Some shots of the alloy motor mounts on James’ 30′ cruising cat.

More pictures and notes from Tahiti on the Courage Winter family and their 55′ +- cruising cat.   Durakore and epoxy.  Again,

See https://share.delorme.com/CourageWinter

and http://tahiti-moorea-sailing-rdv.com/

and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sailing-with-Lil-Explorers-Catamaran-and-Crew/281505708649584

An updated picture of the demountable tube cat 30.

I thought I had posted this many months ago but a search does not show it. So if I did, here again.

http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=-111.27,11.83,405

CSR just got this box of goodies. Solid carbon fiber AC45 foils. They go on Chaak? I told Tim they should fold up some quick CM plywood/epoxy cat hulls, with as much carbon as they can afford, and build a drag racer.

Now I know why the my friends at CSR Marine always seem so motivated. When they done painting boats, they paint each other. Solstice parade.

I have been thinking more about my meeting with Roger Hatfield. One take-away that stands out is that despite an increasingly competitive market, he is sticking with epoxy resin. I have seen many builders switch to vinylester or even (I can’t believe this, but it happens) polyester. Roger told me that it makes life on the shop floor so much simpler. As I have said before, “you can be almost brain-dead and get epoxy right.” Recall that to get good strength numbers, the catalyst and initiator ratios must not only be very accurate, but must change with every temperature change. I expect that when Roger tests laminate samples, he gets consistently high numbers, unlike the ester builders, I am guessing. Maybe that is why designers who favor polyester also dislike sample testing.

When I used to work for Wickie at Wrights Marine, while in college, they used to make most of the money from servicing outdrives and sail drives.  To quote Latitude 38   “Knowing how often sail drives need servicing, it might be wise to invest in an air-filled lift bag like this one.” 
Photo Courtesy Escapade
© 2014 Latitude 38 Publishing, LLC

While in Vancouver, BC, I got to meet with the transplanted Russian catamaran building group. Here is Sergey, building a very modified Grainger. I might be working with others on a project.