Recent content by TsubG

BC - Where is the boat?  Floating or on the hard?  Name of boatyard / marina?  Lots of options near Burlington but not all are easy to get to.  If Clean can do it, that's great, but maybe a local is already nearby.  Just a thought. Best of luck

acpcomposites.com/carbon-fiber-tow or search for "carbon fiber tow" for other options

+1 for BoltDepot.  Good website / Fast shipping / Helpful staff.  You can buy in "eaches", boxes, or bulk They also sell hard-to-find extra thick (0.125in) stainless steel washers and fender washers.   BoltDepot Extra Thick Fender Washers I use McMaster too but they only sell boxes (not "eaches")

I made a special cap for my strainer for flushing and winterizing but they are available to buy from Defender for Groco strainers: https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?id=3099097 I found the "flush cap" option to be the easiest / most robust solution for winterizing.  No adding parts /...

Dude - That is bananas.  5:1 by weight is at the very low end of the acceptable range, there is little room for error left.  Using 5:1 by weight instead of 5.36:1 puts you off proper stoichiometry by ~7%.  If you are going to spend the time to weigh with a gram scale, follow the supplier's...

I found a website many years that answered these questions very thoroughly.  The website is no longer active but I made a PDF of the text for my own records.  I am attaching the PDF for you to review.  I have used this methodology to restore a few boats now and fully endorse it.

Make sure that you are using the correct mix ratios.  For 105 / 206 the mix ratio BY VOLUME is 5 to 1.  The mix ratio BY WEIGHT is 5.36 to 1. Resin has a higher specific gravity (density) than the hardener, hence the difference in volume / weight ratios. Attaching a pic of the data sheet:

SeaDog 727140 SeaDog 727140 at iBoats ~US$25 I installed 2 of the 3 inch ones last year and was pleasantly surprised with their quality, durability, and aesthetics.

For two Lewmar Ocean 30 Winches: West Marine $979.99 + sales tax + free shipping Defender $541.20 x 2 = $1082.40 + sales tax + shipping ($27.15) Sales tax differences state to state make it more complicated but it looks like West Marine deal was a little better in this case. Tough call...

This is the third year in a row that West Marine has run this buy one get one free sale on the Lewmar EVO winches.  The first year, I bought new primary (EVO 45STs) winches.  The second year I bought new cabin top (EVO 40ST) winches.  No problems with either set.  The winches are designed to be...

I found this article helpful using tape to attach windows All VHB are not created equal.  Use the right one for your substrates and use the adhesion promoting primer for best results. I found reasonably priced VHB in small quantities on eBay.

My first keelboat was a Mirage 24 (nearly 20 years ago).  Very solid boat, not much to go wrong.  The boat has a rather strange semi-balanced rudder set up.  There is a split bronze fitting in the exterior hull that houses a lower plain sleeve bearing.  The rudder has a corresponding square...

In the US, you can buy pre-treated UHMW PE material by the meter from: blankslateskis.com skilab.com Sintered material is best. Durasurf 2001 or 4001 is a good choice. I don't recommend the extruded/HDPE material. It is harder to bond sometines and is not as abrasion resistant. +1 on the...

UHMW PE (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) is the base material/running surface for 99.9% of the skis and snowboards made in the last 50 years. Some people call it Ptex, but that is a brand name. Properly prepared UHMW PE bonds very well to epoxy. To prepare for bonding, the UHMW PE...

There are some audio compasses on the market that might work for your daughter too. Check out the MaxPAC Compass at blindsailing.net They are not cheap but are actually made for blind sailors. No personal experience with them yet but I have been looking at these (ha) again recently. There...