Hi Roy,
I thought I had sent a message to you 1st thing this morning to wish you a very Happy Birthday and a great day celebrating. For some reason I can't see it on the website - so hence this Private Message to you.
Best wishes Duncan😀

Glad to hear you had such a super day with your daughter. I'm sure it will be a very memorable day to remember and may you also have lots more if them! We are Guide Dog puppy raisers and we are suppose to be doing a fund raising event today at a Kite Festival! I think we are going to be getting rather cold and wet today. Certainly not summer weather!!

Hiya, Yes, handing them back after 12 to 14 months of bringing them up from being only 6 weeks old is hard! We say it must be similar for child fosterers but if we didn't do this voluntary work there would be no guide dogs! The blind people we meet are so grateful for giving their Guide Dogs a good start in life. Attached are photos of me collecting on a better sunnier days (present and previous dogs)! It costs £55k for each dog from birth to retirement so a lot of funding is required!

Sea markings like this maybe

Hi Roy,
Just wanted to discuss this with you before I add anything to my blog. I spent yesterday and today working on the removeable keel. Unfortunately until it was too late I couldn't find my callipers and therefore went with manual measurements and it has turned out too tight a fit as the wood is not exactly the thickness I measured! To the 12mm keel I added a 3mm piece on each side so there would be a shoulder on each side of the boats keel. I drilled 3.2mm holes as deep as possible with my drill to hold the old prop shafts. I then glued up for about 16 hours the two sides onto the main keel body and used screw clamps as you suggested. I then spent this morning profiling the keel to an aerofoil shape and made two 3mm wooden 'plates' which will cover over the two cuts for the brass tubing on the keel. Problem is that it needs quite a lot of force to get the two parts together and that is before it is painted! My thoughts now are that the tubes are 4mm in diameter and the keel from the kit is 5mm. I was wondering how to get the tubes central when laying the keel flat during gluing everything up. My thought now is whether to try to sand the centre section of the keel to 4mm. This hopefully would allow me to slide the keel on even when painted - but is this a sufficient gap 1mm-) to allow for the thickness of the paint. Hopefully the photos might explain better. Do you think reducing the kit's keel around the central part will affect the overall strength of the boat?
What are your thoughts on what I have done so far?
Cheers Duncan

Hi Roy. Thanks for your message. I'm trying to digest it all! I'm now wondering if my 3mm treaded propshaft is of sufficient diameter? With my limited tools, drilling a 1mm hole through the rod I think will be extremely difficult. Also on the keel having glued one one side a strengthening piece of ply (so it doesn't loose the shape of the keel), have you a method to ensure I don't cut too deep when creating the slots for the brass tubes? Sorry if I'm being a pain. I also thought about gluing another 2mm piece of ply to each side at the top of the removable keel. This would allow me to file out the slot wider but still maintain some strength to the shoulder pieces. Again shape these into the profile of the keel.
Where would you get some lead weights cast for the keel? Thanks for all your help and advice. I hope the new pacemaker settings are proving to be a big improvement. Cheers D

Hi Royce,
let me check my stash. I am pretty sure that I have some MonoPerms in it. I will not be using them/it, so if you don't mind , it will be a functional one.
Jonathan

Hi Roy,
My apologies.☹️ I have Hectoperms and Decaperms. I thought the latter were Monoperms, but I am mistaken. If you can use any of these, I am happy to send them.
Jonathan

Hi Roy,
This is what I have found. I suppose that I have given away some. This is the remaining, all Marx.
3) Hectroperm 6V 8.0 amp max 2:1 geardrive 6000 rpm
1) Hectoperm pile drive 3-360:1 12 v 4 amp max
1) Decaperm pile drive 3-360:1 6v 7amp max
If you want any or all of them, they include additional pile gear sets, they are yours. I will not be using them. I only request that you pay for shipping.
Jonathan

Hiya, Congratulations on your 60th wedding anniversary! I hope you have a lovely meal out together today. It will be our 40th anniversary next August so we will be having a trip down the Rhine to celebrate. Like yourself I was smitten with my wife to be when I first met her and proposed 10 days later! She accepted and not a single moment of regrets. Best wishes to you both! Cheers Duncan😊