Launched!
Brian in Australia has completed his PT Skiff and I think there is much to consider about what he has done with his boat. After developing sensitivity to epoxy, he had to hire help to finish the boat and we tip our hat to his perseverance. Clearly Brian is a stickler for detail and he has maintained a clear vision for his skiff. He sent a detailed account of his choices for outfitting the boat and it is this account that I want to share. I have put it together as a PDF document (HERE) that you should be able to download or read online. It is filled with photos to compliment his notes. If you are currently building a PT SKIFF, these notes will be informative. If you are thinking about building one, this should wet your appetite! His boat is very impressive!
In addition, the following photos arrived with this 'Launch report"
My PT Skiff launch went extremely well today. Everything worked.
The photographs attached were taken during the initial 15 minute warm-up of the motor at the boat ramp at Adelaide Sailing Club. Whilst it looks very calm at the ramp (large breakwater), we ventured out into wind waves up to 1 metre in St Vincent’s Gulf. The wave fetch here is approximately 38 nautical miles from the other side of the gulf with the wind in a WSW direction. I have checked our weather website tonight and the wind was 11 knots gusting to 14 while we were doing stage 2 of the motor run-in (2000 to 3000 rpm).
The boat was lively. Whilst it is quite tender at the dock, once you understand that you can deal with it.
We went upwind for about 20 minutes. The boat was reminiscent of a lively sailboat. The boat was bouncing around a little into the wind waves, though it was dry. The boat was very pleasantly quiet even in the one metre waves. After flooding the water ballast tank, the boat was a little more stable, but did not show any significant loss of speed into the breeze.
Running downwind (again limited to 3000 rpm) the boat started surfing the waves. It was fun.
The first 1 hour of run-in is now complete and I can now use the boat at weekends without causing queuing problems at the ramp.
