Redbird Progress

[Sailor]

Our "ships" are all under 15 000 tons Andrew. Tankers around 22 000 but everything else is around 5 000. I'd still call our frigates and destroyers "ships".

[Popol]

I was told, by a Belgian navy commander, that a ship has more than one level where a boat has only one level.

This is an other response I recieved:
========================================
As an old Merchant seaman from the 1960's and a graduate of Leith Nautical College in Edinburgh, I can tell you clearly the definition of a ship, versus a boat, is this: A boat can fit into or can be carried by a ship but not vice versa.
== Answer == Size is not the only determinant. Boats are usually used either on rivers or lakes, or near the coast, and rarely make transoceanic voyages. Boats also are usually specialized (fishing, yachting, etc.). A ship is larger and has one continuous main deck. Older definitions refer to the type, size and number of sails, but that's
old-fashioned. THE ABOVE IS NOT THE CORRECT ANSWER. VIKINGS HAD LONG BOATS AND THE GERMANS HAD U BOATS SO ITS NOT THE LENGTH A BOAT HAS ONE CONTINUOUS DECK. A BOAT BECOMES A SHIP WHEN IT HAS MORE THAN ONE DECK.
A ship carries a boat "lifeboats", a boat does not carry a boat "lifeboats".
Not exactly...according to the United States Navy a boat is "A small craft capable of being carried aboard a ship." (NAVEDTRA 14325, pg. AI-2). But hold on, in true navy fashion the same manual gives a different definition on page 7-5 it says, "The term boat refers to a non-commissioned waterborne vessel that is not designated as a service
craft.

This rule of thumb has worked well for me over a 20+ year Navy career: While taking a turn at the same speed, a boat leans TOWARD the center of a turn, while a ship leans AWAY from it. Of course this is caused by different stability & bouyancy characteristics related to the draft and size of the craft.


A ship is a "Any large vessel capable of extended independent operation." (pg. AI-11)

Then again when I was in the navy the Blue Jacket's Manual defined a boat as being different from a ship by vessel length. I forget what the length was but remember it pointed out that submarines were considered boats even though the SSBNs where longer than the length a boat was supposed to be.

I think the term is ubiquitous, but generally means a relatively small vessel and a ship is a relatively large vessel.
new answer:
ships are large
ships are sometimes used to go long distances from place to place on the ocean

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Whats_the_...#ixzz17QVzAtsx
========================================
Cheers and have nice holidays,
Paul

[Sailor's Brother]

Our "ships" are all under 15 000 tons Andrew. Tankers around 22 000 but everything else is around 5 000. I'd still call our frigates and destroyers "ships".

Thanks for demonstrating my point Daniel

Even while accepting the difference between ship's and boats, the operators refuse to acknowledge that all we have are little boats... 5000-6000 tons is just a boat by todays standards... BUT tell that to the drivers and ohhh nooooo I'm not a boat driver, I'm a Ship Driver







on an unrelated note.... why do I enjoy spinning up the Ship Driver's so much??? it's so easy to do too!!!

[MoMan]

Hey Sailor--Regarding the horizontal 2X2s between each mold--I don't see those in my Prospector plans, and am wondering if I need them. I'm a little concerned about my molds warping a bit. I'm using 1/2" cheapo plywood instead of MDF, and when I clamped them in place for a night or two, it looked like they were starting to deflect a little. Even in winter, Houston's humidity can climb up there. Am I being too cautious?

[Raka025]

MoMan - No doubt the 2x2"s are there to correct what you are concerned about, the warping of the plywood. Or more specifically to aid in preventing it from warping.

Rob

[Sailor]

Not only that but if you have the 2x2 pieces in there, there is no chance of the mold bowing down affecting it's shape. It will tend to wave in the air if you leave it as you may have noticed. This keeps it absolutely stationary. Get it, station, stationary. I crack me up!!
As to boat and ship. A ship has three "built" masts and is square rigged on each. Everything else is not technically a ship! Craft, power driven vessel, boat, barky or brig. It's not a ship if it's not a three masted square rigged vessel. That's my answer and I'm sticking to it.

