Hi Chuck,
As usual the Duckworks articles are rich with GREAT projects, happenings and articles ! Keep up the hard work ! Congrat's to all the builders out there. I wanted to share a tip that seems to be working for us in the skiff. As required, we have our anchor (Danforth for our typical bottom) with about 100 feet of line. We purchased a medium size plastic pail with a handle ( at a "dollar store") and keep the line neatly coiled inside. When needed just pull the line from the pail --- tangle free. This not only helps eliminate clutter and tangles, it protects the line from any damage or chafing. Take Care

 Phil Aldo

Hi Chuck,

I just thought the members at Duckworks would like to know about the intriguing possibilities at https://www.homeexchange.com/  about exchanging the use of your boat with another boat owner located somewhere else in the world. Or with a home owner. We listed our houseboat "Adagio" there last year and successfully exchanged with a Amsterdam couple who owned a 65' Dutch Barge in Holland. I'm currently talking with two others about exchanges for next summer, one in England and the other in Orlando.

This is a really inexpensive way to cruise distant grounds, as there are no hotel bills, or boat transporting costs. It bears looking into by anyone who owns a boat large enough to sleep out on. Home exchange is free to join, and we have a page on exchanging at my www.brucesboats.com  site also. You meet via email, chat and feel out each other's abilities and agree on dates. The beauty of most boat swaps is that they do not have to be simultaneous, since most of us have a home also. So you can be there when your swappers arrive and go over the idiosyncrasies of conning your dreamboat.

Bruce Hector

p.s. The attached photo is my wife Elaine and I on the bow of our houseboat "Adagio" in front of the Bolt Castle Boathouse. Yep, boathouse, it was large enough that his 100 foot schooner could go in with the sticks till up. Quite a boat house. And yes, that's a Honda 200 on the deck, really extends our cruising range.

Sorry about the delay in updating Free Boat Design Resources - but I've been busy
building a boat!

https://home.clara.net/gmatkin/design.htm

Gavin Atkin

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd take a minute away from working on Ace and send along an aerial photo of the marina made in the last few days. The view is looking north downriver with Elliott Bay and Puget Sound in the Background.

Cheers!

Chuck Merrell

A composite made of recycled materials, All-A-BoardTM from ELF Products, Inc. is aggressively penetrating the marine industry as a plywood replacement. Stronger and more durable than other plywood replacements, All-A-BoardTM has set new industry standards for compression strength and absorption rates. The evolution of composite materials is continuing at an unprecedented pace, primarily because the performance characteristics of wood are not sufficient to meet the evolving needs of the industry.

All-A-BoardTM is more advantageous in some applications than polyurethanes, foam or foam-based products, and fiberglass. In marine applications that need more compression strength, screw retention and lower absorption rates, it surpasses other core materials that have thus far been offered.

All-A-BoardTM is a recycled plastic cellulose and glass fiber reinforced composite ideal for applications which require a durable, non-rotting sheet product with superior wet applications and screw retention capabilities such as backer blocks, stringers, boat bulkheads and flooring. When considering its performance characteristics and price, All-A-BoardTM is an excellent value. Recent test results yielded a typical value of less than 1% in both Water Absorption and Moisture Content tests. All-A-BoardTM has also demonstrated superior screw retention of 400-500 lbs. as well as significantly higher core compression of 3,000-4,000 psi. Its shear strength is double that of marine plywood or urethanes.

Jerry Foley, President
ELF Products, Inc.
820 South Euclid Ave
Tucson AZ 85719
Phone: (520) 622-3566
Fax: (520) 622-3610
www.elfproducts.com

My family and I visited Cypress Gardens, just northwest of Charleston, South Carolina, and guess what I discovered - BOATS! The place is an old rice plantation that was converted to a park years ago, and they have a small fleet of boats that one can take on a well-marked trail through a cypress swamp. All were flat-bottomed skiffs, a few being of ply-and-fiberglass construction. Most, however, were rather old-looking cypress-plank boats that were glassed on the outside. I asked how old they were, and the fellow at the visitor's center said they had probably been there for about sixty years. They had the glass on the outside to cope with all the rough use guests give them.

Alas, I had no camera with me, and the visitor's center didn't have any disposables. Next time I'll bring one - and a tape measure.

If you're in this part of South Carolina, the place is worth the trip, and quite reasonable pricewise.

Their website is https://www.cypressgardens.org/

Regards,

Tom Beck

October, 2002

Hi Chuck,

Thought you might want to see them together. Cassie was finally able to come visit and pick up her boat. There also a pic of us. Me in my HV and Cassie in her Barney boat Std! She was quite surprised to get the color she wanted, and loves it! Had a great time! She's a natural and has been in all of my boats at one time or another!

Richard Frye

Hey Chuck,

It always slower than I imagined it would be but the third (!) new bottom is finished. This time the setup is for a 2001 85hp Seadoo GS. I learn more every time and this time I learned that plain old 9 oz. cloth is much easier to work with than the 7.2 oz. satin weave I used before. It was also a pleasure to work with a newer engine (compared to the 18 year old Kawasaki 550). Here's a photo of the drive train layout. I set the components in the hull to get accurate deck height and bulkhead placement. Unfortunately, this version will have the tell tell "hump" for the engine - couldn't help it, Gavin drew the original plans for a 550 Kawasaki and the Seadoo exhaust is two inches higher.

I'm still shooting for a trout fishing trip in November so I hope the next photos will be of a completed Jetfish. I'm looking forward to meeting you again at one of the messabouts next spring - this time Jetfish will blow your hat off!

Larry Pullon

PS. For updates on Jetfish see: https://jetjon.homestead.com/page1.html

Mark Siddle of East Coraki in Australia's New South Wales built his Penguin “Pingu” (a cartoon featuring a penguin called Pingu) over a period of several years, and has very recently launched her into the river near his home. We had several exchanges of letters over the time he was hammering away and by all accounts he has enjoyed the building process.

He has been good enough to send me a number of photos which I will be using along with fellow Aussie Greg Pullens photos of his “Little Wing” to start a Penguin Builders archive in my site at www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz 

Mark tells me that he is amazed at the space inside, he compares her very favourably with a 26 foot long keel yacht that he knows well , and has sent me a photo of his Daughter standing with comfortable headroom under the main hatch of this 22 ft ( 6.4m) Gaff rigged trailer yacht.

Greg Pullen’s photos of Little Wing under sail on a seriously windy day on the river in Hobart will be up soon, and show that the design can stand up to a bit of adverse weather, Mark is away on a long trip , wont be home until after Christmas but you can bet that I am looking forward to hearing about the first cruise on Pingu.

John Welsford
Designer.

Just uploaded the pictures from the messabout we had last weekend:

https://www.shortypen.com/boats/maib02-2/

Had a great time, thanks again to all that came.

Shorty

here in Holland there is a lot off water to sail on ........canals , lakes , sea ....but since the year 2000 we have a sial-license like a drivers licence.  All boats thant can do 25 km/ph or more must have a captain with a "vaarbewijs" (licence) there we many accidents with fast boats so i can understand why they made this rule.  but even a rubber dingy with 10 hp outboard does 25 km/ph haahahaah.

new project foto's coming soon herring skif.....

Hilco from Holland

October, 2002

From an anonymous reader.