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I'm not particularly thrilled about building a boat again, but I'm too cheap to pay someone else so I guess I have to build it if I want it! I bought my First Mate plans in 2016 and I don't think I...

I think a Long Steps would have faired better in that specific situation for a few reasons. Less of the wave would have come aboard due to the higher freeboard. Even if all the water did make it in,...

Yeah, I've given self bailers some thought a few times but in the end I've always decided against them. Growing up the one in my Sunfish constantly leaked and they won't work if you're not moving....

I've done 40+ miles three times and two of them were pretty breezy... the other was just a really long day. I've read a few trip reports of the Texas 200 where they just blast along all day, sounds...

Thanks Larks!



All possibilities and something I'd like to do in the future... although I think I'd prefer to find somewhere more tucked away to spend the night most of the time. But I've...

For quite a while I’ve wanted to do a 50 mile daysail just to do it and back in August the weather looked like I might be able to make it. So I set out from the Piankatank River and headed down the...

Nice job! I'll have to file that trick away in my mental toolbox. It reminds me of an adapter I made to raise and lower the knee on my milling machine.

I used a regular old Janome New Home without much trouble, although getting through 10 layers in a few spots was tough. I also cleaned the needle with a cotton ball and acetone every seam because it...

I put a 23 square foot jib and 81 square foot sprit sail together from a Sailrite kit. It was my first real sewing project and it took me about 12 hours per sail.

Haven't had a lot of time lately, but I did manage to do a few tests with the trolling motor on my First Mate instead of the canoe. I've changed the 5 speed switch to a 60A PWM controller and added a...

I'm enjoying your updates and thanks for letting us know how the boathouse is working. I'm planning a Long Steps build in the next year or two and it's looking like it's going to have to be an...

If you make an account you can borrow the book for 1 hour at a time here: https://archive.org/details/103sailingrigsst0000bolg

Not that great for reading straight through, but works well enough if...

In addition to all of the mentioned threads, I really like what Small boats rock has done with his modified Atkin Perigee. Definitely not a sail and oar boat, but at 17'-3" and no engine I think it...

What a cool place, thanks for sharing! A giant library on top of a huge boathouse... I think I could live with one of those.

The first boat I built was a coracle when I was in middle school. I made it from some pine and holly tree saplings, paracord for the lashings and gunnel, and a blue tarp. The seat was a 3/4" board...

Sure, here it is: sailingmoga.com/Ruler.3dm

I've got a CNC 6040 router that I've used to engrave some brass and aluminum. I need to get it set up again after moving shops, but I definitely plan to...

Ok, here's my idea. The ruler is 3/4" x 6" with sixteenths and eighths on one side and millimeters on the other. The end graduations are in sixteenths and millimeters. I didn't realize it, but 19mm...

That does sound like a handy ruler! I've got a 6040 CNC router, maybe it'd be a fun project to cut one out of some brass with an engraving cutter.

Another fascinating update, thanks for bringing us along!

I bought a Ryobi and gave it the Lou treatment and it works well, although to be honest I've only had to use it a handful of times.

That's why I was thinking Meranti since I can see the boat spending half the year outside. As for spelling, I've been copying what was on Boulter Plywood's website but it looks like they've spelled...

I'm really interested in Welsford's Long Steps. My First Mate is a great boat, but it's not quite suited for some of the trips I have in mind. And I'd like to give a mizzen a try after reading about...

Can anyone read the tea leaves about where marine plywood prices are headed?

In May of 2018 I bought some 1/4" Okouome for $65 a sheet, today it's $98. I'm considering a new build in the next year...

I'm enjoying reading about your lessons learned with a bigger boat.


One of the few times I've ran my outboard I wondered why it kept sputtering and dying after a little over a minute of running...

You're right, I've got it set up as spiral lacing at the moment. I keep meaning to try forth and back, but the sail comes down easily enough I haven't bothered.

That's how I've got the luff of my sprit sail set up. The robands have an eye seized in one end and a stopper knot on the other end. Then they're cow hitched into the grommet and connect to each...

Thanks for updating the photos. It's a really well done setup and I'm definitely keeping it in mind if I ever build a bigger boat.

From what I understand, high aspect ratio propeller blades (wings basically) will always be more efficient no matter what medium they're moving in. I think your typical boat propeller is just...

I honestly don't know a whole lot about electronics and propellers, just stuff I've read in various threads.

My trolling motor is a Newport Vessels 36 pound thrust with a claimed 30 amp max draw....

I'm still doing speed tests, but my First Mate goes 4.5 MPH at 290 W. I'm using a 10x6 model airplane pusher prop on a 30A trolling motor. Hopefully soon I'll get a PWM speed controller set up and...

Enjoying your progress and it's bringing back some memories of weird clamping setups and my deck carlins getting shorter after I cut them.

I have a sprit sail and I've given up attaching the snotter to the mast. Any sort of hitch eventually slides down the varnished mast and a thumb cleat just tangles up the sail lacing. I found the...

That was a fun read and the Google map really helps tie everything together. Just out of curiosity I checked and it's 14.5 hours to Killarney from here... not a huge amount more than your 12. Must be...

I've got an Ingersoll Rand 60 gallon compressor from Northern Tool on my CNC plasma cutter and haven't had any complaints. I use a pneumatic grinder with it occasionally and it keeps up.

I have no experience with big wooden powerboats, but I enjoy following along and seeing how other people do it!

My wife is Egyptian so I thought it’d be nice to name it after a well known ship in Arabic. Definitely nothing punny, I can’t stand the endless Reel Times or Frayed Knots. I went through lots of...

I've got DPI 6" round hatches on my boat that have the same 1/2 turn toggling lock and they are not watertight. Probably ok in a capsize, but I found rainwater that collected in the boat worked its...

Looking forward to it! Your adventures in your brother's Phoenix III really tipped the scale for me when I was sorting through way too many boat plans.

I can tell you from my lone overnight experience with a polytarp boom tent that it is definitely noisy. It was a last minute thing and I honestly put very little effort into it, so maybe a different...

That is super slick!

Being into metal working I've considered making a stamped metal plate with some rivet heads soldered onto the corners. Then epoxy some neodymium magnets in the transom and...

Pretty cool! Makes me think of the Diolkos, especially with the eye painted on the side.

Congratulations on the launch! Hope you can get the bugs worked out quickly.

Nice job rigging your pram! And thanks for taking us along on your trip.

Tom, there are some small things I'd like to improve for daysailing but overall I think my boat is pretty good in that department.

The big hatch on the sternsheets I added last winter is a vast...

John, sailing through the marsh is a lot of fun. So much to see and the shallow water keeps you on your toes. I'm really enjoying the trolling motor setup, it moves the boat at rowing speed and...

Nice report, thanks! I enjoy the scenery that's so different from my area.

Kevin, ah that makes a little more sense. I've never noticed the word "sedge" in my little area of the Chesapeake and looking through the charts islands are either named, or just labeled "marsh."
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Steven, I was vaguely aware Sjogin was somewhere in the northern part of the Bay and even kept my eye out to see if I saw her, but I didn't realize Beaton's was 1/4 mile from where I launched.
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A few days later the weather looked like I might be able to do a 40 mile trip down Barnegat Bay with a side diversion through some marshy islands over to the inlet to see the lighthouse. Then I’d...

Nice report, fun to follow along in Google Earth.