The Ballad Exchange

Hi Bob, Thanks for the compliments. It's been a long haul, but I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel :D My rudder shaft misses the bearing by a fair bit, but the way I see it the poor boat has sat out of the water on her keel for 7 years so things are bound to be a bit crooked. I'm confid...

I usually like to clean up the boat before taking pictures, but on climbing the ladder this morning I couldn't resist a quick shot of a work in progress.
She's coming along nicely

My mast has two sheet winches, one on each side. Taking into account the alignment of the mainsheet coming out of the forward side of the mast, and the rotation direction of the winch, the port side was the only choice .... at least if one wants to keep everything running down the mast in alignment....

I finally bought my lines, mostly Sampson XLS . I used 3/8" (9.5mm) for halyards and 7/16" (11mm) for sheets. I made all my splices with SELMA fids, and used their simple instructions that were included. When I got the boat the halyards were a tangle of frayed ropes and old wire, and as I ...

Hi Jörg,
I'll send you a reminder on 31.05
Thanks!
Peter.

Hello all,
I'm still trying to get some spray hood frame measurements. (See my previous note for details).
Anyone out there have an original style spray hood, a tape measure, and 10 minutes to spare?
Thanks!
Peter.

Thank you! Still progressing along. We've had poor weather lately so I've kept busy working on interior and small stuff that can be done in the shop. But the weather today was good for painting and I was ready. Two coats of System Three Silver Tip Epoxy Primer] (water born) applied to decks and cock...

Speaking of sprayhoods (dodgers): I have an original style cover for mine but the frame is missing. I'm pretty sure I can make a reasonable copy, but if someone could measure (on an original style frame) the actual length of the front and back bows, from pivot to pivot around the curve, I'd be very ...

That looks like a pretty neat bender. It got lots of positive reviews, but nobody mentions bending stainless. If you get one please post your experiences with it ... I just may get one!

Hi Bob, I've bent 1" frames with this home-built rig from plans in Don Casey's "Canvas Work and sail Repair". It's also in his "This Old Boat". Crude but effective, and a little grease makes it a lot easier to bend. I fill the pipes with dry fine mason's sand and cork the en...