[Sailor's Brother]

Not only that but if you have the 2x2 pieces in there, there is no chance of the mold bowing down affecting it's shape. It will tend to wave in the air if you leave it as you may have noticed. This keeps it absolutely stationary. Get it, station, stationary. I crack me up!!
As to boat and ship. A ship has three "built" masts and is square rigged on each. Everything else is not technically a ship! Craft, power driven vessel, boat, barky or brig. It's not a ship if it's not a three masted square rigged vessel. That's my answer and I'm sticking to it.

finaly, something we can agree on!!!!

:-)

Merry Christmas Daniel....

Miss you guys

[Sailor]

And happy new year.

[P.L.Lenihan]

Hi Daniel,
You still up in this neck of the woods? If so, anytime this coming week(the yard is open again), if you're looking to hydrate yourself, I could use some help at the bowshed disposing of some remaining 2010 inventory of "medicine" and you would be most welcome if the spirit moves you, at your convenience, to drop by anytime.

Just sayiing......


Cheers!


Peter

[Sailor]

MoMan - No doubt the 2x2"s are there to correct what you are concerned about, the warping of the plywood. Or more specifically to aid in preventing it from warping.

Rob

Not to correct but to prevent. Subtle difference but these molds are and always have been perfectly straight. I hope they remain that way. These 2x2 pieces are to ensure they remain so.

[MoMan]

OK Daniel--If I'm interpreting your thread correctly, it's been at least 2, if not 3 weeks since you've posted any progress. Do I need to remind you of the title of your thread??!!

P.S.--I love your idea of the empty soda bottle sander--I plan to steal that. Hopefully I can find an empty whiskey or vodka bottle to fulfill the task!

[Sailor's Brother]

OK Daniel--If I'm interpreting your thread correctly, it's been at least 2, if not 3 weeks since you've posted any progress. Do I need to remind you of the title of your thread??!!

P.S.--I love your idea of the empty soda bottle sander--I plan to steal that. Hopefully I can find an empty whiskey or vodka bottle to fulfill the task!

It's actually been a bit longer since he's progressed, no heat in the workshop and it's well COLD there, but right now he's out of the province on Christmas Holidays... so I figure we can forgive him....

as for the location of the empty whiskey bottle, here's how you go about getting one... go to your friendly neighbourhood liquor store, buy a full bottle... transfer it's contents to an unused bottle... mail that bottle and contents to me... then voila... an empty whisky (or Vodka) bottle.

Hope this helps...

Sailor's Brother

[Sailor]

I've got plenty of empty alcohol bottles around, it's the holidays after all. Problem was, I was looking for something a little "spongy". Like a soft backing pad on a sanding block. I tried a couple of Hard plastic shapes but they didn't seem to do it. The softness of the bottle helped though. I'm home now and hope to make a bit of progress soon. I did make progress in one respect. A friend of mine just happened to be going to Peterborough over the holidays so I asked her to stop in at Bear Mountain Boats and pick me up my stem bands. Result: Two 48 inch lengths of brass stem band material predrilled and tapered on one end. Ready to bend to shape and install. I would have drilled the holes after bending to reduce the risk of folding it over at a screw hole location but they came that way so I'll just have to be careful when I bend them to shape.
There's you're progress!!

[Sailor]

I think it's time to sand soon eh?

[MoMan]

Yes, please!! Give us sanding pictures! Tell us tales of sanding adventures! Write up descriptions of sawdust clouds and abrasive paper! Leave no details to the imagination.

I got my lumber sorted according to color on MLK weekend, which was then interrupted by some tequila swillin' with a friend, then was out of town this past weekend. So this weekend will hopefully see some bead-n-cove cutting. Can't stop fantasizing about my first trip down the bayou this spring (hopefully), but that means I gotsta get off my butt and progress.

--M

[Sailor's Brother]

Yes, please!! Give us sanding pictures! Tell us tales of sanding adventures! Write up descriptions of sawdust clouds and abrasive paper! Leave no details to the imagination.

