ken connors

Hi Dick, I'm not a professional boatbuilder, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn once......... ;D(and I have built a Vacationer and a few others.) I'm in RI. Email me, maybe we can talk on the phone or get together. Glad to help if I can. Ken

Ive got some shots of my flip day which shows a bit of my dolly. (Hope this works, I stinkn at posting pics) Try cutting and pasting this file. C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\My Pictures\BoatFli&BDay03 Sorry about the extra kids bday pics

BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!

Shortcuts and Shorelines

That's the good news, Greg. She's layered with mahogany veneers with no sign of rot anywhere. Outer rails are shot, but thats easy. Started removing the fiberglass today-that's NOT easy

A neighbor of mine told me I was welcome to take this old daysailer out of his yard after he saw me restore a Grand Banks dory. This one is in a lot worse shape than the dory was. He tells me it was one of handful of this design that were made for the NY yacht club. It appears to be cold-molded. Still has the original cotton sail The exterior has been glassed, not sure if that was original. The glass has failed in several places and already has some patches. I'm guessing I should start by removing all the glass and take it from there. Anybody recognize the design or know where I might get more info on her? She's 12' long and about 4-1/2 beam.

Hear, hear!

Sorry I disagree, if that's your kid's favorite boat then fix it up for them, as long as it's safe. Then while you're messing about with your kids in their favorte boat you could ask them what kind of boat they would like next as this one is about done......but that's just me

er, I don't know man, but that looks in rough shape. the bottom looks like a mess and the sides look pretty racked from the pic. Does this have some sort of sentimental value? If not I think you may want to start researching the billions of easy to build plans of similar craft. I applaud your newfound interest in boats/boatbuilding, and I think it might be easier and more satisfying to start from scratch than to try to perform CPR on the one you have posted.

Very clever Dave, I like that.

Dear God, be good to me; The sea is so wide, and my boat is so small Makes you think about that old prayer, Jeff

After searching thousands of miles of sea, without finding any signs of a missing sailboat and its four sailors with Rhode Island ties, the U.S. Coast Guard decided last night to suspend its active search. The captain and crew of the 54-foot sailboat Flying Colours were believed to be somewhere off the coast of North Carolina, where the boat disappeared Monday in rough seas. The last contact with the boat was an electronic distress signal that the Coast Guard picked up at 3:30 a.m. on Monday and which stopped a few hours later. Yesterday, the hopes of the sailors

I started saving empty gallon milk jugs a few months before i started putting the seats in. Ive got about two dozen jugs crammed in behind each seat with the caps hot glued on. I keep two super size fenders in the front hatch area and make sure the hatch is locked up after I use it so they dont pop out in an emergency. This is on a Vacationer.

http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo-20070509-NCsailboat.50d5414f.html One of the guys is my neighbors son. Really good guy.

Hey, peace of mind is huge in a wooden boat. If two layers gives it to you, then it's worth it.

This isnt really fancy, but it is what it is........

I agree with Mike. The glass is just there to prevent checking and delamination as far as I know. It doesnt provide any real abrasion resistance.

http://messing-about.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5415 I posted this last week, it might help

What are you building and how wide is your gap? I would consider epoxying in a sliver of wood before slathering in bondo. BTW Im inherently biased against using bondo on boats just cuz when i grew up it was for dented cars. If anyone has info that bondo is really suited for wooden boats, I will try to keep an open mind. I dont want to hijack this thread, so any bondo cheerleaders might want to start another.

That looks nice, Dave. I wish I'd gone that route. Are you using any support under the planks?

Ok I think this the last mod I can think of that I have any pics of. Another mast change. I used two doug fir 2x4s. I was afraid if I just epoxied them together they might bend or twist over time. I also wanted to lighten the mast but wasnt ready to tackle a birdsmouth. So I put the router blade in the table saw and routed out as much of the innards of each 2x4 that I thought I could without weakening it. I left about 1-1/2' on each end solid, because thats where the hardware is bolted thru. Then I sandwiched a 1/2'" section of ply between the two and epoxied them all together. I was hoping the ply would stabilize the 2x4s from bending or twisting. Theyve stayed straight so far. I cant say the ply is keeping them straight or not, but it cant hurt. I didnt want the endgrain of the ply exposed because it it is so hard to keep it from sucking in moisture plus it doesnt look great so I left the ply about 3/16" short on each side and covered the endgrain with strips of meranti.

Here's another small mod I did, eliminating the need to drill a hole thru the spars to tie off the end of the lines. I used stainless steel hose clamps, wrapped the line around and around and around, then tightened the clamp to the spars.

Here's a change I made on my Vacationer, eliminating the mast boot. Even thru some severe storms at her mooring, Ive never seen a drop get down the mast box [/img]

Patience is a virtue-and a pain in the a$$. But all the trials will only make completion that much sweeter. Press on. (and post pics)