because it wants to flop over. I got my epoxy about a month ago, I didn't open it until I was ready to use it. That is when I found the leak. 1 bottle of part A leaked into the bag that is wrapped around the jug. that bag leaked a tiny bit. I'm guessing about a table spoon. But there was about 2 cups in the bag around the jug. I was able to salvage about a cup and a half of it. The leak must have been near the top of the jug because I put the leaker into a bucket and the bucket is still clean. That epoxy is tricky stuff. It gets everywhere. I found a new use for it. Some got onto my shoes so I spread it around and now I have water proof shoes, a little stiff though.

Earth day was chosen to be on Lenin's birthday (that would be Vladimir, not John, although I fail to see the difference between the two). Remember Green is the new Red.

Did you know the guy who started Earth day Killed his wife? Almost got away with it. She had been missing for years when in a house he had owned somebody found her body in a trunk. I am all for recycling, improving efficiency, and what not. In fact I would hazard to guess I am "greener" than most greenies. But I am not a greenie. I am sorry if I have insulted anyone. John

I see. Thanks. John

I am no expert so I am asking questions not giving criticisms. I thought Stitch and Glue got its strength through the curve of the plywood which in turn made for less frames or bulkheads and less weight. Whereas planks get their shape from the frames. How are you reconciling this? Are you planning to construct the sides first, and then making the frames to match? As I said no expert just puzzled. John Sokolowski

Poetry thread? I love poetry. How about this one. There once was a man from........ Maybe not.

Queequag's Coffin looks great, as does Knot Yacht. Do you know the owner of the PDRacer? John

Here is my build site. It is going to be a bit cramped :???:. And the cradle. That thing behind me is my 10 ft PDRacer.

My wife got on me for only posting one pic.

Here it is.

Well I put 2-17 inch pieces in the freezer. They grew 1/16 inch from the freezer to room temp. I haven't warmed them yet, but I think they will grow the same amount. My wife and I cut out the mainsail tonight, as soon as I learn how to post an image I will.

My Wife and I are both in love with the weekender. The fact that it is easier to build was a bonus. When we found the weekender we read everything on it (just like everybody else did). The writer would often talk about the trade offs in deciding on a boat. Can't have everything. Then the very next sentence put down the boat. I understand this boat does not appeal to everyone but come on. Maybe it is just jealously, the design has been successful. We do plan on building the Pocketship some day but not today.

Before I found the weekender I was going to build CLC Pocketship. It is a beautiful little bleach bottle type boat.

" Do a test and stick a 12" long piece of of your polyurethane keel strip in the freezer for a week. Pull it out and measure it's length. Next, warm it in water water until it's 100 degrees and measure the length again. This will be the "spectrum" and an indication of how long your slots need to be. I'd guess they need to be about 1/2" long." I'll do that this weekend. I was planning to elongate the holes. But by how much was a crapshoot. Now I will know how much.

The LDPE I can get is 0.5" thick, but the problem is it is all in 3' lengths. (I see I spelled polyethylene wrong). The brass is not much better it is all 54" lengths.

Thanks everyone for all the info. Gwenivere is going to be a trailer queen. I was leaning to a composite of dimensional lumber sandwiching plywood in the center. But now I think pine will do just fine. I don't see myself beaching it to often but I am thinking about a brass shoe (I can get it from work cheap). Or low density polyurathane (again cheap from work). Thanks again, John

I think it's working. I just took the dog out and I did not need a coat.

I am pricing lumber for the keel. The plans call for Pine, Fir, or other med softwoods. How good is the urethane at keeping water out? If is as good as I was led to believe any wood or plywood is suitable to use in boat building. At my local lumbar yard they suggested poplar over pine or fir for price reasons. (I was asking about clear pine). And what is the difference between pine and fir?