I got my lumber sorted according to color on MLK weekend, which was then interrupted by some tequila swillin' with a friend, then was out of town this past weekend. So this weekend will hopefully see some bead-n-cove cutting. Can't stop fantasizing about my first trip down the bayou this spring (hopefully), but that means I gotsta get off my butt and progress.

--M

For those North of the 49th (Sailor this is for you...) MLK weekend (Martin Luther King) is a holiday weekend in the USA.... this year is was 15-17 January wife got it off... but of course as a faithful servants of Her Majesty... Sailor and I were working...

so nice to have another holiday sooooo close to Christmas... why do we have to wait until March break to get some time off???

but I digress... Sailor, yes please show us some pictures of your sanding...

I take it from your comment that you have somehow figured out how to get into your boat shop... through the frozen solid lock (guess where his blowtorch, and lock de-icer is kept????) AND through the large frozen puddle that your door sits in ?????

or is this just a setup to show us a picture of a door frozen in ice, with a large block of ice hanging off a hasp?

:-)

[Sailor]

NO pics of locks, no pics of doors sitting in puddles. In fact I just returned from the barn and once again was turned away by mother nature. Imagine, something we humans designed and built to keep mother nature out, now she has found a way to keep us out in turn. Not fair I tells ya. As for north of the 49th......... were you to pick up a geography text or a chart or something resembling a map you would know that I am about 6 kilometers south of Stewiack. Stewiack is known the world over as sitting on the 45th parallel, exactly half way between the equator and the north pole. You may or may not recall this from kindergarden, I know it was a LONG time ago but 45 is actually a smaller number than 49 and therefore being somewhat south of the 45th I am also south of the 49th I am therefore south of YOU! I knew what MLK weekend was as I am learned to a certain degree ( though a degree I have not ) So take your almighty pompous self and hit the bilge with it!
You'll get pics when mother nature lets me back into my shop. Until then, I anxiously await warmer climes.

Moman, I'm glad you're looking at making a bit of progress soon. Do get out there and bead and cove the he!! out of those strips. You'll feel better. Though I think you may prefer to colour code them After they're milled, you'll be stacking them up and runing them through so it would have saved you the bother of keeping track of them as you mill them. What's done is done, you live you learn. Remember though, pics or it didn't happen. You need a thread with your build in it. Keep us updated though.
Daniel

[Sailor's Brother]

ha so it was a tease... you are NOT about to show sanding pics... I suspected as much... no progress over there... at least over here I got my transom lofted...



you going to go for a mid-summer launch? I'm thinking of heading home this summer for a week or so... sure would enjoy a trip to the park with a pair of redbirds...

[Sailor]

No pics then it didn't happen. As far as the WBF is concerned you have yet to start your build!!!
That would be alot of fun and I hope for a launch in time this year. We'll see though.

[MoMan]

You need a thread with your build in it. Keep us updated though.
Daniel

Ya mean like this?
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...in-style-canoe

[Sailor]

Yeah, that one. The one I've been watching and commenting on regularly. That one. (Hangs head in shame and walks away!)

[Sailor]

So last night AFTER building a tiller for the Catspaw, I went out and did some sanding on the Redbird. It's not ready to glass yet but every little bit gets us that much closer. No pics because to be honest, it doesn't look much different than it did before I started work on it and pics of me sanding are not too terribly exciting. Yet, progress has been made!

[MoMan]

[Sailor]

Me too!

[Sailor's Brother]

Me too!

ummm then Daniel...

Get to work!!!!

lofting the Catspaw is doable... as is just general cleaning of the shop and sexy pictures of that massive workspace...

[Sailor]

The roof is taking priority and the garden needs to go in.......

[P.L.Lenihan]

Hey,c'est quoi ca? Pourquoi this is now on le page trois and nous n'avon pas seen any nice photos of le beautiful canoe so close to being fini she would float? You must complete ce project first avant going off with un autre project,même si it is just a small project.

Never le mind le garden et le roof.......it is le summer time mon amie and you should get some friends to come over pronto to get it all done like a barn raising bee.

Me? Je just wait here for see les bell photos of ton canoe.....before le thinking juice sponge,aka Le Madman of Texas MoMan shows nous his piece of art.



