Newbie Here - Melonseed Lover Seeks Same

[Rawdog]

Hello everyone. I am a long time visitor here and have just registered as a member. I've been a wooden boat lover all of my life and a magazine reader and subscriber since the first year it was published. Way back then I was restoring a Perrine built racing sneakbox and sailing a Jet 14. In the intervening years I got married, raised kids, paid the mortgage, etc. Now that I'm a junior graybeard I have a little more time to pursue my own hobbies and interests.
In that Woodenboat #1 era I dreamt of building a small schooner, maybe a Malabar, and going world cruising. Didn't quite get there. Now I dream, just as passionately, of building a small Melonseed Skiff, and being able to transport it anywhere my truck can take it, launch instantaneously, and use it frequently. The old "Small Boat Journal" had a motto which went something like this; "A boats usage is inversely proportional to its size". If someone can correct this quote for me I would be grateful.
Anyway I've decided to build a Barto 13.5 Melonseed. My wife gave me the full set of plans as a Christmas gift. I've prepared a 4'x16' lofting table and am now considering a couple of changes before starting my lofting. These relate to sail size, centerboard vrs daggerboard, and rudder design. Possibly adding a couple inches of freeboard.
I'm especially interested in contacting others who sail this design in order to learn their impressions and possible suggestions for fine tuning the basic design.

[Michael Wick]

You've come to the right place. We are full of ideas. Mike

[johngsandusky]

There is a long thread about building a 'seed (two?) in England I think. Advance search thread titles for Melonseed. I own a strip/glass one, they're wonderful. Easy to launch, rig, and handle. Fun to sail. The only fault is that they are wet beating into a chop. Mine has a Crawford rig, like the glass ones. There is an active forum on Yahoo, mostly glass boats, but full of stories and pictures. Keep us posted.

[Gerarddm]

Welcome to WBF. The Yahoo Melonseed forum is instructive.

There is a photo out there showing a Melonseed with an added strake. Does not look as slinky as a standard one.

Just remember that historically these were not open water boats. Be prepared to get wet in a breeze, but you will be flying!

[Chip-skiff]

Welcome. You might get more response if you re-posted this in the Designs & Plans section, since it does concern a particular design.