A very nice shot of the now 64′ KHSD power charter cat Holo Holo running out of Kauai. http://www.holoholokauaiboattours.com/

A nice shot of the 36′ Cat 2 Fold sailing.

One of the nicest pictures I have yet seen of Aolani. Richard has a good eye.

My lunar lander epoxy project has just over a month until the winter rains curtain drops.  Dropped  until next spring. It is all being done on site outdoors.

I will be away a lot this month.  Oddly enough a lot of the work coming to me now has vicious time demand with it. I really appreciate the people giving me some time and will make it worth your while.

Big changes are going on in fiberglass suppliers.
I found prepackaged bits of 4 oz glass at Fisheries Supply. No price but I guessed it couldn’t be too bad. Wrong. It was list at $10/yard (50″) . That is triple what I got it for at Fiberlay and just double with the Fisheries discount.
A fellow there said Fisheries doesn’t want to handle fiberglass anymore. Something about hurting his back.

I just got word that with Firefox, well, “The dxcart used for transactions on your website appears as
untrusted for security certificate (Firefox).” and “(try to purchase yourself using Firefox and you will
not get to PayPal) ”
People, the site is safe. I have informed tech. Maybe it will take them another week to fix this also.

Every new design must have a detailed and accurate mission statement. Not everybody agrees with me, but I am right on this. I know of one boatyard here in on the west coast who believes all you need are hull lines and this stuff about mission statement (or weight study) are just designers trying to take people’s money.

Also a mission statement might change as a build progresses. That can be very bad. This beautiful rendering of the ArtCat 44 or maybe 46 now is an example of what the customer wanted changing as the job went along.  Not my rendering, but a beautiful one.  Originally it was to be a light efficient 40′ ocean cruiser with the hulls alone stretched to 44′. It evolved into a luxurious abode, but with the hull lines of the light, efficient cruiser. Mission statement people.  Course I know nothing about marketing.  Maybe light, efficient has no potential.

Not multihull content, but composite content.   

Last Friday at midnight, a 120 mph wind (according to neighbor w/weather kit) hit the lunar lander lower floor awaiting painting. Hold-downs parted and it tumbled and flew 135 feet. It is photographed here in the street ready to be moved back. Only damage was fist size crush where it hit the rock wall. Other neighbor secured it with forklift and chain before I arrived, as in the picture. When I squirted primer on it later I noticed sticks jammed into the top foam. That it means it was upside down at times. I’m amazed at how little damage there is.  A great test for biaxial joins.  Especially with one free edge on it.

Its not that important in saving money boatbuilding, but its not nothing. Do you toss the mixing pots and spreaders or clean them? I clean them, as I need to save money. (I’m practically giving the plans away according to my accountant).   Couple tips I found.

If you keep the stir stick in the mixing pot, it makes a great tool to pull most of the most difficult epoxy out.

And spreaders can be more easily cleaned if they have mold release wax put on first and buffed.  And the sharp edges cannot be sanded usefully, but a plane or planer will leave crisp edge.

I did simultaneous comparison of adding micro-spheres to both regular epoxy and Smurf Snot or System 3’s  Gel Magic as it is officially known. The Smurf Snot is far far better. First, the spheres mix in much more quickly; probably because it is already a sort of filler. The spheres extend it and for fairing, make it easier to sand. Next, it is much easier to spread thin and with a smooth surface. The spheres in regular epoxy are more ragged. I do use a mix of about half spheres and half Microlite. Pure Microlite is too fragile in my opinion, and it shrinks a bit.