Boat Builder Central

Then I made a couple more hardware bits: I'd forgotten the S-hook that fastens the sail tack and I trimmed a copper nail to plug the hole I'd made in the top of the mast. Here's all the Moonfish hardware lined up for a group photo: https://www.community.boatbuildercentral.com/gallery/albums/userpics...

I was reading a Sunfish book the other day to plan the rigging. It described how to protect your deck from the eyebolt end on the boom. Ugh! I realized the lower end of the interlinked eyebolts would gouge the dickens out of my fancy deck. https://www.community.boatbuildercentral.com/gallery/albums/...

My family says the same thing. It's for sure they're going to make me put the first scratch on it!

I have no delusions, though, about how wooden boats fare out in the wild. I already have two to take care of. Which is why I know how to varnish.

A little outpatient surgery was required: https://www.community.boatbuildercentral.com/gallery/albums/userpics/91275/Trimming_spar_ends.JPG I cut off the ends of the spars where they'd been mounted to the disco motors and rounded over the ends. Seven coats of varnish later, varnishing is done. https...

Now my next question … could you do something similar if you were smart and good at maths by placing a weight instead of moving the boat on the trailer? I had a naval architect "weigh" my 41-foot deadrise by stepping on board & measuring how much the water level changed on the hull. I...

LOL!

Will do.

Thanks guys.

Varnishing the ends of the spars now. Watching varnish dry is worse than watching grass grow!

Finished varnishing "parts" today. Most of them had holes near one end so I could hang them up and get both sides at the same time. https://www.community.boatbuildercentral.com/gallery/albums/userpics/91275/Varnished_parts.JPG From near to far, these are the two pieces of the splash coamin...

Varnishing the wooden spars presented a bit of a problem: How to apply the varnish evenly to these cylinders. Because varnishing requires a wet edge while you work I couldn't varnish one side, flip them over, then varnish the other. That would leave a seam on each side - times seven coats would be f...

Starting with a cylinder that I cut to the right size, I outlined the boundaries of the sheave, as shown here: https://www.community.boatbuildercentral.com/gallery/albums/userpics/91275/Groove_layout.JPG Then I attacked the blank with a series of knives. First attack was to plunge the 45º knife you ...