Cheers!


Peter

[MoMan]

It's a race between the two slowest slowpokes!

[Sailor's Brother]

It's a race between the two slowest slowpokes!

Ouch there Sailor... you've just been defined as one of the "slowest of slowpokes".... yikes...

[Sailor]

Where are the updates on your shellback?

[P.L.Lenihan]

Where are the updates on your shellback?

Never you mind about your brothers' shellback. Have you finished your gardening and roofing work yet? Any more work on the Redbird? Summer is here and it is time to boogy!......that is, unless you are seeking a coveted slowest slowpoke this side of Texas prize



Cheers!

Peter

[Sailor]

Ok all, I know I've kept you on tenterhooks lately with the blistering pace of progress. (Geologically speaking that is. I can't even say Glacially speaking since they're retreating fast enough to make my progress look..... well, Galcial.) So, here's the latest.
Yesterday I went out and purchased the 4 oz cloth and gallon of west system with slow hardner needed to glass the inside of the hull. Cost me 255 clams but it's the last major purchase. All that I have left to buy is some brass screws for the stem band, another size for the decks and a third size for the gunnls. As well as some bronze carriage bolts to fasten the seats, handles and yolk. Last week, I stopped by Crappy Tire (That's Canadian Tire to those who don't live in the best country this side of the sun) and put a largish purchase on hold. I got myslef a thickness planner. I've needed one for a while and keep putting it off. Now, once it shows up at the store, I'll be able to go pick it up and bring it home. Once I have it out in the shop, you guessed it: I'll be able to mill my gunnls to proper size and get started on that. I think the glassing of the inside will be the last really big job to do. Wales are small little tasks to cut the scuppers out and shape the parts properly. All can be done bit by bit. Installing them shouldn't be as big a job as the glassing. Everything else from there on is final fitting of the trim and then varnish. Lots of varnish. I won't presume to pick a launch day just yet but as we say in the navy "stand by to stand by".

Peter, the Roofing is finished. For now. There are 5 more facets to the roof that need to be done but they will await another year. The garden... it's a never ending job. Weeds don't take holidays but the work required pales in comparison to the yummyness I will get out of it later. Radishes are already ready to be picked and new ones planted. Still a few things to put in but I expect to get the inside of the canoe glassed this week! I know that's a big step too so.. here's hopin'.

[Sailor]

Sanding today. I think the inside of the hull is nearly ready for epoxy. Nearly. Tenner I don't know HOW you can possibly enjoy sanding.

[P.L.Lenihan]

Sanding today. I think the inside of the hull is nearly ready for epoxy. Nearly. Tenner I don't know HOW you can possibly enjoy sanding.

Great to read some work is about to happen again! Like I may have said in the past Sailor, sanding is a state of mind thing...or more precisely, a gd near complete lack of any mind whatsoever. Admittedly,I may have a slight advantage in that regard but rest assured, if you do it long enough, you will enter into the zone,not unlike the long distant runners"high",where one can safely shut off the nonstop chatter upstairs and just cruise into the white noise bliss-n-hiss of lovely sandpaper slicing through microns of surface texture. A canoe, I believe, may be near the minimum size to offer sufficient sanding area to get blitzoid from the fun.

WARNING: Sanding can be addictive.Approach with some caution and restraint.




Cheers!


Peter

[Sailor]

The restraing will likely be of the "It's good enuff now, I'm sick of sanding." type of restraint rather than the "It's not perfect yet but it's SO CLOSE." type. It's the inside after all and will be covered with packs, gear, women and beer right?

[MoMan]

It's the inside after all and will be covered with packs, gear, women and beer right?

I'd like to join you on that trip, please!

[P.L.Lenihan]

It's the inside after all and will be covered with packs, gear, women and beer right?

What are packs and gear?

[Sailor]

Backpacks and the required gear for camping of course Tenner. I'll chalk it up to your location in "La Belle Province", a simple language confusion and leave it at that.

