Thanks for the suggestions. I've got a couple more questions.

1. We plan to carry the boat on our "new" motorhome and use in small
lakes for messing around and also quite a bit of fishing. Which type
sail rig would be best for these uses? We'd like something where we
can take down sail easily when we are fishing and that can store
easily at our campsite.

2. I've tried sewing on an old piece of sail material with my sewing
machine and it didn't work. But the material is really heavy duty.
Will I be able to sew 4 oz dacron with a normal sewing machine? And
do I need special thread (or can I use a good quality polyester thread
from our local fabric store)?

3. Hubby is leaning toward aluminum tubes for mast. Will be looking
into flagpoles. Any other suggestions on thickness or ?

Sometimes I realize that I don't know enough to know what questions to
ask!

Thanks!

Sandy

sandy ) writes:
Thanks for the suggestions. I've got a couple more questions.

1. We plan to carry the boat on our "new" motorhome and use in small
lakes for messing around and also quite a bit of fishing. Which type
sail rig would be best for these uses? We'd like something where we
can take down sail easily when we are fishing and that can store
easily at our campsite.

A sprit sail is unshipped by folding the sprit up against the mast,
lifting the rig out of the mast step, and rotating the mast to wrap the
sail around the mast and sprit. The sail, mast, and sprit can them be laid
down in the boat. I do it all the time with mine because I switch back and
forth between sailing and paddling a lot. The blue canvas sail on my
website is easy to put to gether and take apart right in the boat because
its so small, light, and has a mast sleve.


2. I've tried sewing on an old piece of sail material with my sewing
machine and it didn't work. But the material is really heavy duty.
Will I be able to sew 4 oz dacron with a normal sewing machine? And
do I need special thread (or can I use a good quality polyester thread
from our local fabric store)?

I had no problems making the nylon on my sewing machine. People who have
made sails on household sewing machines have recommended a heavy duty
needle. People sew sails for small boats by hand, a couple of winter
evenings. The mast sleve on my canvas sail was sewn by hand. The edges
were hemmed when I bought the cloth second hand.


3. Hubby is leaning toward aluminum tubes for mast. Will be looking
into flagpoles. Any other suggestions on thickness or ?

People have mentioned using aluminum electrical conduit. It would be
thinner and lighter. You want the thinnest mast that will do the job
because of the way a mast disturbs air flowing over the sail. For the
fussy sailer a mast sleve smooths the air flow around the mast. How big
(height, square feet) is your planned sail?


Sometimes I realize that I don't know enough to know what questions to
ask!

Don't worry about it. Keep asking until you do.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-freenet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

Sandy,

You'll be wanting some thread that resists the effects of UV (UltraViolet)
light. Go to either SailRite (http://www.sailrite.com) or Steve Ferrel at
(http://www.kitebuilder.com) and buy a cone of the stuff. I don't think
you'll regret it. For working from a cone on a reguler sewing machine
you'll need a thread stand, certainly less than $10 from JoAnn's and much
cheaper than that if you make one.

You just might get hooked on either site 8-) (Kites are fun too).

You might ask at the SailRite site about the weight of the dacron that you
need for the sail, I have no idea if 4oz is what you need.

Here's a site on making a Tyvek sail, interesting reading even if you
don't do an expriment with Tyvek. http://www.boat-links.com/Tyvek/

Also check out the Mother of All Maritime links at
http://www.boat-links.com/boatlink.html. You should be able to find lots
of info in there 8-)

You may find it easier to work with the slippery material if you get a
"walking foot" for your sewing machine. A walking foot helps to feed the
top layer as the feed dogs feed the bottom. Not sure of the cost of that
item as my machine has it built in.

For this boat I still like the idea of a wooden mast, especially with the
sprit rig. Not as noisey, probably easier to attach things to and
certainly looks better. With a sprit rig all the spars will fit in the
boat.

Keep up the dialog and let us know how you make out.

Pirate_Dave
--
In article , sandy wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions. I've got a couple more questions.

1. We plan to carry the boat on our "new" motorhome and use in small
lakes for messing around and also quite a bit of fishing. Which type
sail rig would be best for these uses? We'd like something where we
can take down sail easily when we are fishing and that can store
easily at our campsite.

2. I've tried sewing on an old piece of sail material with my sewing
machine and it didn't work. But the material is really heavy duty.
Will I be able to sew 4 oz dacron with a normal sewing machine? And
do I need special thread (or can I use a good quality polyester thread
from our local fabric store)?

3. Hubby is leaning toward aluminum tubes for mast. Will be looking
into flagpoles. Any other suggestions on thickness or ?

Sometimes I realize that I don't know enough to know what questions to
ask!

Thanks!

Sandy

"sandy" wrote in message
om...
Thanks for the suggestions. I've got a couple more questions.

1. We plan to carry the boat on our "new" motorhome and use in small
lakes for messing around and also quite a bit of fishing. Which type
sail rig would be best for these uses? We'd like something where we
can take down sail easily when we are fishing and that can store
easily at our campsite.

2. I've tried sewing on an old piece of sail material with my sewing
machine and it didn't work. But the material is really heavy duty.
Will I be able to sew 4 oz dacron with a normal sewing machine? And
do I need special thread (or can I use a good quality polyester thread
from our local fabric store)?

3. Hubby is leaning toward aluminum tubes for mast. Will be looking
into flagpoles. Any other suggestions on thickness or ?

Sometimes I realize that I don't know enough to know what questions to
ask!

Thanks!

Sandy

1 - I don't know although some sort of lug sail might be easiest to balance
fore and aft since you've said that this is your own design.

2 - I've used "outdoor carpet tape" on my white polytarp sail for some years
with minimal problems. I got the tarp and tape from a local hardware store
and have been pretty happy with it.

3 - Finding aluminium tube can be quite a challenge - check around for metal
wholesalers. I get mine from a chain called
http://www.metalsupermarkets.com Prices will vary quite a bit and no - I
have no connection with them.

--
Andrew Butchart

http://www.floatingbear.ca