Building a Hard Dodger, Part 1 

Not on camera, lacking sufficient comfort level there.

Agree 100%, let the work teach you the work.

It's a fun project, hopefully will prove beneficial too.

Thanks Joe. Looks like the tropics are starting to get busy, hold on to your hats down there.

@@howtosailoceans1423 I’m at my place in Indiana right now. Heading back next month unless they shut down travel…lol. I heard of one Florida hospital near my place locking ER doors because they can’t take anyone else. I see travel getting restricted soon in Florida. Unless things turn around soon. Stay Safe buddy.

Still here in Basin Cove. Congrats on getting your daughter into Bowdoin, a top notch school!

Hey @TheAwwyee I think you already know the answer to your question. I will share this with you anyway :) I did something similar about 15 years ago. I built myself a boat, took the kids out of school and went for an adventure. I had so many naysayers. You have never sailed before, you have never built a boat before, your going to kill your children. Yeah, they went that far. But i knew i could do it, so i did it. We had the best 3 year adventure taking us sorts of places (the boys 10and 11 at the time gained so many life experiences that they are now two free thinking and hard working young men). Of coarse when we returned home all those naysayers had nothing to say. To the contrary they were full of appraisals. Which i found rather empty. If they really new me they would have known/ believed i could do it? I’m not bitter, simply an observation. That said...:) A good surveyor is what i would be looking for if i were at your level of experience. That can be tricky. You need someone who really understands the type of boat your buying. Eg timber, glass etc. most surveys these day are “insurance surveys”. Maybe you can find an old timer? All the best Steve

Now I'm envious of both the hair and the dodger ... some guys just have it all 🙄

Indeed, a well equipped workshop is one of the great pleasures in life, I reckon.

@@howtosailoceans1423 Could not agree more. Nice job.

I have a feeling Kevin is a bit of an expert on cost/benefit. Maybe he knows what he can achieve for the right amount of effort without multiplying the complexity of the project - bearing in mind just how structural and critical a proper boom gallows is to a gaff rig.

Thanks Don. How's the new boat?

@@howtosailoceans1423 Coming along. Lots of work. I need to get you some $$. Will send tomorrow. I was thinking about when you said the cost of plywood. 😆 Sales have picked up a bit. Still the favorite tee is the anchor. Interesting huh? Someday we will get you over to the West Coast for a visit and a seminar.

Thanks Tom! I think it looks nice too! Hope it's not too hot down there. We just had a cold front go through, nice and cool up here.

@@howtosailoceans1423 Kevin you absolutely have the eye to design this important addition so that it does not appear as an afterthough or inappropriate bolt on. Artistic! Cooled down here as well with the frontal passage....getting thing done...have you seen the 3 lows today in the Atlantic?

Rose Avery.

@@UUBrahman thank you for the correction

@@tomwaite4594 Actually I copied you and had it wrong - it is "Ruth Avery"

Not too much, I hope, but that remains to be seen.

I think that a supporting arch is better structurally. Also, the boom may not clear with the arch on top.

For my running rigging I like New England Ropes traditional 3-strand, the poly-dac if I recall. It's not too expensive either.

@@howtosailoceans1423 Thank you Kevin, I really appreciate it.

Henri has come and gone, a little rain, a little wind.

Good eye! Not enough room for a full swing, so will have to use the ratchet pawls. Generally I can pull much of the staysail in by hand, just use the winch for the last bit.

Roger Taylor is a legend. He's one of the people who prove you can sail oceans in a small, cheap, engineless boat can be if you care about seaworthiness and simplicity rather than comfort and gadgets. Him, Sven Yrvind and Kevin are probably the three sailors who give me hope that one day I might make ocean voyages even on my pitiful budget, as long as I can summon enough resourcefulness and grit.

Yes it is like a small doghouse for Snoopy. I keep hearing about Roger Taylor so I shall have to do some research. Wasn't he the one behind the Contessa 26, which is a fiberglass folkboat?

Mingming2 is corbee 21

I’ve replied twice now and both have disappeared!

@@howtosailoceans1423 You might be thinking of Wave Rover in the C26, which borrowed concepts from Roger Taylor's Mingming (meaning brightbright in Chinese). As a teenager, Roger Taylor crewed on a large wooden square rigged replica triple masted schooner (Endeavour II) that failed to make the change of course from heading east to south in the northeastern part of New Zealand and after several days was blown ashore and sadly ended up scrap wood. Roger was exasperated with the poor quality of planning onboard that caused the shipwreck and determined to never again be dependent on others captaining the boat he is on. He built and sailed a ferro-cement boat in New Zealand back to the U.K., then build Mingming and sailed great distances solo never going ashore. His style is the epitome of cautious self-reliant sailor. He uses a modernized Chinese junk rig.

There's an Alejuela 33? Didn't know that. I love the 38, beautiful hull. The Southern Cross' are good. Also the Crealock 34, which is another PS.

@@howtosailoceans1423 there's one or two Alajuela 33 for sale, I also like the Hans Christian 33.

That's my dad's workshop, the house belongs to my parents.

Thanks Kevin. I sort of guessed when I saw the age of the jigsaw you were using. Noah would have used one of those to build the ark. Don’t get me wrong, oldies are the best! Better than the plastic ones today. Still, a very comprehensive workshop. I don’t think I saw a drill press.

At my parents' place in Maine.

Yes, but decided against it.

I wanted to keep them separate, the dodger can be more easily removed for painting that way.

Makes sense. The one I'm building shortly is going to have a boom gallows on it, you gave me the idea when I saw yours a while ago, Thanks btw.

Ha, ha, I serve no wine before it's time ... thanks for watching.

Marine ply has worked very well.

Ha! OK, sound advice.

That's my parents' house.

I don't want to bring them on camera, just a privacy thing. Thanks for asking about them.

@@howtosailoceans1423 I understand. I seem to remember that you said you sailed a lot with your dad, and would like to hear some more about that. Thanks anyway.

Ha! Well that's mostly what I do ...