[Sailor]

Here is a view of the progress I have made. I will detail a bit more of what has happened tonight in my Catspaw progress thread because most of the interesting stuff happened to that catspaw rudder sitting on the ash inwale/outwale pieces.
What are they doing there? Glad you asked Tenner. I purchased a thickness planer recently and today did the deed. I ran them through to the required thickness and width. The good book says they should be 7/8" by 3/4". I hummed and I haaaa'd and I decided which way I needed to run them through. Then I ran them through a few times until all four sticks were 7/8" by 7/8". I then proceeded to hummm and haaa a bit more and I decided, with the aid of a bit of home made black cherry port, which way they needed to go through in order to best produce matching beautiful inwales and outwales. I settled in the end on having the scarf show on the side and a little line across the top of each 'wale. Then I ran the whole lot through a few more times IOT take them down to the requsit 3/4" thick. Now those sticks are all 3/4" thick and 7/8" wide.
The next step is to get the scuppers cut into the inwales. Or rather decide which will be in and which will be outwales....I have a video of me running them through my new planer but I have no idea how to post a video.

[P.L.Lenihan]

The planer is impressive Sailor, the work on the Catspaw laudable, the humming an' haaaaing over the strakes sometimes necessary and not knowing how to post videos understandable. But fer da luv-o-Cheeses man, do tell us about your "home made black cherry port" .You know, the works; how you make it, how long it takes, what it tastes like and how you feel the morning after. Come clean with us Sailor or forever live on your knees!


Cheers!


Peter "thirsty" Lenihan

[Sailor]

Not being the type of man to prostrate himself before others, nor to spend any real quantity of time on his knees (before others or otherwise) I shall divulge the information. Mind you it is to be kept strictly confidential. YOU and ME, got it Tenner?
First. I went to a little store called Wine Kitz. (This is a number of years ago, more than five but less than ten.) I purchased a number of wine making things. Carboy (that's a big 23L glass jug.) A "primary fermenter" (That's a clean NEW 5 gallon bucket with a lid) a wine thief (No it's not anything like Mr Simon Bates but simply a long hollow piece of plastic which is inserted into the wine being produced, the end is covered with one of your 10 thumbs and a quantity of wine extracted from the carboy.) a thermometer a stirrer (big plastic spoon that fits into the carboy's single opening) and a few other items. Can't recall exactly what so you'll have to hit up your very own local Wine Kitz, or equivalent. One of the items I do remember is the Kit it's self. I know that because I have picked up MANY of them since and without the kit there's no port, wine etc. Port is (as we all know) a concentrated fortified sort of wine. Most wine kits come in 23L kits. Meaning there are ingredients which include the grape juice concentrate, to make a 23l carboy full of wine. Port normally comes in a smaller kit. This requires a smaller carboy. I therefore now remember that one of the items I purchased was a 13L carboy. Once the kit is home and safely in the kitchen or wherever it is you happen to want to make your wine (cellar for you rich folks) you open the box. Step one, I will tell you is READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Once you do that there's nothing more I really need to tell you now is there? But for those who are curious and will never bother to make their own port......
You mix the grape juice into the carboy with a few other ingredients in the kit, stir from time to time (usually once a day for a few days) maybe add a few more ingredients a bit later (say a few weeks) then you wait. After 4-6 weeks depending on the kit you purchased you have port. Sort of. At some point in there you'll need to "rack" the wine. This means using a syphon tube (another thing I purchased but forgot earlier) to transfer the wine from one carboy (or the primary fermenter) into another carboy. Lacking more than one small carboy you can rack it into another primary fermentor then back into the carboy if you like but dont' rack it too often, aerating the wine is not good for it) The reason you rack it is to get it off the sediment, or sludge made up of all the extra ingredients in the kit. Some kits come with oak sawdust to give the wine an oaky flavour as though it had aged in an oak barrell. The port generally does not. So, after following the instructions diligently, you should have 13L of Port. but hold on there Tenner, don't go swilling straight from the carboy. There are a few things to do yet. First, it's FORTIFIED wine. Means we need to fortify it. How you ask? I'll tell you but once again, pain of death, it's only twixt you and I...... Pour in some brandy. SHHHH don't tell anyone. Usually the directions say to pour in a Flask (mickey whatever you call it) I normally just splurge at this point and pour in a 26er. SHHH don't tell anyone it'll be our little secret. Once this is done the stuff can't be simply chugged out of the carboy. Bottles are called for my man. Bottles, depending on the size of the bottles you may need only a few or you may need many. I try to put my port into smaller bottles, you can buy them at this magical wine kit store as well. Corks a corking mashine, filter if you so desire...... All the appurtenances required of a master wine maker can be had at this store. If you go to the store I go to, where the owner is great and knows you by name.... He may freely admit that he has two tiered pricing. Prices for my "customer" and then the price everyone else pays... I am lucky to be a customer therefore I get the customer prices rather than what's indicated on the price tags and other stickers throughout the store. Big discounts for buying in bulk I guess. The port is bottled and of course sampled every step of the process but I didn't need to tell you that now did I? The black cherry part comes in a separat bag. Bladder if you will. You simply add the flavour to the port at the stage described in the directions. That my friend is how you end up with port that is better than any bottle I have ever purchased in a store or at a wine tasting festival. I don't claim to be a sommelier or anything like that. To paraphrase something Gelett Burgess said "I don't know anything about wine. But I know what I like." And I like my port. My friends will agree with this as well. The stuff is litterally considered liquid panty remover amongst my circle of friends. Works a charm too. If you like, when you and Mr Simon Bates and the lovely Nat decide to sail on down to Halifax I'd be happy to pass you a bottle or two of it. Heck, maybe next time I pass through your area I might just have one handy to toss over a fence or perhaps from a dock onto an after deck?

