New Page 0

Bruce Roberts International
Email : office@bruceroberts.com.au
Web site : www.bruceroberts.com.au

Hi,

Welcome to our monthly Newsletter. This month you will find :

1. OFFICE NEWS.

2. CARTOON SECTION.

3. ADDITIONS TO THE WEB PAGES
4. TIPS

5. CURRENT SPECIALS.
6. QUESTIONS ANSWERED.

7. A SAILBOAT WINDVANE OF YOUR HOME.

1. OFFICE NEWS

Liz and I are back at the helm. The vacation took a little longer than we expected and as Paul wanted to move on we did a quick turn to starboard and returned via the Panama Canal and across the Pacific instead of running across the Southern Ocean back to Australia . The crossing of the Pacific lived up to it's name of the 'milk run' as in 6500nm we only experienced 2 days of head wind.

It has been an extremely busy three months and I apologise for not managing to even get a Newsletter out. It would appear that Australia, New Zealand, the US and Europe are all experiencing a boom. Boating is still as popular as ever.

2. COMEDY SECTION

3. ADDITIONS TO THE WEB PAGES

While we were away many builders finished their boats and over the following months we plan to share photo's that have been sent us of them. The first is the finishing of the very well built PCF40. Mac had sent us photo's of the first phases of building and it's always great to see the last one's as well. You can see them in the photo gallery at PCF40-page 5 .

Below is a R532 in it's finishing stages. Another great looking sailboat with it's launching not far away.

4. TIPS

Especially useful when building in aluminium when running a weld to the end of a butt join. To avoid the pooling and running away of metal, tack a piece of scrap metal at the end of the join as shown below and run the weld out onto it. After the join is completed simply cut the scrap off and after cleaning up with a small grinder you will be left with a perfect edge.

5. MONTHLY SPECIALS

The PFF 40 is our study plans and/or full plans and patterns special of the month. This is one

really great displacement motor boat with auxiliary sail.

The Sailmakers Apprentice by Emiliano Marinois our book special this month. Combining practicality and philosophy this is the book to have on sailmaking.

Our Specials page will give you the special prices and information on these items.

6. QUESTIONS ANSWERED.

Following are a few answers to questions that have been asked throughout the month that may be of interest. These also show the type and scope of the questions we are asked each month and this is what we are here for. Not only to answer questions directly but to encourage and help in any way we can.

*******************************************************************

Can all your boats be build with twin keel as we have 7m Tides like the Kimberly and lot of mudflaps

Not all our designs have twin keels. Twin keels will not perform to windward as well as deeper single keels but they are better for taking to the mud in large tidal range situations. Hence their popularity in England but not so in Australia for although this country has areas of large tidal ranges these are mostly in the less populated regions (such as the Kimberly's). The Spray design has had twin keels designed especially for it to enable it to sit upright when sitting on
the ground. The small centre keel is still there with the twin keels solely for this purpose.

Yours Phil

*******************************************************************

Thanks Phil for your comments. I think I will go alloy, just a few points.

As a metal tradesman, welding steel or aluminium is neither here or there. I am very comfortable welding both. I note with interest the comment on resale value. As I was considering starting small, 22 foot, to get my hand in, before trying something a bit larger. Speed is not really an issue for me, I like to take my time and smell the flowers. You mention strength. I know steel is stronger than alloy, does this make a big difference in boating? Can this be compensated by going down a gauge, i.e. thicker material? Is it necessary to go thicker?

I am considering starting with the Waverunner 22. Is this a suitable boat for alloy?

I note your comments on corrosion, I have not had much experience in this field since my year 12 engineering science class, though I do know what you are talking about. Is this mentioned in the plans I purchase or is there a book I should be reading?

Sorry to hit you with a thousand questions, any comment would be greatly appreciated.

Ultimate strength comes into play when something goes wrong. i.e. you run onto a rocky reef or ram into a concrete wharf or something of that ilk. Where steel will survive, alloy will have less chance. In all other aspects, other than some really extreme activities, an alloy built boat is as strong as needs be. Going down a grade is not necessary. It could be argued that with thicker material you do have more protection but one needs to make the decision as to where to draw the line otherwise we would all be driving around in armoured tanks and not light cars as we now do. Alloy built boats are suitable for what they are designed to do, as is a car.

You can build the WR22 in alloy. It was original designed for frameless steel construction but by leaving in the frames and adding stringers then it is suitable to be built in alloy. It was originally designed as frameless to save weight. When building in alloy weight is not a consideration.

There are a number of books on corrosion in boat. We sell a couple of them. The one by John Payne is a clear and simple one (and expensive considering how many pages are involved) while the one by Nigel Warren is very in depth. If you are serious about building an aluminium boat then I would strongly recommend 'Boatbuilding in Aluminium' by Stephen Pollard. This will tell you nearly everything that you will need to know about building an aluminium boat. Once again we sell This book in our bookshop or if you want to check it out first any reasonably sized local library would have a copy.

Yours Phil

*******************************************************************

7. A SAILBOAT WINDVANE FOR YOUR HOME.

"Nautical Metal Art by Glen Porter. I have over 5,000 images and several hundred fonts that I can CNC cut from steel, stainless steel and aluminium. I'm best know for my aviation weather vanes and with Phil's most gracious approval, I can now cut any of the Bruce Robert's International power and sailboat profiles into weather vanes. I can also create custom dock side signage for your berth using the profile of your boat, and include your family or boat name. I can even take that favourite picture of your boat slicing through the water and create a wonderful wall hanging for your home. If you're looking for something special for the stern I can do single letters or flowing artworks that can be attached directly to the stern or given a 3D effect through the use of stand offs. All of my exterior art is powder coated 3 times, first with a zinc rich primer, then the colour coat and finally a high gloss or matte finish clear coat. Basically, I tell my clients, "If you can dream it, I can probably design and build it". My one limitation is that I'm an artist, not a machine shop, so I draw the line at cutting anything that is used in a structural manner. I can be reached by phone, 760-365-3653 (California's High Desert), email at usmc.maw@earthlink.net or through my website www.usm-c.com. "

Next month we hope to bring you some photos of Glens artwork.

*******************************************************************

Well that's all for another month. If you have any suggestions please email office@bruceroberts.com.au or if you wish to unsubscribe to our Newsletter click Newsletter-remove@bruceroberts.com.au