Ed, You got to see some beautiful country. I flew from Yellowknife to Nunavut in a cargo plane (air van) back in the earrly 90s. Several stops alon...

Small world. I lived in Ottawa for 6 years before moving to Kalamazoo Michigan. Spent 3 years in Michigan and realized that the economy in Michigan su...

The black paint looks like Micron antifowling. If the boat is left in the lake all summer it stops growth on the hull. I would strip it since it isn't...

Oh yeah...never did the iceboat thing in the Knife, but have been on them on the Bay of Quinte near Trenton Ontario (and a couple of other places). Th...

Never sailed on the Slave, but did go for a swim once the ice broke. I also spent a good amount of time at the brewery near the plane dock on the way ...

Truthfully our highways are garbage especialy in Western Canada. As a Canadian expat I can agree with that. Even the roads in Ottawa were terrible,...

I trailered a Nacra 5.5 from Michigan to Dallas behind a Ram 1500 pickup. With this configuration, the more tongue weight, the better. The class 4 hit...

Catdan....I didn't say it was a good idea...just looks nice. Generally things done in the name of fashion are ill-conceived.

Loosen the main as you pass through the wind. If the mainsheet is in hard, it will tend to pull you into the wind. This makes it easier to get caught ...

They do look pretty cool though. I personally like this boat:

Wolfman, I have a carbon mast. It runs about 35 lbs and is pretty easy to step single handed until you need to tighten the standing rigging. I have...

I stand corrected. I had no idea that the early 18sq used the 17 foot 5.2 hulls.

The short answer is no. The 5.2 is a 17 foot boat and the 18m2 is 18 feet. The 5.2 was replaced by the 5.5, which is a scaled down version of the 18m2...

I wasn't worried and did get the steamer reference. No plans to put the boat away any time soon. Texas winter is more like early fall in Ontario. A...

Lernin' more than I ever did in skule!

So what exactly is the advantage that the H16 has that makes it so popular?

Winnipeg is a great town. I used to live just up the road from you in Kapuskasing (mid 70s) (I also lived in Yellowknife for a while). It would be nic...

Chicago is not that cold Larry. I used to live just east of Chicago and found it to be almost tropical. There is the fact that we moved there from Ott...

I looked up the H14. It has a similar hull design to the H16, but does not carry a jib.

Wolfman: The hull shape may be the reason. I guess I need to try out one of the H16s. I have sailed a uni rig skeg boat and didn't find it hard to tac...

I have a Nacra 5.5 Uni. Actually I asked whether backwinding was the best and only efficient way to tack a H16. I ask this because I haven't sa...

I don't have a jib and still manage to tack in waves. It's not always enjoyable, but it is possible. Quite a few years ago (early 90s) I crewed on ...

The 'steamer' is something that probably isn't required in Florida. Mine is essentially a long sleeve version of the Ronstan Skiff Suit, but is 5/3 wi...

Time to switch to the 3mm steamer, but other than that there are really no changes. Being a Canadian in Texas has it's advantages!

I use this stuff for the mainsheet/traveller: br /> It seems to work very well and has almost no stretch. I've also been looking into converti...

Less rake makes it easier to tack, but harder to control as the wind picks up. If you have too much rake (extreme amount), you will find it impossi...

I have been out in heavy air with too little rake and it can be interesting. It is definitely better to have too much rake than too little.

The N setup is for the extra sock cord length. It allows you to use larger diameter shock cord and still have about the same amount of tension on the ...

Steve, I think you mean centimeters.