Big Thanks to Tim and the forum

[JonnyBoats]

Some of you may have been following my project to mount a windlass on the foredeck of my LeComte Northeast 38 (see photos in projects section).

Like most people, when it comes to working on the boat, it is not my primary occupation so I am faced with doing tasks I have never done before and learning new skills. Also like most people I am much better at some things than others. For example when it comes to artistic endeavors I can?t draw a straight line with a ruler;-)

Anyway one of the things I needed to do to mount the windlass was to drill holes through my deck which has a foam core. The proper procedure is to drill the holes larger than the bolts, fill the holes with epoxy and then re-drill the holes to the proper size (simplified explanation). While I had used some polyester resin and fiberglass cloth on a model boat years ago, with so-so results, I had never used epoxy before.

Thanks to the excellent advice from Tim and others here on the forum I was motivated to go out and get a ?starter kit? of West System epoxy including a gallon (approx) of resin. This is not cheap, costing just under $200, but it should let me do lots of little projects. I am now in the final stages of this project, and will post more photos in the projects section soon. Without the help received here, I am certain it would have taken me longer and the results would not have been nearly as good. In particular I might have gotten different materials which would have yielded inferior results.

Tim?s tag line is ?It's not how many ideas you have...it's how many you make happen.? I would like to add that to make things happen one needs to try new things. When trying new things, one will inevitably make mistakes, which is of course how one learns. Thanks to this forum those mistakes can be far less costly and painful, and the learning much faster.

Once again, Thank you.

[Rachel]

This forum is a fabulous place, I agree. A great group of people and a fine resource. Thanks to Tim, and to everyone who contributes.

I think that if for some reason I could no longer visit, I might have to give up my boat projects. I'd certainly enjoy them less. And what would life be without living others' projects vicariously? I shudder to think about it.

Thanks everyone,

Rachel