[Fitz]

Sailor: Along with your fine canoe building, you have struck a fine chord in my heart. I have a bunch of grape vines. Concord Grapes do best here....like that is a surprise, just ask Welch's over at the Company Headquarters...Anyway, last year I shucked grapes to no end. I made Grape Pie, Grape Jelly, Grape Jam, Grape Juice and Grape Conserves....I can't stand to see the produce go to waste. The kids turned their nose up at the Pie and I still have most of the other stuff preserved. How many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches can folks eat?

Now wine....hmmm, now we are talking. No chance of that going bad on the shelf here. Although, Concord Grapes may not be the best for a vintage bottle...

[Sailor's Brother]

Not being the type of man to prostrate himself before others, nor to spend any real quantity of time on his knees (before others or otherwise) I shall divulge the information. Mind you it is to be kept strictly confidential. YOU and ME, got it Tenner?
First. I went to a little store called Wine Kitz. (This is a number of years ago, more than five but less than ten.) I purchased a number of wine making things. Carboy (that's a big 23L glass jug.) A "primary fermenter" (That's a clean NEW 5 gallon bucket with a lid) a wine thief (No it's not anything like Mr Simon Bates but simply a long hollow piece of plastic which is inserted into the wine being produced, the end is covered with one of your 10 thumbs and a quantity of wine extracted from the carboy.) a thermometer a stirrer (big plastic spoon that fits into the carboy's single opening) and a few other items. Can't recall exactly what so you'll have to hit up your very own local Wine Kitz, or equivalent. One of the items I do remember is the Kit it's self. I know that because I have picked up MANY of them since and without the kit there's no port, wine etc. Port is (as we all know) a concentrated fortified sort of wine. Most wine kits come in 23L kits. Meaning there are ingredients which include the grape juice concentrate, to make a 23l carboy full of wine. Port normally comes in a smaller kit. This requires a smaller carboy. I therefore now remember that one of the items I purchased was a 13L carboy. Once the kit is home and safely in the kitchen or wherever it is you happen to want to make your wine (cellar for you rich folks) you open the box. Step one, I will tell you is READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Once you do that there's nothing more I really need to tell you now is there? But for those who are curious and will never bother to make their own port......
You mix the grape juice into the carboy with a few other ingredients in the kit, stir from time to time (usually once a day for a few days) maybe add a few more ingredients a bit later (say a few weeks) then you wait. After 4-6 weeks depending on the kit you purchased you have port. Sort of. At some point in there you'll need to "rack" the wine. This means using a syphon tube (another thing I purchased but forgot earlier) to transfer the wine from one carboy (or the primary fermenter) into another carboy. Lacking more than one small carboy you can rack it into another primary fermentor then back into the carboy if you like but dont' rack it too often, aerating the wine is not good for it) The reason you rack it is to get it off the sediment, or sludge made up of all the extra ingredients in the kit. Some kits come with oak sawdust to give the wine an oaky flavour as though it had aged in an oak barrell. The port generally does not. So, after following the instructions diligently, you should have 13L of Port. but hold on there Tenner, don't go swilling straight from the carboy. There are a few things to do yet. First, it's FORTIFIED wine. Means we need to fortify it. How you ask? I'll tell you but once again, pain of death, it's only twixt you and I...... Pour in some