ELROW LA ROWE'S MICRO NEWSLETTER
NEWSLETTER #10 July-August, 1985
Bernie's made it! His MICRO #4 went in the water the 21st (July), side door and all, and
in
25 knots of wind measured 6 knots downwind--which he mentions I won't believe--! (He's
Wolford
Portland, OR). Quote: "She is a lot more than my wildest dreams--the best part is my
wife
who has never sailed before loves it--says it is much nicer than a noisy airplane--."
As a
former hangglider mfg. who used to sew hanglider sails he likes to think he is a good
judge of
workmanship, and found his Taylor sails a lot more than expected--very, very good with
excel-
ent sewi g. Both have bolt ropes between luff and grommetss. The mizzen is properly flat,
and
the main has lots of camber, and came in a sailbag marked "MICRO"!
His lead keel version: He made a keel-shaped box 1-1/2" thick on the inside,of
3/4" plywood,
good side inside, slobered the inside with lots (about a pint) of Sodium silicate (water
glass),
then screwed on "the cover" ply with 1-1/2" sheet rock screws (to dismantle
the box after the
lead has cooled), put his scrap lead in an iron bathtub borrowed from a boat yard with a
2-1/2"
copper pipe screwed into the drain with a gate valve, all mounted on top of two 55
gal.drums
with the box keel mold standing on edge with about, a 12" opening in the bottom of
the mold
under the copper pipe drain. Drill two 1/6" holes in the top ends of the mold for
escaping
steam and smoke. A "rosebud" (a burner that burns propane real fast) connected
to a propane
tank melts the lead. Skim it with a screen of some sort, heat the gate valve and open it,
and ignore all the weird noises as the lead drains into the mold, then go away for lunch,
a trip to the Mall, and dinner--hours it needs to cool. After, clean up the keel lead with
a wire brush. He more or less used Adler's way of installing the lead, building the
rearward
section first and raising the boat and lowering it into the sheathing slot, onto the lead,
etc., and then added the forward sheathing directly to the keel batten and lead
afterwards.
He had no real trouble driving the ringed bronze nails into the lead (some bent on him).
He
mentions staggering the nails into the keel batten to avoid possibility of splitting it. I
have never known a paraplegic and must arrange to meet Bernie and his wife sometime for a
sail
in #4; maybe certain facets of his character will rub off on me--.'
Remember your elementary psychology textbook mentioned that adolescence lasts until 24
years of
age? Well, Candi Mather of Sanibel, Fla., and Indianapolis is maybe 5-10 years past that,
as
are my kids, but Dads are still very important people, and her's is no exception, since he
is
committed to helping her build MICRO! So, there are still some proper Dads around--even if
I
myself can't qualify--.' They may be borrowing Ramsey's keel mold (Ft. Wayne)--.
Afterthought. Wolfard says the hard part was getting 5-6 men together to manhandle the
lead!
Motors again: They have to fit, and also turn, within the transom opening. The low
powerhead
types in 3-4-5 hp do this easily. You can always collect the literature and do the
measuring
for any motor. Considering Micro's hull speed and type of boat, 3-4 hp is surely enough,
but
if you want, a reverse, only a couple of 4's have that, and if you want external tankage
range,
then you have to go to a 5-5-1/2 hp unit. I know Steven's 3 Seagull fits and small motors
push
unbelieveably hard with the large diameter low pitch props available; and, we know Adler's
Aqua
Bug 5-1/2 fits and works well (and had the best warranty in his search). Am always tickled
to get photos of the finished boats--and under sail in close-ups when you can. Ned glenn
of Kailua, Hawaii will be in the water right away; more on that next time. I mentioned the
new flyers on 5 boats. You don't need it, but it, does make some new points, like, with
the MICRO plan only on sale 14 months, and building being a part time activity with all,
it is considered remarkable that 4 boats are already finished, and at least 4 more about
to splash in! Also, several Micro builders have purchased Brick and/or OldShoe plans, and
Wolfard has a prototype FishCat plan as next project! Micro builders are also doing a
Pirogue or two--, and a Japanese firm is selling Pirogue plans in Japan on franchise.
Yes, BRICK is technically a punt., rather than a pram,--and on a comparison level with
BRICK,
one wonders how or why prams ever came into being--!
CURIOSITY GOT THE BETTER OF ME, wondering about, the other 80 plan owner that
didn't subscribefor the $2 per year supply of NEWSLETTERS, and having some extra postage
money just now, I decided to include them in this mailing, plus including letter #7, so
they can know a little bit of what has been going on with MICRO. Probably most weren't
planning to build just now,
but we haven't forgotten them and wish them well. E. La Rowe