Hi Guys
         Just a short note to introduce myself, my name is Jim Gibbons and I live in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. I have been reading BYYB forums for the past couple years, and I think I was a member some time ago as I remember chatting with Shawnee and Phil Gowlands whn I got the Plans for my Weekened That was 2 years ago the boat was started almost immediately and got up to 3D stage when I decided to burst an coronary artery (not working on the boat)
Thanks to prompt treatment by Para Medics I beat the odds, after a fairly long absence we are now up to turn over stage, boat that is, .The only mods that I made was, laminated 1 inch Ply Keel and the recent hatch for rudder/wheel accessibility I must add for Aussie builders double check your measurement due to our metric variations.
I found that out after cutting out the deck panel, Our 8x4 sheets of ply ain't, in fact they are shorter in both dimensions
I have found the forums dealing with the various aspects of the Weekender most helpful.By rhe way at 82 how am I going for the olderst current builder of the Weekender, so much for a short note!  Regards Jim Gibbons
Welcome! You may indeed be the elder-builder: we have had several builders in their '70's, and sailing their Weekenders (or other boats) into their '80's, but I don't know if we've had someone building in their '80's. Well done, and why not?
We look forward to seeing and reading more about your boat as it come together.
Mike
Ah, looks like Mr. Vern probably has the nod for Oldest Builder. Hats off to all of our builders, old or young.
Mike
    Thanks Mike and Richard for the information re. Dr.J Vern.
          I must say sorry for mis-spelling Shawne christian Name and Phil Gowans surname,
          sorry guys, but it was a long time ago
          Will try and forward some building shots when I sort out the Photo program.
           Jim
I am not absolutly sure but I recall someone telling me Mr. Vern died a while back. You may in fact be the Gezzer Jim.Â
   Just back on the, forum did not realise it was so long ago from the last posting, how time flies when having fun. Two years have past, my weekender VAMA finished launched and we have just returned from the Bribie Island Classic a round trip of 2480 klms,about 1550 miles ,
    The Bribie Island Classic is a get together ot vintage boats and types like the weekender, VAMA received a great number of favorable comments, which pleased me no end
     The Classic is over 2 day and consists of a 12kls. cruise along the passage fro a barbie lunch. the back to the Marina to get cleaned up for drinks and dinner at the Bribie Hotel,      Â
     Sunday consists of a short run across to the other side of the island where the boats are lined up for public inspection, during the day we have a short course race around buoy's for sail, putt putt and rowboats, a low key affair and great fun BTW meet Cris Treleor, who's Pocket Cruised was subject of a discussion in BYYB. You may recall the P/cruiser that sailed From Brisbane to Buderberg, a fairly long coastal open water sail.
       Will try an send photos of the event and of VAMA in the mean time,may I suggest as a matter of interest other Forum members might like to check out Bririe Island, Queensland ,Auatralis on Google Earth and see what a great place it is. Cheers for now.
So 84 and still sailing! I don't know what kind of shape I'll be in at that age, should I live that long, but my hat's off to ya.
Another member from down under Melbourne whom has just acquired a nice little weekender which was owned in QLD up to around 2009 then sold to Sydney and was rebuilt and freshened up. I missed the boat when she went up for sale the first time and never saw another one come up until the guy who bought in Sydney rebuilt it over 2 1/2 years with new mast,rigging sails and epoxy boat coat and paint. Now its firmly in my posession and i plan to just do some more tidy up well make it nice enough to show at wooden boat show we have down here in Melbourne. If anyone from melbourne or Australia might have another weekender id love to get in touch.
It took me 4 years to get this little boat but it was well worth the wait. It has perfect looks, ligth weight, easy to rig and go single handed. After building a bruce roberts spray in steel, then owning a trailer sailer which was much bigger at 23ft it spent more time on the trailer than sailing because it was a nightmare to launch and get the mast up definitely not a one man job.
This so far is perfect really easy to rig and get the mat up. Light to move around on the trailer, will be perfect for where my holiday house is just on the Barwon river which leads into a lake. I cant wait to get out there this summer and watch people as it rolls up to the sand drop anchor and go for coffee and icecream in barwon heads and then off for a tootle home with a barbecue on the beach. I could never have done this in any other sailer as the river is so tidal and can get quite shallow. So the weekender has another fan because it will suit my purposes perfectly.
Cheers Phil
Another member from down under Melbourne whom has just acquired a nice little weekender which was owned in QLD up to around 2009 then sold to Sydney and was rebuilt and freshened up. I missed the boat when she went up for sale the first time and never saw another one come up until the guy who bought in Sydney rebuilt it over 2 1/2 years with new mast,rigging sails and epoxy boat coat and paint. Now its firmly in my posession and i plan to just do some more tidy up well make it nice enough to show at wooden boat show we have down here in Melbourne. If anyone from melbourne or Australia might have another weekender id love to get in touch.
It took me 4 years to get this little boat but it was well worth the wait. It has perfect looks, ligth weight, easy to rig and go single handed. After building a bruce roberts spray in steel, then owning a trailer sailer which was much bigger at 23ft it spent more time on the trailer than sailing because it was a nightmare to launch and get the mast up definitely not a one man job.
This so far is perfect really easy to rig and get the mat up. Light to move around on the trailer, will be perfect for where my holiday house is just on the Barwon river which leads into a lake. I cant wait to get out there this summer and watch people as it rolls up to the sand drop anchor and go for coffee and icecream in barwon heads and then off for a tootle home with a barbecue on the beach. I could never have done this in any other sailer as the river is so tidal and can get quite shallow. So the weekender has another fan because it will suit my purposes perfectly.
Cheers Phil