brandy. SHHHH don't tell anyone. Usually the directions say to pour in a Flask (mickey whatever you call it) I normally just splurge at this point and pour in a 26er. SHHH don't tell anyone it'll be our little secret. Once this is done the stuff can't be simply chugged out of the carboy. Bottles are called for my man. Bottles, depending on the size of the bottles you may need only a few or you may need many. I try to put my port into smaller bottles, you can buy them at this magical wine kit store as well. Corks a corking mashine, filter if you so desire...... All the appurtenances required of a master wine maker can be had at this store. If you go to the store I go to, where the owner is great and knows you by name.... He may freely admit that he has two tiered pricing. Prices for my "customer" and then the price everyone else pays... I am lucky to be a customer therefore I get the customer prices rather than what's indicated on the price tags and other stickers throughout the store. Big discounts for buying in bulk I guess. The port is bottled and of course sampled every step of the process but I didn't need to tell you that now did I? The black cherry part comes in a separat bag. Bladder if you will. You simply add the flavour to the port at the stage described in the directions. That my friend is how you end up with port that is better than any bottle I have ever purchased in a store or at a wine tasting festival. I don't claim to be a sommelier or anything like that. To paraphrase something Gelett Burgess said "I don't know anything about wine. But I know what I like." And I like my port. My friends will agree with this as well. The stuff is litterally considered liquid panty remover amongst my circle of friends. Works a charm too. If you like, when you and Mr Simon Bates and the lovely Nat decide to sail on down to Halifax I'd be happy to pass you a bottle or two of it. Heck, maybe next time I pass through your area I might just have one handy to toss over a fence or perhaps from a dock onto an after deck?

Hmmm I'm always partial to doing it with a 40 myself... but hey, that's just me... but then you missed the decanting, and slow pouring, the gentle sipping, the....

[Sailor]

OH I didn't miss it at all. I take care not to miss any of it.

[Sailor]

OK, Granted I had to dig this out of the bottom half of page three. I guess I need to get my butt in gear and get this thing moving. Today, my buddy Jon stopped by. Jon stopped by to bear a hand with this fiberglass epoxy business. Today, as you will see in the coming photos I glassed the inside of the hull. It's truly looking amazing now. Much better job than I did on the outside. So without further adoooooooooooooooooo
Here's the first pic, proof positive that SOMETHING has happened in the drydock over at Shubie Boatworks.

Here's the fiberglass cloth laid into the boat, trimming finished. It's fit and all ready for the goo.
It's a 4 oz. cloth to help save weight and materials. Mostly weight though.

Here's Jon as we progress. I took a quick breather to change my gloves and snapped this shot before jumping back in. I seemed to do most of the mixing while he probably did more of the squeegeeing for the first coat. Don't worry, second coat was all me. Jon had to go home before I could get the second coat on.


The inside looks great as you can see.

Once the first coat was on, I stepped back and Jon took a quick picture of me and the boat. The picture has been up on my facebook account for a few minutes and already I'm getting comments on how good I look! Must remember not to put any of that weight back on now.........



Here she is without my mug to spoil it.



Here's a close up of one of the inner stems after a coat of epoxy was squeegee'd on.



Step back a couple of paces and this is the view that you are treated to.


See Peter, I really do make progress on this boat from time to time.

