Arnie Eaton

While mine are made of steel, I paid about $17 each, plus shipping. Got them from Farmtek. Yes, a lot of bucks but wanted to do the job right. They work great on dry land. Hope they do as well in the water.

Dave, your "edited pic" of the bearing above is like the two that I used.

I too wish you a welcome back. My stepson got back from the same area about five days ago. Sure glad he is OK, You too.

I'm not really sure, been almost 2 years since I installed them. Wait a minute and i'll run upstairs and see. Well nuts, can't see much. I have the invoice somewhere and I know who I got them from (Farmtec) so will research later. I do know they are self centering. In other words they do not have to be parallel as the part the shaft fits into can move within the mount so they line up. I think these have ball bearings, they are very nice and smooth. I highly recommend bearings of this type, strong, easy to use, and makes steering effortless. The inter race has set screws to tighen down onto the shaft to keep it in place.

In regard to the ride with T.Nelson on his Weekender. No, I had started my boat long before going with him. The wife and I were invited to join Tom at Lake Cour d'lene in Idaho for a weekend. Had one of the best weekends ever. By the way, I used two bearing races, one at the transom and one on the Laz. for the shaft to fit into. Very smooth.

Mines done in the Nelson style also. Wish T. Nelson would e-mail me. I had my 1st ride in a Stevensons boat, his Weekender. Had a ball. I gave him a frame kit and plans for a 21 foot Hartley Trailer-Sailer. Wonder if he has worked on it at all. He wanted a larger boat and I had decided on a Vacationer and didn't need the Hartley. Really a nice guy.

Yep! The Vacationer Plans call for a tiller made from 1/2" Gal.Pipe. I think this is an improvement that the Stevensons made. The pipe is encased into the top of the rudder box. I also used SS 1/8" aircraft cable instead of rope and made the axle from 1" t-6 AL. round stock. SS cable pullies are used along with two SS turnbuckles. My wheel is locked on the shaft with a keyway and key and I turned threads for 1" locking nuts. The whole thing works very well but does make some small noise. I need to align the pullies a little.

Do like I did. Use a pc of gal. pipe bolted down into the rudder box and steel cable fastened to the other end. I think the Vac. plans call for pipe. Anyway that's what I did. I also used steel cable and a al. shaft. Won't break that either.

Dynel Cloth is very much like glass cloth except it will strech. Very tough stuff. I have plans for a 16 ft sailboat called Tabu. The plans call for the mast to be covered with the dynel cloth, allowing the mast to bend somewhat without cracking the covering. It is used with epoxy or poly. It is a plastic not glass. Makes a good sub for glass, maybe even better.

Way to go, girl.

Thanks Jan.

Could you show the website please? What type of adhesive? Maybe some costs?

Adla, You will have to add a piece of wood between the bits so that it rests on the keel. Fasten the piece securely both to the keel and the bits. Do the bits before you lower them down onto the keel and fasten down thu the addition into the keel. Lag screws will be best to use. I wish I could draw a pic to show you but can't. In essence you are raiseing the keel at that point.

I'm building a Vac. so lots of room on the main bulkhead aft. One set of three on each side of the hatch. See my orig. post above. All halyards will be lead to the cockpit over the cabin top to the cockpit. I'll just use them to hang the coiled halyards out of the way. Just thought it would look sharp and nautical as well practical. They are made of oak. I have another set, but the pins themselves are made of maple with the holders made of oak. This last set will be for sale down the road. Interested parties can e-mail for more details.

A picture of the belaying pins and holders that I will use on my boat. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

So what are the ways that you have developed for line storage while under way? I mean all the line for the halyards after the jib and main are raised. With all lines coming back to the cockpit, it could be a real mess. I myself will use some belaying pins in brackets mounted on each side of the aft face of the main bulkhead. There will be 3 pins in each bracket with 6 in all. I will have 4 halyards, 1 for jib, 2 for main, and 1 for a topsail. I can also store a couple of bumpers on the pins. These pins will not hold a lot of force, that will be taken up by the use of cleats on the cabin top. Anyways, lets hear some of your ideas for line storage.

Here are the measurements of the 100% jib I designed for my Vac. Luff: 17' 6" Leach 13' 9" Foot 10' even At a point up the luff toward the head 6'3", a line drawn there 90 degrees from this point should connect to the clew. This is called the miterline and should be 7'10.5" Now keep in mind that I have not used mine as yet, so it is not proven. You could compare this with the standard Vac. jib and then you will know if it will work for you. By the way, knowing the miter line lenght and the point on the luff where it starts, you don't have to know the foot and leach lenght. You do have to know the luff lenght.

Florin, You are right. A lapper overlaps the mast a bit. A 100% er fills all the area from the jib stay to just forward of the mast. I think my 100%er has about 13 sq ft more then the standard jib.

I have a 100% jib, but not a lapper. I haven't tried it yet but others have been made to the same size. This is one I designed and Paul made for me. He stated that he made others to the same size, but who to I don't know.

IT WORKS< WOW

Oyster, lets see if this works. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

Mike, it's coming along. About ready to glass the top. I've been under the weather a bit, but have made some of the small stuff. Making some belaying bits for the lines. I will have three on each side on the aft side of the main bulkhead. The last thing to construct is the mast. I've 4 pcs of 1x6 DF vert grain, two are 18 feet long and two are 20 feet. I'm going to do a birdsmouth mast. Also designing a topsail that be be detachable from the gaff and will have only one halyard. Flathead Lake is about 120 miles from me. This lake is over 70 miles long and varies in width from 8 to 12 miles. Runs almost to the Canadian border. It will be a great place to sail next year(or maybe this year if I get busy) I would post pictures if I knew how. I've asked but no responses.

WOW! What a fleet. Great pics and very colorfull boats. I wish there were other builders here in Montana but just my bad luck.

I would like to add my two cents here. More than about 70% of the posts are of a general nature common to wood boat building. Not many posts are Stevenson's boat questions alone. Too glass or not, what glue to use, what type plywood, what kind of paint, port hole size, hinge method, topsails, material for rudder and shape, topping lifts, how to cut down trees, how to rebuild a plane, and the list goes on and on. I think all of these types of posts help all builders regardless of what boat they are building. What's good for a Weekender might be good for any wood boat and vice verus. Leave the board like it is or change it, I don't really care, I will get excellant info no matter the form. This board has the best group of posters of any board in the world. (Send donations to the below address)

I have made mine very much like yours only used wood (oak) for the slides. I call mine a "sliding hatch" instead of the "top". Looking good.