 Bill Mattson It was quite a stretch getting this issue published. I started work with a new company last month, and have found my spare time to be a bit limited. I also was recently reunited with my family after a 1 year job stint in northern California, so I wanted to spend less time in front of the screen. Enough of my petty whining.... On with the show! Ever wonder how your boat was made? I'm speaking to those of you who have not had the "luxury" of figuring it out by examining the busted hull forensics of some unfortunate racing incident. Matt Miller of Hobie Cat was kind enough to take me for a tour of the Hobie factory in Oceanside, Ca. Read this feature and see how these highly durable boats are built. Last month David Hall wrote an excellent piece on rudder tuning. Gary Willcox writes an equally valuable article on rebuilding the rudder cams. Print these articles and get busy. Listen to these guys and you'll have a very smooth, trouble free rudder system this season. In the first of a continuing series, I provide a brief introduction to our plans for a trip from the California coast to Santa Cruz Island. Tag along with us as we research, plan, equip our boats, and finally get to visit this scenic portion of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Okay, I know many of you were really looking forward to the Jet Powered Trailer, but we've had a minor setback. It involves an "incident" with 5 gallons of poorly handled Jet-A. I won't bore you with the details, but Frank should be getting out of the burn ward any day now. Frank's insurance company has impounded the trailer, but our OTW legal staff is confident we will have it back for next month's issue. Stay tuned. As stated earlier, I may not be able to put as much time into future issues as I have in the past. But folks have really been submitting high quality stuff. I may not have time to write articles, but I'll try and make time to publish the stories of others. If you would like your story to appear in our pages, drop us a line. Keep 'em coming! Sail fast, sail safe,  William R. Mattson, Editor mattson@earthlink.net |
 Frank Pineau Editorial pending removal of bandages.  Frank Pineau, Editor frp@pacificnet.net Next Month: Firming Up The Boat - The Plyon Gluing Project The Channel Islands Trip - Part 2 The Jet Trailer - No Car Needed Cover Photo by Bill Mattson |
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