back to main page
Where are all the $50 sailboats now?
Dill Pickle
Andrew said: My first option is to sell the boat. Since I paid nothing, I only need to be compensated for my hours of design work and manual labor. The second option is to keep it as a work in progress. I do have another bucket to add for more flotation. Although I would have to buy some more duct tape. I could also try to lighten the frame by drilling holes in strategic places. The only flaw with this plan is that I would need to store the boat in my already crowded back yard. That is a big negative. Lastly I could put it on the curb and sacrifice it to the local dump. Bulk trash does not get picked up till next wednesday so I have less than a week to decide. For now its up for sale. anyone interested in a cat racer designed by a future engineer?
Wooderaux
Ken said: My boat, the Jam 8, will be kept and used. My wife says she wants one. The sail will be kept on the back porch for use when it rains.
ACDC
Skip said: ACDC currently sitting on sawhorses under house. I'll glass the keel joint on the hull and continue development of sail rig and steering issues of proa. ACDC's second function was to be a test bed for proa development, after all it only cost 50 bucks. Development will have to wait a bit, water's still warm enough to ski on weekends.
Bed Of Nails
Tim said: The Bed O' Nails is sitting on sawhorses out front of my carport. I intend to chop away all the bits I didn't have time to before the race, then maybe have the whole thing coated with truck bed liner to make it waterproof. Then comes the cabin with flying bridge, the reverse osmosis watermaker, the winged keel and the bow thrusters. Actually, it does make a good testbed, and has already taught me a lot. ( like start a week earlier )
Cat Box
John said: "I was gonna get Shorty to sell my Cat-Box Cat on eBay for me, heheheh"
Thunder Bucket
"Thunder Bucket" was sold on ebay for $3.58 [click here]
(I made Bill do it, he was just going to throw away)
The new owner is starting a new Sea Scouts troop and was having difficulty getting a boat from the scout program. Her husband decided they should just go ahead and purchase a sailboat for their family, and would use it for the scouts - so she was getting it as a suprise for him "Look honey, you said we should buy a sailboat!". Realistically, she plans to take it to our local community lake and have fun with her kids. If you think about it, a movie costs about $7.50 each, the popcorn costs another $9, and the fun only lasts 1.5 hours with a 50% failure rate. Now the Thunder Bucket could provide hours of fun, both sailing at the lake and as a conversation piece in the neighborhood, especially with the covenant deed restriction patrol.
"POS" hot tubI am currently converting it into a real hot tub. First thing I did was strip all the parts back off it, then fill with water to see if the plywood patch on the bottom would hold the pressure from the water. The bottom area had a bit of a reverse crown, so there is no support underneath the patch and I was afraid the water pressure would be too much. After testing it, works just fine - there is a little bit of flex but should be OK.
Plan A: Take a metal trash can and cut a hole in the front, this will be a small fireplace. Next lay a car's radiator across the top and circulate water thru it and into the tub for my heated water. Problems: Radiator is just too disgusting to think about sitting in water that ran thru it.
Plan B: Build a small fire pit from windsor blocks and suspend copper tubing over top of the fire. (using radiator to hold the tubing, water does not go thru it).
Use sump pump to circulate the water thru the pipes and back into tub.
Guessing tub is about 400 gallons, the pump is rated at 1700 gph so it seems to circulate at about the right amount.
Used a variety of fuels in the fire for first test run.
Water went from 70 degrees to 81 over 2.5 hours.
Problems: Cardboard is too smokey when it burns, newspaper burns too hot, and too fast.
High flames from newspaper started to liquify the solder joints of the radiator.
Lots of heat escapes from front of fire pit.
Plan C: Make circular fire pit, and try using charcoal. Replace radiator with solid metal roof to hold the copper coils.
back to main page