markfitz

That's amazing for a "quick drawing." Jeez. But now I understand where it would go -- and why I couldn't envision it. I don't have that much room up there, I don't think. I'll have to check. I could just make some out of something extremely hard, like cocobolo or something...thanks for the drawing -- it is truly worth a thousand words. I see what you guys mean about the trailerboards too.

I'm looking at the pic that roland posted, and I can't envision how this would be inset into the top rubrail. I must be dense.

I like the hardwood idea.....I think I'm going to try that. Where would they be mounted? Just directly on the top rubrail?

I notice the bottom eyebolt isn't fastened the way they say to do it in the instructions. That is, I don't see any cross-wise hole to allow you to put the bolt on. How is yours held in?

OK, I'm a woodworker, not a sailboat guy -- what the heck is a bow chock?? The trailboard looks to be the thing I was asking about. I didn't know what that was called either. I'm learning all kinds of new words building this thing. (So are the neighbor's kids, on the days where nothing goes right. :? )

Here's a question: Our rub rails weren't quite long enough, so we ended up about 6" short, so long story short, they don't reach the bowsprit. Did anyone else have this problem, and if so, what did you all cover up this area with? We made some "patch pieces" that fit in there, but it still looks like it's missing something.

I can't believe I'm going to admit this, but I found it hilarious, so I have to share. I was drilling the hole for the rudder steering control yesterday. After I drew the square, I proceeded to drill the hole in the center so I could get the jigsaw blade in there. It was a 3/8" spade bit. As they almost always do, when it broke through the other side, it blew out the hole. I said a few choice words, and then stuck my finger in to see how bad it was, and.....my finger wouldn't come out. The (really long and sharp) splinters on the back side acted as barbs. The further I stuck my pinky in, the higher on my pinky it grabbed. So I sat there for a second, shaking my head....then I stood up, and realized that there was no way to get to the other side!! So I was essentially stuck to our weekender by my finger. When my father figured out why I was just standing there plugging a hole in our boat instead of going to get the jigsaw, he was laughing so hard it took him 5 minutes to get it together enough to crawl into the cockpit, lay on his back and pull the sharp spinters away from my finger so I could pull it out!! I've never been stuck to a boat before. Good times......

isn't alcohol also a solvent for uncured epoxy?

I found some brass tubing, and was thinking about the flaring route. There is a brass tube with an inside diameter of .87, and another one with an outside diameter of .875 - I don't really have a good grasp of what .005 is material wise -- my thought was to take a piece of each, flare one end of each, and slide them into each other. The only issue is I would have to take .005 off the outside of one piece. Think that's doable?

So what you essentially ended up with is an oval ring that you epoxied into the hole. There was no flange on the inside and outside? You're just relying on the epoxy (and fiberglass?) to prevent water from getting at the wood?

Because of the design of our weekender, I need something like this to go thru the side of the top rub rail in the back to let the water out. We basically were thinking we'd run a string of 3 on each side, (kinda like the ports on an old buick! ) but the smallest ones I can find are for 1" holes. We have maybe an inch of room, so we would need something that was a 3/4" inch hole, with a 1" overall size, including the flange. Here's a link to what we're looking for: http://www.thechandleryonline.com/product.asp?dept_id=2605&pf_id=135_AH2251 If anyone knows where we can get a smaller version of this, or has an idea of something else we could use that would do the same thing, I'm all ears. As always, thanks. You guys are the best.

This would be a great thing to add to a FAQ somewhere! Unless it already is, and I missed it. We already used bondo to filet the cabin to deck, and also on the seats and footwell. Is that terrible? Would it be better or worse to go over that with a slightly larger filet of epoxy and fumed silica, for instance?

OK, I'm almost ready to glass. I spent about an hour on the site trying to find a definitive list of what I need to buy to glass a weekender, and it seems that little list doesn't exist, or at least I couldn't find it. I know that I want to go the epoxy route, but that's about all I know. I know RAKA was recommended, but when I look at their site, all I get is confused. Can anyone tell me what to buy, and how much of it? Thanks!!