Messabouts:

May 21, 22 - Texas - 2nd anual Duckworks messabout

June 12, 13 - Illinois - 15th anual Midwest Messabout

July 10& 11 - Washington - 2004 Small Boat Rendezvous

July 22-25 - Maryland - BYYB Multi-Fleet messabout

Pathfinder Test Report:

https://www.openboat.co.nz/pathfinder.html

Hey Chuck, sorry for the giant pictures, I'm at work and don't have a photo editor. I'm half done restoring an old Boston Whaler and was on their forum trying to find out how to secure the front hatch when I spied these photos. There was some history with the photos: When one of the trim tabs failed in a high speed turn the operator and passenger were both thrown clear (he was not wearing his kill-switch lanyard) . The boat continued on its merry way became air born and finally impaled on the tree as you can see. Nobody was hurt! The conversation also focused on the undamaged tree and the apparent strength of wood vs. fiberglass!

Larry Pullon

Hi!
Today my old Archimedes Penta once again started. It had not been running since a misty night 1980. In the following storm the boat it was mounted on was smashed against a skerry and the motor itself took some beating and waves. Later the Coast Guard retrieved the motor and it went down into my Mums basement. Until yesterday. It had of course jamed. But after apropriate treatment, including gentle care from my large forging hammer, it turned around. With newly brushed sparkplugs, a sip of motoroil in the cylinder (for compressions sake), a splash of petrol in the tank, a new starter coil and best wishes it did start, with some smoking effects, at the third jerk. How much nicer it run compared with newver engines. The low compression ratio, heavy flywheel, and low rpm give such a gentle sound. Fuel and ignition is to be constantly monitored and manually adjusted for best performans. It´s a beauty!

Yours,
Dejan

Hi Chuck,

Last weekend was the third annual April Tools boatbuilding challenge in Pender Harbour. We had 10 teams entered. As I mentioned before, teams had 3 hours to build a boat, with hand tools, from two sheets of plywood, twelve 1 by 2's. and two 2 by 2's.

The first picture is of the first heat of 5 boats, just before the start,

the second shows them cutting around the corner under the ramp just before the finish. The two boats in the second photo finished 2nd and 3rd overall. As usual we had a perfect sunny day on Saturday, and great crowds for both the building and the race.

The Fireflies... members of the Garden Bay volunteer Fire Dept. won the race for the second year running. Last years boat had a curved bottom tortured ply, remember these boats are 3/8" sheathing grade plywood held together with drywall screws.

Rick Crook

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) -- Two British women attempting to become the first mother-daughter team to row across the Atlantic Ocean were just hours away from the finish line Tuesday, officials said.

Sarah and Sally Kettle were expected to row into the Caribbean Sea at about 6 p.m. local time after spending 106 days at sea, said Kenneth Crutchlow, executive director of the Ocean Rowing Society.

The Kettles set off in a 23-foot plywood boat, the Calderdale, from the Canary Islands on January 20, along with 13 other boats racing in the Ocean Rowing Society's Atlantic Rowing Regatta.

They were expected to arrive early Wednesday in Port St. Charles, Barbados, after a 2,907-mile (4,677-kilometer) journey, Crutchlow said.

Steve Kettle, who was waiting for his wife and daughter in Port St. Charles, said the women could already see Barbados.

"I feel very, very proud to have a daughter and a wife who are rowing an ocean," he said. "It's absolutely fantastic. It's unbelievable."

Sally, 27, and Sarah, 45, from Northhampton, England, are trying to raise $1.7 million for epilepsy research at King's College in London.

They trained for more than a year. The women, who rowed through storms and 50-foot waves, ate about 6,000 calories a day for stamina, according to their Web site.

Japan Coast Guard rescues trans-Pacific rower

Wednesday, May 5, 2004 Posted: 10:05 AM EDT (1405 GMT)

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Japan's Coast Guard rescued a Japanese adventurer trying to become the first person to cross the Pacific in a single-oared rowboat after he sent distress signals, Kyodo news agency reported.

Ikuo Tateo, 62, was plucked from the ocean late Tuesday by a Coast Guard vessel that had been sent to find him about 870 miles southeast of the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Kyodo quoted officials as saying Tateo appeared to have hurt his lower back, but could walk without assistance.

Tateo began sending distress signals Sunday evening, 17 days after he left a port in northern Japan on his 23 foot boat. Its sole source of power was a 16-foot oar.

He had planned to reach San Francisco, a journey of some 5,600 miles, in February.

Earlier Tuesday the lone sailor was spotted by the pilot of a Maritime Self-Defense Force plane sent to search for him.

Tateo became the oldest Japanese to sail solo nonstop around the world in a yacht three years ago, Kyodo news agency said.

Before his departure, he was quoted by Kyodo as saying that while people had crossed the Pacific in rowboats before, his would be the first such attempt in a boat with a single oar in the stern.