took the beast out in 20+ knot winds yesterday(no sails yet) to see how the trailer,motor etc would function..........great !!!!!!        she handled the chop and current great.........friend of ours went along to show us the route through to the icw,really shallow.........even without the sails and mast the first boat we came upon stopped us to tell us what a beautiful boat she was.......................no name yet but it'll come to us.............about three months guys and she was wet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the wife took the tiller for most of the time and I've never seen her so happy.............didn't take many pics but a couple on the site. thanks for all the advice and encouragement........sails ,standing and running rigging, and misc cosmetic items and I'll be done.................thanks again to the stevensons for an easy and beautiful building design..........bruce
Well done, Bruce! Glad to hear you're both having fun with your new creation: that's very much the idea!
Mike
sounds great---- you can really hear your excitement!!! CONGRATS....do you have a link to the site with photos?
matt
just found your site:
www.whiteoaksails.com
great photos!! that is a fassst build...congrats...I will be building full time starting JUNE 11th...
must have been great sailing...or shall we say boating...
mATT
thanks guys,the closer I get to completion,the more I realize just how good it is to be back working on a boat project. My last one (a piver trimaran) was a million years ago,and it all comes flooding back. I was really bored with retirement and this brought me back to life...........I highly recommend it..........bruce
Bruce & Karen what a beautifull Weekender you have, we've spent hours looking at the great pictures on your site. Got a couple of questions, is the red stuff auto body filler and how many layers of cloth did you use? oops, one more. We can't really tell from the pictures, did you glass the keel? Thanks
                 Alan
thanks Matt,we're pretty pleased with the way she's turned out.............the red stuff is west systems 407 low density fairing compound mixed with epoxy.........it is much essier to sand than the 406 that is white and that I used for fillets and strength. You can mix the two powders to vary the strength and sandability as needed. I wouldn't use auto body filler,too porous and sucks up water..............I used eight oz. glass tape on all inside and outside joints and corners first(except in the cabin) and then covered it with six oz. overall...........the keel was filleted ,taped and then covered about 2/3 the way to the bottom..I had read several times not to totally seal up the keel to avoid trapping water in...my first inclination was to seal it all up but I held myself back. If there is anything I can help you with feel free to ask(wheelersails@gmail.com) good luck, I hope you have as much fun as we have............bruce P.S. I got the epoxy and fillers from jamestown distributors.......................................