grumpygnome said...Rest assured my friend...
the minister of WAR & FINANCE is riding the horse on this one.. and the reins are tighter than Fish's
... I am thinking just a windsurfin sail this time, with the pulleys on the back edge..
I know the finance feeling very well!
A standard windsurfing sail and boom (with pulleys hung on the back) will be best to start with anyway- it gives you more low down "grunt" to start rolling, but less top end speed, ideal for grass or high drag surfaces.
Later on you can think about modified windsurfing sails- less low down grunt but lots more top speed, better for low drag surfaces (and greater yippee factor)
You might need to lengthen a standard mast a bit- various ways to do this- but easiest is to jam a vacuum cleaner pipe on top.
Also with the mast- you need to reinforce the base of the mast to stop it snapping, a close fitting piece of timber, aluminium or part of a broken mast (around 1 to 1 1/2 metres long) can all do the job.
All from salvage yards, council recycling depots or scrap heaps.
As a guide- for ages, I paid no more than $10 for a sail or mast at my local council recycling depot, its only recently gone up to $15 a piece.
Pulleys and wheels are the biggest expense .Almost all our pulleys are recycled from excercise machines dumped at roadside council collections. not the finest quality, but they work.....most of the time.....(jammed rope adds to the excitement)
When visiting my depot, I work on the principal of buying every sail and mast I can find, even if damaged, as they can usually be used for recutting or supplying patches and battens for other sails, and if a standard boom looks good I will buy it too.
Any of this that I dont need for myself and my son is spread between Paul, Chook and his brood of school students and another school here in Perth.
Every now and then I put a notice in the W.A. windsurfing section of this forum- scrounging for unwanted windsurfing sails, masts and booms for the schools- I make a point that everything gained in this way goes to the schools.
Sometimes I can go months without finding anything- but at other times I almost need another verandah for the amount I collect.
Stephen.
have no idea what she means...
