ELROW LA ROWE'S MICRO NEWSLETTER
NEWSLETTER #11 - Sept. 1985
Surprises! J. R. Watson at GOUGEON BROTHERS, Bag City, MI. is nearly done with his MICRO
and expects to do some Indian Summer sailing, and Dennis Tonk of Saginaw is in the same
time
slot; they expect they may do some cruising together this Fall. Both have used the WEST
SYS-
TEM, (developed by Gougeon Bros.), but I only have the details an Watson's boat at the
time.
He admits to adding the necessary money to the prospect to create a maintenance free boat.
He
bonded with the epoxy, no screws and very few nails, used AC exterior, with the good side
in-
side the boat, and puttied the outside knots with epoxy thickened with 407 Microballoons.
Then he covered the outside with 6 oz. fiberglass, and the same on the inside bottom,
greatly
stiffening and strengthening his 1/4" AC ply bottom. All corners, chines, shears,
etc, are
radiused and glassed with 9 Oz. glass tape,--even nickel-sized radius made of
Microballoons.
and epoxy to help cleaning dirt from corners! The keel bottom will have a 2" wide
rubber
half-round bumper to absorb bumps on Canadian rocks, avoiding crushing wood. He adds,
"This
is such a nice design I want it to last--"! He has built a number of previous plywood
boats,
and the results have been long lasting, low maintenance craft of modest initial
investment.
"For some reason I can never leave a design without a little tampering, so I made two
minor
modifications." He extended the cockpit decking to the transom', leaving a small
motor well,
and with 6" x 8" access holes in bulkhead D, he has two storage cubbyholes, and
he also did
this forward of bulkhead A up front in place of flotation,--Just the floatation area, His
sails are tanbark-colored dacron. Micro is so huge, I will never need the storage
available
in the std. cockpit "hold", but others have other needs. Soon I will be able to
travel all
over the nation and not; be without a Micro to sail Call them the perfect vacations--!
Someone called Bolger (he doesn't recall who) and at least 2 have written me, about adding
a pointed stem to Micro--supposedly to divide the waves and reduce pounding, or keep the
boat
from being stopped by her transom bow, when it hits a wave, etc. I understand that Bolger
discouraged this, and I know I did, but 12 hours after his call it came to him that one
pro-
bably could build a sort of tall, hollow, wedged-cheese-shaped appendage and bolt it to
the transom bow, extending the boat's length some 14". My personal opinion is that it
would
look very awkward, continuing the upswept bottom curve, making so much boat out of water
up
front, and at the same time not accomplish any of the above mentioned reasons for doing
it!
The bow transom is integral to the design, and in keeping with the total effect, and what
is maybe more important, doesn't dominate the performance of the boat in the above ways at
all. Not that it won't slap a crest once in awhile; when it does, it throws a beautiful
half-
moon of sheet water forward that I really wouldn't want to be without! Of course its bow
transom isn't very wide, but the thought that it stops a boat heeled under a press of sail
is not a technical, professional opinion. This winter a giant pram cruising yacht was here
which I had read of in some yachting magazine years ago. It is about a 35' sailing yacht,
and its pram bow at least 7-8' wide. Thames sailing barges and Dutch Boy yachts are blunt,
and wide up front, powerful boats that just push waves aside. Designers may occasionally
make
a copying mistake, or one of omission, forgetting to add something, but rarely one of com-
mission. Micro has to be as it is to be the best mini-cruiser there is
Adler reminded me that his larger 5-1/2 hp outboard is a tight fit, and can't be tilted up
enough to clear the water with the prop; the message is to fit the motor to the boat.
Wolford seems to have a small Mariner. The pictures on the back may not turn out great off
the press, but it is fun to see them; better ones are on the way. Wolford's friend who
took his pictures is anxious to be a prototype builder of a MICRO II; now that that plan
is done, it looks just like Micro, and has same draft and beam for its 19'6" length,
much of the reason far its speed.
Lead ballast is 526 lbs., sail area a powerful 263 sq. ft., mast 29' in a tabernacle. Both
berths are fully in the cabin, plus a stove flat, forward, and of course a huge cockpit
hold.
The beat is so good the plan costs $65--$5 mere than for Redmond's ELVER which most of us
have
seen in the ads.
Learned from another prototype builder of Micro IX in Miami that Stevens has moved his
boat
to NC--is moving from Miami to NC. Those that come to feel that they need more rudder
effect-
iveness in Micro (I didn't think it needed) could add a 3/4 x 3/4" strip of fir on
the sides
of' the rudder at the bottom, like on OldShoe, or a 6" wide stainless plate (cut off
the corners)right on the bottom of the rudder, like on Micro II. Dropping Pirogue ads
stopped sales, but OldShoe and Brick are selling quite well, and Micro continues strong.
JUST AS WE WERE GOING TO PRESS: Winds are usually light and variable on the Columbia, but
usually come in strong and variable in the afternoon. Wolford, his brother and wife, and
his parents were enjoying the sun, sheets cleated down, three of them on the lee side, all
flooding Micro with total inattention, when the gust hit, knocking Micro down, sails in
the water, and all but Bernie dumped into the drink! Micro was in process of rounding up
but wasn't given the time.
As Bolger told us, Micro can take care of herself, and is self-righting, but won't object
to some minor attention from the crew upon occasion! Like in some circumstances carrying
the main sheet in your hand, as Bernie says. Floating on her side water was still a good
12" away from the 2 open hatches. Of course she righted and the impromptu swimmers
clammered back aboard. Bernie got a large write-up with large pictures in the Portland
paper on his project--not about the knockdown.
WAGNER of Columbus, Ohio has finished his Elver--or at least it looks like an Elver. He
hollowed out the lines forward, changed the chine radius much, moved the rig several
inches forward, enlarged the fore triangle (jib), and installed a dagger board in the
stern ahead of the rudder and ended up with a good sailing boat. A considerable project at
$3200.00 and 1000 hours. He was enthusiastic about Micro II cartoon and expects to sell
Elver and build the II. His Micro is 2/3's finished.
Wagner thinks he can do a Micro in 50 hours or so, making it practical to build them for
resale. Maybe we can do a 7 boat meet in the Lake Erie Isles next summer with the Ohio,
Ind, and MI. folk! I've camped on all of them but Kelley. E. La Rowe