> Hi;

> I'm presently building a Rob Macks Georgian Bay, and have become very
> familiar with his format for supplying plans and instructions.

> Firstly - When I first saw the plan sheets, I had some hesitation because
> they simply could not be bound into any usable format - That is, it was a
> stack of 11x14 sheets that had to be left as a stack, 4 pages per sheet,
> copied in a fashion that required that it be left unbound. My inclination
> was that if this was the way the plans were distributed, what surprises
> might the rest of the construction leave? My fears were unfounded. The
> "stack-o-'structions" has turned out to be handy, and have
> caused absolutely no problems. The accuracy in the stack and the plan
> sheets is quite good, I might add.

> Secondly - My few email questions to Rob were answered by him within 12
> hours. Frankly, the plans for the Georgian Bay leave little room for
> questions. I developed a good deal of confidence in his plans from this.

> Thirdly - I also pondered a central strongback in lieu of the conventional
> canoe style, but as a novice, I figured I'd be better off doing it by the
> book. I built his style of strongback, and the forms lined up absolutely,
> positively, beyond the question of any doubt, . . . PERFECT. His designs
> spring from a computer with a CAD program, it would be hard NOT to get the
> stations perfect, and hull/deck lines fair.

> Lastly - I strongly suspect pilot error - In the computer industry we used
> to say "PEBCAK - - Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard."
> Either you introduced errors while tracing the forms, which is not
> impossible, or in cutting the forms, which could be very likely, or in
> aligning the center and sheer lines with the outline of the form, which is
> easy to do, or in misinterpreting rocker offsets, certainly not out of the
> question, or even misunderstanding his form spacing requirements - Which I
> think you alluded to.

> I researched Laughing Loon by searching and reading many of the personal
> websites of builders who used his plans, and not one was derogatory. So
> many North Stars (and Georgian Bays, etc.) are out there, if there were
> problems, they are VERY well kept secrets.

> Go over what you've done, find out where you deviated from the plans, and
> try again. Nick's plans are newer and indeed superb, but Rob's are very
> functional and accurate and can produce a masterpiece as well. You can
> view my implementation of Rob's plans by visiting the link at the bottom,
> which shows my Georgian Bay construction.

> Good Luck and Best Regards, Spidey

Hi Spidey Thanks for your thoughts on my dalema, I wish now that Theresa and I had bought other plans like your Georgian Bay. It sound like your going to have a great boat. I think what I am going to do is try to work the bugs out of my North Star plans. Type to you soon, Cheers:Brian