[Sailor]

Looking at that last post, the last two pics are NOT the same stem. Sorry. They both do tend to look a little similar so you must excuse the mistake.

Here's a view of the inside stem from level with the accent stripe. It's looking good.


Here's a view from a bit further back:



Unlike some Lemmonhanded people on this forum, I can't glass and snap pictures at the same time. So, the step by step will be a bit separated from the pics and they pics won't cover every single step of the way..

Here's a final shot of her after the second coat of epoxy.




Now for some 'splaining

First we unrolled the cloth. carefully not to damage any of the weave. Then we tucked one end in. We didn't overlap the cloth inside the stems because it's too messy and just not needed. We trimmed and fitted and fussed over one end then moved to the other end to see how much extra length we had. It's always nice to have a bit of extra length. DAMHOKT! Once we figured out how much extra length we had, we trimmed it to length. Then we fitted the other end. Then we trimmed it to length. Then we fussed a bit more, then we trimmed it to length. OK fine it took a few times to get it right but we finally did manage to get it to the proper length, cut a slit up the middle over the inner stem band portion and some cuts up the outside to allow it to sit nicely as it is drapped around the hull.
Next I hummed and hawed, and talked to Jonny about how we would do this. Gotta make sure everyone is on the same page and we know the plan as we go into it. It went swimmingly so I must know a thing or two about telling people how to do things....... We started a couple of feet from the western end of the boat and I mixed a batch. A BIG batch. Hey, we did have a whole boat to do and there were two of us to squeegee so why not? Poured it into the bottom of the boat and we squeegee'd it all up the sides. We moved toward the closer end and got the inside all epoxied up and the glass sitting just so along the length of the stem band.
I continues mixing batches as required and we moved down the length of the hull until we ran out of boat to glass. Then we tidied up our tools, took off our gloves and patted ourselves on the back. Jon went back to take care of his little girl and feed himself while I began the wait. I waited and then once the waiting part was over, I went back out to the drydock at Shubie Boatworks and put on another pair of gloves. I mixed one batch after another until I had once again run out of hull that needed epoxy. The epoxy was poured into the bottom of the hull, spread with a squeegee or two then allowed to sit. Once it had soaked in, I squeegee'd it off again. Took about 20 minutes to let it soak then off the excess came. Same thing for both coats really. Now the boat is sitting in it's cradle curing. I can move on to inwales and outwales.....That's it for now so you'll have to be patient for the next installment.

[P.L.Lenihan]

Good stuff there Daniel!! Will you be painting or leaving your Redbird bright.


Cheers!


Peter

[Sailor]

Paint? Not on your life Peter! Why bother matching the planking port and starboard if it will be painted. I have thought of a bit of graphite on the bottom.... We'll see how it looks once the varnish is on. I'm not entirely happy with the outside glass job so graphite might be a way to cover up some of the boo boos. We'll see once it's varnished and out in the light of day.

[MoMan]

I'm not entirely happy with the outside glass job

Looking great Daniel! I'm slowly inching towards the outside glassing task, so if I may inquire, what exactly would you do differently if you could do it over?

[Sailor]

I'd do the whole blasted thing over. It sucked. The inside is way better. Problem is, you learn on the outside where everyone can see it strapped to your car, upside down in your garage/barn storage place etc., even as you paddle by.
Make sure you squeege VERY well for the first coat. Get the cloth to lay down flat against the hull and all the excess resin out of it. Allow it enough time to soak in properly and then squeegee the rest off. Don't reuse it, it's no good after that. Then make sure to squeegee the second coat properly as well. Make sure it's enough to properly bury the weave though. Once it's on get a good but not too thick coat to allow you to fair it. I have some spots where the weave shows through. sanded right to it to fair the hull. that's bad. I applied a 4th coat but still....... be careful, work fast but don't rush. If it starts to kick off in your hand, toss it and mix another batch. If it's already on the boat, stop playing with it, move on, better than having a "live with it" in your boat. Other questions I'm sure I can help you out with answers as well as others much more knowledgeable and experienced than I. Hope that helps,
Daniel