When you build a boat, one of the major problems as I see it, is that you don't neccessarily have all the requisite skills to really get it done and to a large extent, you have to learn as you go and make mistakes as you go to.
When I built my Whitehall, I failed to make provision for a drain plus in the stern of the Wine Glass transom.
Now that my wife and I have decided to go up to the Lake Pepin Messabout next weekend. I have realized that my nice Whitehall will be nothing more than a LARGE MOBIL BATH TUB on wheels waiting to be filled by the first rain storm we may encounter.
With that in mind, we decided to try and make our own cover. 7-8 years ago, my wife approached me with the request for a FANCY embroydery sewing machine with all the bells and whistles. Thank goodness that I was smart enough to say sure Honey, what kind do you want and promptly took her shopping. $5000 later and she was the proud owner of Jenome wonder-do-it-all machine that since that time has made exactly two (2) ring bearers pillows.
I have occasionally brought up the fact that this machine would make a fine boat anchor, and have been ignored completely. I have asked if it can sew on a button, to date no buttons have been sewn on.
The Good News:
Friday we went out and bought a nice cheap Tarp and Saturday, we laid it all out and yesterday and today she is fitting it as I type. Which when done will have a Cover for this next weekend and will have added to our realtionship immensly.
In our future now I can see a great cover made from Sunbrella and SAILS, SAILS, SAILS.....
I have forgotten to tell you that she has never told me "NO" when ever I have wanted to do anything and when approached with the idea of going "Live Aboard" and Cruising, she is rolling her eyes and knowing full well that with in a year or two we will be Cruising.
I will post pics of the Cover as soon as it is done.
Cheers,
Tom...
Sounds like you have a keeper Tom
Greetings Tom,
Iâd be curious to know the rest of the costs of owning that fancy sewing machine. Â For me it was a tad over $2,000 for the four needle serger machine, and an addition $4,500 to get the tangled thread removed from the catâs intestines. Â $6,500 = four Halloween costumes and a half dozen hemmed pants. Â I think shopping at Neimen Marcus for $900 costumes would have been cheaper.
But at least I got to use the machine to make up the sails for my R/C Weekenderâ¦
Cheers,
Tom
Yep, so far, I have been lucky. The machine has sat mostly un used for all these years. Now we are producing a cover, first major attempt at making something from scratch. If I can get a few sails as well, then I will probably let her bring it on our "Cruiser/Liveaboard" When we get it.Â
I of course will have to bring all my woodworking tools that will fit in the spare spots. Tiny TS, Router,Sander,dovetail jig, to just name a few....
Good Morning "Tom(s)",
Please do share photos when you get canvas work done. Also, has anyone put a Bimini on Weekender or Vacationer that you know of? I'm guessing it may not work with boom clearance when underway but would be nice for cockpit lounging when on the hook. I'd like to add roll down mosquito netting with fishing weights sewn in bottom hem. Doesn't have to be fancy as I "try" to believe in the simple is better.
Hey, Tombayus- love the R/C weekender. I'm sure it's been spoken of previous but what scale is your R/C model? Did you use K. Green's paper plans or did you just scale down from Weekender plans? I have Vacationer plans and have greatly considered building R/C model to "try out" minor changes before going full scale.
capnpabloÂ
Greetings Paul,
I built my model weekender from a real set of plans and the scale is about 1/13th scale (1 decimeter = 1 inch on a 50:1 architectural rule) That works out to a 14 inch long hull and is too small for efficient radio control, but it does look good sitting on top of the fish tank. Good R/C boat hulls are between two and four feet long. Smaller than two feet, and it gets hard to fit the receiver and servos into the hull. Much larger than four feet, and they get hard to transport to and from the pond. And the larger the model, the easier it is to see out on the water and the more scale-like the operation will be.
If you are trying to build an R/C Vacationer, Iâd go bigger .. say 1/8th scale (1.5 inches = 1 foot, or 1/8th inch = 1 inch), which for the 21 foot Vacationer would make a 31 inch model hull or 36 inches overall including the bowsprit and rudder. That will still fit into the car without catching on the ends on the edges of the trunk opening or require the rear seats to fold down in a hatch-back. The finished model on an appropriate stand will be just over 4 ft tall, so it isnât going to fit on the mantle over the fireplace unless you display it with the mast all folded up.
There is some more information and photos about my silly R/C weekender model at â¦
http://home.comcast.net/~TomsWeekender/model.html
The one question I have never got a decent answer to concerns the
one set of plans = one completed hull rule that most boat designers work by. With regard to the plans set I purchased, did I use up my rights to a hull by building a model? Did I use up 1/13th of a hull? Do I owe Mike and Peter 1/13th of $35 = $2.75 ? Inquiring minds want to know.
Cheers,
Tom