Duckworks -

We basically lease space to Google for those ads - Google then resells the space to the highest bidder. We have the ability to refuse any advertisers and we often do deny the more blatant ones, believe it or not. But I need to know the url of the advertiser before I can do that, so please send me either a screen shot of the ad or the url that the ad links to. Thanks! - Chuck

Thanks

Dear Chuck,

Thanks for running that report of KOTW in Europe; it generated a lot of Interesting, very well informed, mail including one that pointed out a typo in the second to last paragraph where it reads "east to west". It should read "west to east". Can that be corrected? I also heard from a couple of old friends I'd lost track of. Who needs Facebook and Twitter when we have Duckworks. Best to you and all who help to make the magazine such a delight.

Rene

Thanks, Rene - the correction is made - Chuck

Build from Synthetic Lumber?

Hi Chuck,

I've been a fan of your site for years and love to see what you and the contributors are up to on a regular basis. I have had a thought or two about the possibility of building a boat from the synthetic or composite lumber that folks are using in decks and fences these days. Do you have any knowledge of others attempting this? It seems like it would work for plank-on-frame designs since the materials are usually in planks/boards rather than sheets. I have played with the material a bit and find it heavy but durable. the advantages seem obvious with water resistance, but this quality could also makes it a challenge to glue. I would be curious to know if you or others have considered using the material in boat building. I look forward to hearing anything you have to share or if you could propose the idea to your audience and see if anything comes from it.

Cheers,
Mark

Mark: We featured a boat not long ago built largely with Coroplast, a type of plastic but much different from the stuff you are talking about. I have looked at the decking material but the weight and cost seem to make it impractical. Still, I never say "never" as I have seen things change in terms of cost and characteristics. Since most wood boats are built with a number of different species of wood depending on what is needed for any part of the boat, it might be possible to use even this heavy decking for some parts of a boat. Things like keelson and rubbing strakes come to mind. Let us know if you come up with anything. Chuck

Not so fond memories

How about rerunning my story "Not So Fond Memory" that ran Jan.12,2011. It was all true and whenever I told it people laughed and found it almost unbelievable. "Suicide" got its name from my buddy's brother's outboard hydroplane, we were big on inboard and outboard races that took place on the Elizabeth River Norfolk Virginia every year. We could hang around the pits and get up close to the boats and drivers. Suicide lasted until the summer of 1958. The surf of Virginia Beach finally wiped it out. It was canvas covered painted with a gallon of green industrial paint mixed with a gallon of spar varnish. Don't ask where the materials came from because we did not have any money. We made paddles in Jr. High Woodshop had no life jackets except the inner tube that saved my life. I really did pray when I climbed up on the bottom of Suicide and answer came to me then. I turned Suicide to where I could get at the inner tube under the fore deck. I was extremely happy that that tube had enough air to get me to shore.

Bob Guess "Suicide" survivor

Speaking of Capsizing

Chuck,

Nice article on capsizing. The Walkabout in the EC should be a great ride. I capsized my new boat twice in practice before the obx and then again during the obx. What I learned was that you really need to practice with your full amount of gear you have on board and also to keep track of the things in the cockpit and not get lazy about tying things down. I think I am going to add three mesh nets that can be used to put certain things in in the cockpit. I also learned that the best way to bail out a boat is with a bucket and that a bilge pump just does not cut it. I also think that capsizes probably happen after a lot of sailing and you start to get tired which can make you take chances. Which of course leads to the capsize. But once you have everything set to go again you have a big crash in energy. I plan on keeping a thermos of coffee hot and ready to go. It took me only 30 or 45 minutes to be up and sailing again before I accepted a tow from the Broadlicks but the thing that made me feel better was a cup of coffee and a peanut butter / jelly sandwich. I am super excited to follow you in this years EC and wish you the fairest of winds and greatest of times.

best, -
- Paul Peyton Moffitt

Tuckahoe 10

Mike,

What a great looking boat! I bet she sails sweet. Do you find the epoxy coated polyester dacron to be fairly durable? You said that it's a dagger board? When I looked at your pictures it looked like the top of the case was closed in so I was assuming it was a centerboard. Maybe those terms are used interchangeably since they do the same thing, or maybe I misinterpreted the picture. In any case I was curious how big the board is and how many square feet of sail that is, without me having to lookup Bolger's Queen Mab. (I'm lazy) Again, what a nice looking boat. I would love to see some pictures of it in motion. I hope you have many fun years of sailing it. Thanks for sharing.

And being the faithful editor, thanks for all of your work on editing. I have enough trouble trying to catch the mistakes and clean up my own work (which I hope doesn't give you too much trouble). I certainly enjoy reading all of the great articles that come out in Duckworks. I'm sure it's no easy task putting that all together. I'm not sure how you and Chuck handle all of that, but I'm thankful that you do it. Part of my morning routine is to take a look at Duckworks before I head off to work, so I appreciate the effort. If I don't get to read Duckworks before I head off in the morning I feel like something is missing.

Paul Cook

Hi Paul

Thanks for the kind comments Paul. The board is 28" long and about 10" wide. The bottom 18" that hangs below the hull is steel 13/64" thick which goes up into the case about 4".

It is a daggerboard - the wood at the top is just a cap on the daggerboard case to stop splashing into the hull when paddling etc. The sail is 30 sq ft. The bottom seems fairly abrasion resistant.

Mike John

Warning

Chuck, Ran across a warning today while browsing your site. Is this something to be concerned about? It sounds dire. Best Regards, Michael

What happened was that some legitimate url's that we had links to changed hands and Google decided that the new owners were not trustworthy so they shut the entire archives for 2007 until I could eliminate all those links. That work is done now and we are clean. Here is the latest from Google:

Status of the latest badware review for this site: A review for this site has finished. The site was found clean. The badware warnings from web search are being removed. Please note that it can take some time for this change to propagate.

New DVD from Paul Esterle

Hi Chuck,

Finally got around to releasing my first DVD, "How to Upgrade a Trailerable Sailboat". Here is the info...

Capt'n Pauley (Paul Esterle)
Freelance Boating Writer
www.thevirtualboatyard.com
www.youtube.com/user/captnpauley
www.lulu.com/spotlight/captnpauley

Win a Boat

Remember folks, it is not too late to buy tickets for a chance to win the lovely little boat that the Florida Maritime Museum is raffling off. It is for a good cause and I happen to know that the odds are pretty good for ticket holders.

https://www.duckworksbbs.com/raffle.htm

Chuck

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