Christian Van H

Great quote ...isnt it the truth!!
My dad almost never emails me because he always wants to get it just right.....he says it just takes to long.
Yeh....I had a look at your recent pics, sure looks nice.
Did you replace the chainplates?
Well thats the end of this trip...I always hate to leave her.
I spent the last hour doing some house keeping so I could get a couple decent pics..If I have the time I'll down load some....the conection here in Leb is soooo slooooow.
Things must be cooling off in your neck of the woods. I love the shelter you've got over the boat. No problems when the wind blows...it looks pretty darn tight.

Thanks Christian....nothing like a pat on the back to keep the motivation up.
The first couple designs of the latch had about twice as many pieces (mocked up in 3mm ply) then it just kept getting simpler and simpler....in the end I felt like an idiot for spending so much time on what ended up being so simple!
I've go a kind of cool chart table as well...when sailing I want it flat so I can set stuff on it. I installed it on some heavy duty hinged locking brackets.
Also the old chart table surface was pretty scratched and battered so I put a sacrificial tinted lexan insert over the nice teak top....The color made an amazing effect to the whole area. I'll try and post some pics of it.
I'm not seeing any updates from your side....wa-sup!!

Well I has some success with the latch...the cover plate still needs polishing,
Guess I'll have to wait to install the door until I come back in three weeks.
I posted some pics in my refit album.
What are you working on?
Looking forward to seeing more pics

Hey man...you're to kind...I looked for a year for a davit shape I liked but could'nt find anything that worked well. also I wanted to be able to stowe them inboard and did'nt find any that did that.....so just started from scratch. The design was easy.....building them was more of a challenge.

I didnt have much choice with the fridge...my new layout didn't alow for a square one without hitting my hip on the corners. I'm trying to lighten up the interior a bit so the bulk of it is fiberglass so I could paint it. I may get my counter over it and dry fit today...if so I'll post some pics and you'll get an idea about the layout.
No need to be humbled....its just about having the time!!

I havent done anything on the counter weight yet, but have almost finished fabricating the companion way handle/latch.
Also fabed the box for my new battery bank. About 20" square by 13" deep will hold 900 amh.
Did a little work on the davits as well and posted some pics.
I'll leave here Sun. morning so not much time for more.

I got a confirmed booking for friday, so I'll be sending some more pics of the companion way. The new pics are old work, the track is in and is from wood...the edge/sides of the "drop board" are SS. The forward part of the well is plumb (straight up and down) but the drop board/track is sloped forward (on the top) so the track/dropboard just barely clears the top of the forward part of the well (where the threshhold would be) then continues to around the center of the sump/well.
I'm only going to be there about 8 days...so I dont know how far I'll get with the counter weight and latch, but I will get more pics!
My english may be good but, as i'm sure your've noticed, my spelling is shit! For some reason the spell check doesent work. Yes, I am american, from Fairbanks, Alaska.
I had been living in Florida for several years, working as a general contractor, when the first gulf war ended. I had an opportunity to go "help rebuild Kuwait" with a Saudi company. To make a very long story short I ended up in working in Saudi, Yemen and Somalia....never did get to Kuwait.
Met and married my wife here...two kids and 18 yrs later I'm still here. I do travel a lot...if not, it would be a bit "confining" but otherwise its a good place to live.
Why dont you email me...its a lot more convienient way to exchange pics.
james(at)almazgroup(dot)net

Hey Christian..No head way yet...I cant get a seat out of here. I'm at home in Yemen and was wait listed for Beirut for tommorow...but no seat...have two more choices Thur. and Fri.
Thanks for the brocure...Those are some pretty serious specs...I have to say I had never heard of the Challangers, but it sounds like a real first class yacht....If your going to go to all the trouble and expense to rebuild something it may as well be something thats "worthy"
I'm supprised by several things in the brocure...one thing on the option list inparticular....Digital indicator pannel showing water, holding tank and batteries levels? What the heck was that? One device showed fluid and electrical levels?? and we had digital stuff in 73...? pretty interesting reading.
Did your boat come with that full list of options?
I especialy like the profile showing the hull shape, underwater lines....very nice.
Looks like you also have a pretty fair hand when it comes to working with SS. Nice job on the window frames.
This will be my first experiance with Sensibulb...I'll have a look at the Taylorbrites.

thanks
I had anouther look at the 48....realy a huge boat!!

Oups...I was looking at the specs for the 48...I'm looking for the 42 data

Oups...I was looking at the specs for the 48...I'm looking for the 42 data