+1 If you can start on an F18, do it. No reason to downgrade. The only thing that makes soloing my 5.5 rough is the size of the jib, and you've got...

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You do it like ths.

linky

linky

$778 ?!?! I'm sitting on a stack of these. I'd say early retirement time...except: They break. I know of no upside to putting one down all the way...

aye, the skeg boats have longer rudders IIRC

One of my better sails, one that came from a saltwater life, has a few of the rivets missing from the clew plate at the top as well. Should I use alu...

My guess is a 5.8. Either way, I agree w/ Pete. I hardly ever put them all the way down, only if I'm trying to point as high as possible and the win...

liability on my '90 5.5 is about $200/year w/ progressive, but also gives me a $85/year discount on my car ins. through them...$115 net give or take.

The thing rolls like an H16 the second the bow goes under...just takes a touch of effort to get it there.

Trumped by the scurvy card. Fair enough.

Salt water was a new thing to me, too. Apparently, 'stainless' is a relative term. Agree w/ the rest re: the knife and blade. Beers with fruit, how...

My MacGregor 36 cat had stainless bolts with stainless nuts that had the nylock inserts to hold the standing rigging. Wow, that's something I never t...

I use the open style rings (ring-dings?) and use electrical tape around them on the shrouds. On a low wind day last summer, the wind totally died at ...

The two longer ones won't hurt anything, and likely are just bolts that a previous owner replaced. If you buy more make sure you get stainless. If t...

I think thye all came with the internal beam chocks. Neg. I'm gonna re-align mine and rivet it. those holes are huge.

ed wrote: The hole that is drilled in the beam to accept the chock bolts is quite large, you can rotate the beam probably 15* & still put the bolt in....

Inspection port in front of main beam = sink.

When my 5.2 had similar inclination to shift it's mast a bit, it just bent the DS rod right over. I've put pics on here somewhere. When it happened ...

It should oilcan a bit. If it crackles when you press it, you might wanna check to see if the stringer has broken free of the hull. I don't think th...

All the bulkheads in 5.2s I've seen (which isn't a lot, maybe 5) have a stringer of sorts along the bottom around the bulkhead that makes a channel fo...

Aye the epoxy is strong and sticky, but that doesn't mean you can get through it if you need to. If you thicken it some you can make it go farther, a...

Like Teddy said, just use some thickened epoxy and be done with it. The decks need to be rigid.

I have cat bags in mine. On light air days I fill with ice and a few beers...and I've certainly lost a couple port covers. It works fine, just gets ...

/agreed

Anticipate the puffs and be proactive with the sheet and/or stick, depending on your goal. If you're trying to get somewhere upwind, just point up hi...

Fairing epoxy is as hard or easy as you make it. MarineTex is as soft as the gelcoat.

Inside the track isn't an issue at all. Just do it and worry about it if something doesn't seem right. I agree I'd put the block on the beam. On my...

You can hook into the top hole of most dogbones to shorten it temporarily. I like mine to reach a touch past the deck, as the trap lines are normally...