Here's Johnny

[Johnny Socko]

Hey everybody, 

 

Well I got my Weekender plans for Christmas and have been lurking on this site for a few weeks now. I guess it was about time I joined. 

 

I got into sailboats differently than most. My wife and I "Geocache". For those who don't know, it is sort of a treasure hunt with GPS. Well there is a cache on a small island off South Bass Island called Starve Island. These are in Lake Erie. You need a boat to get it. Internet to the rescue. I searched around found some 1 sheet boats saw the "Brick" and then found the PD Racer. I fell in love. It was a sordid, shallow affair over last summer. The plan was to build it with my 15 year old daughter. Not a good idea. The love was not there for her, she saw no humor in it. My wife on the other hand saw great humor in it, not the helpful kind either. I trudged on. I did win them both over eventually (well the daughter only a little). We launched in Aug. it didn't leak! And the wife was hooked. Well We want a real boat now. At first we were looking at CLC Pocketship but it looked like a big undertaking for a beginner. The wife found the Weekender first. I fell in love again. My wife is handy and helpful, and this time she is on board from the start.

I am excited to get started, and I am sure I will have questions.

John

ps Still have not gotten to Starve Island.   

[ChrisObee]

It will be quite an adventure to get to Starve Island in a weekender.  Are you planing on putting off from South Bass? 

[Johnny Socko]

Well the rocks do worry me, my sailing skills are not up to snuff as well. Starve Island got me started on this adventure but having a nice sailboat is more the goal now.

We do want to sail the islands eventually, but I'm thinking I've got the La Due reservoir almost in my back yard I will sail there mostly and maybe East Branch.     

[ChrisObee]

Well the rocks do worry me, my sailing skills are not up to snuff as well. Starve Island got me started on this adventure but having a nice sailboat is more the goal now.

We do want to sail the islands eventually, but I'm thinking I've got the La Due reservoir almost in my back yard I will sail there mostly and maybe East Branch.       

I am building a sailboat as well.  I hope to launch this spring.  Sailing out to the islands would be quite a feat.  Erie is such a restive lake.  I measured the distance in google earth.  its about 3 miles from South bass to the coast.  5 miles between Kelley's and South Bass.  I'm not sure I'm that brave.  I expect to do most of my sailing on the Maumee. 

[Rick P]

Hi John,

I'm building a weekender in Prospect, Ohio.  About 2 hours south of Sandusky.  Glad to hear of someone around here on the same adventure.  There is a place just west of Sandusky that has some great plywood.  Homestead Hardwoods.  I bought my materials in May of 2008 and the 11 sheets of plywood totaled $563 with tax for meranti.  Their website is homesteadhardwoods.com.  Last year I found steering wheels at nauticaldecorstore.com.  Their 15 inch wheel was $24.75 and $10.95 for shipping.  Much nicer than the one I was attempting to make.

Hope this helps.

Best of luck.

Rick

[Johnny Socko]

Thanks for the advice and info.

I am trying to purchace as many of the little thing as I can during the winter.

I have an agressive schedule. I want to be in the water before the end of Sept. My wife will help alot so I think it can be done.

John

[Herschel Payne]

Hi John,

I'm building a weekender in Prospect, Ohio.  About 2 hours south of Sandusky.  Glad to hear of someone around here on the same adventure.  There is a place just west of Sandusky that has some great plywood.  Homestead Hardwoods.  I bought my materials in May of 2008 and the 11 sheets of plywood totaled $563 with tax for meranti.  Their website is homesteadhardwoods.com.  Last year I found steering wheels at nauticaldecorstore.com.  Their 15 inch wheel was $24.75 and $10.95 for shipping.  Much nicer than the one I was attempting to make.

Hope this helps.

Best of luck.

Rick

Rick, Is 15 inches for the wheel a correct size. The plans say 20" circumference. Does the wheel work out to 20" with the spokes?

[Rick P]

The 15 inch wheel actually measures about 15.5.  This gives me about 1.75 clearance from the seats.  The wheel I had started from the plans was measuring more like 18.5.  I will have cockpit cushions and I think I will like the extra clearance.  Having never sailed a weekender, I don't expect to notice the loss of leverage in the steering.

[Johnny Socko]

I am pondering the wheel as well. I was thinking about having the shaft the line wraps around to have a smaller dia. Plus put an added wrap on the shaft to increase it's grip. Has anyone tried this and has anyone tried a tensioner in there? Is there room?

Another question. I have read that the weekender has a bit to severe weather helm. On a sailboat with a keel that would mean the center of the sail is too far back. I think. Has anyone modified the weekender's keel to fix this?

[Johnny Socko]

Me and my wife have begun a page on Facebook that is dedicated to the building of our Weekender, which will be christened "Gwenivere" Look up "Gwenivere, Stevenson Weekender II" and join us as a fan. We have a discussion page going and also notes about what we are spending to build the boat - but I've realized today that this will require some serious organization in order for anyone to understand it..so it's a work in progress. We will have picts, when available.

Hope to see you there!

[Johnny Socko]

Rick and ChrisObee:

Thanks for the info! Keep in touch, I will be interested in your experiences with building.

My wife's aunt and uncle live in Port Clinton - we go up there whenever we get a chance. Now the thought of sailing a little boat around the Islands is just too wonderful and we are looking forward to doing this in the future.

Also, Lake Erie is not just a restless lake - its a very unforgiving one.

I think its best we have an idea of what we're doing before going too far with those ideas in our head. We have a number of small lakes around, LaDue, East Branch, West Branch Mosquite Lake, Portage Lakes and Pymatooming (sp??) any of which are accessible within a 1/2 day from where we live. I think Sandusky Bay is also within our reach within a year or so of some sailing time under our belts. We will see how it goes.