Some people, guppy 13 sailboat 2002

Article By Shorty


Here is a picture of Elton Luedecke. I didn't get to spend much time talking to him, but he sure was a friendly guy.

John Phelps is on the right. His wife asked him "When does the messabout start?". He replied "Well, it doesn't really start, it just kind of happens". That is so true, one of the things that makes messabouts so fun.

Charles Nichols is wearing the blue shirt and is 2nd from the right. I should have taken a better photo of him, there are good pics from previous years. Charles is currently working on a Michalak Trilars. He worked furiously before the messabout, but just wan't to a point that he could safely bring his project from home. From what I understand, this will be the first Trilars to be constructed.

Don Cash (on the left) is a television producer for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept. He said that when the article is finished, he will let me know so we all can watch it on PBS.

On the right is Tim Webber, our host, the man who makes it all happen. He is also a very accomplished demonstration model, here he is featuring a water bottle. In the past I have used photos of his back side to sell kayak paddles, life jackets, and seats for sit-on-top kayaks. Funny that I haven't used his back side image to sell the waterproof fanny packs that I stock. Will have to give him one and follow him around with a camera.

Tim's son Jeff also made an apearance.

Here is a boat that I built. I call it the "Flats Rat". It is a rectangular version of the Gavin Atkin design "Mouse". The original mouse was built from a single sheet of plywood, and can only hold about 250 lbs. I needed more capacity than that, and I also wanted a simple nail and glue construction, so I sketched up a set of plans and built her.



This is my Melen Marine Guppy 13. It is a 12'6" long fiberglass sailboat that was built in 1975, and there were less than 300 made. It has a shoal keel, and a simple cabin that can sleep 2 adults.







All cleaned up, and its time to go. It was a super fun event this year, I really enjoyed seeing everyone and look forward to next time.



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