JRich

I don't think there's much comparison between the Goat Island Skiff and the Core Sound 15, besides similar length. I think a more fair comparison would be between the Bay River Skiff and the Goat. The CS 15 is so much more boat than the GIS-- side decks are one huge difference, for starters. The CS 15 has a deeper entry, a bow that doesn't hang up on waves, and deadrise to give her an edge to run on while level. Most basically, the CS 15 feels stable with four crew members, while the Goat feels stable with up to two experienced crew. It's a fairer comparison between the Bay River Skiff and the Goat, but the BRS is way more stable-- in that it affords one the opportunity to focus on things other than where to sit and which way to lean.

Mick, It looks like Sukie's helper is made of HDPE/"Star Board"/PVC/cutting board with a PVC pipe ring mounted on panhead screws.

I have a very simple recipe for a tiller tamer: Attach a cleat to the top surface of the tiller, about 2/3 of the way forward. Attach both ends of a shock cord to points near the corners of the transom. Use the middle of the shock cord to tie off to the cleat on the tiller. You can see the setup in this picture... though the tamer is disengaged at this moment. An 'S Wrap' works best to engage it-- you snag the shock cord on the right side of one of the cleat's horns, then run the other side of the cord around the left side of the other horn-- to give you an easily adjustable tiller, and it's super easy to pop off the cleat if you need to disengage.

Now that's some weather.

The guy who's selling it-- Tim is his name-- didn't post any pictures. Not sure what happened there. But I checked it out in person and it's a real boat(!) and Tim's a pretty nice guy, if not a bit shy. WWBaginski, that's a nice looking BRS17 you have. Looks like a fun trip you took in Finland, too.

So I took a look at the boat, and it's a solid setup. The hull's in great condition, the sails are in great condition, the trailer is in excellent condition. We've had some late-breaking family news that will keep us from buying, but someone is going to get a great deal on this... http://gainesville.craigslist.org/boa/5107731274.html

Philip, I figured out which website you referred me to... I clicked on the link that said "website" in your post! That BRS has #124 on its sails, so this is probably a different boat.

Thanks for the info, Graham and Philip! Philip, would you have any more info on Sam's website-- a web address, Sam's last name, etc.? Graham, I spoke with the current owner and he's offering the boat with a trailer and no motor. He mentioned the boat building class, and said the rig had aluminum masts with wood tops-- so they must have been added later.

I'm looking at a Bay River Skiff in Hawthorne, FL early next week when I'm down that way... The owner says it's hull #46 and that he bought it from a guy in NC fairly recently. Does anyone recognize that hull number? BRS #46? I'd like to get some more details on what materials were used.

3M 4200 is a good way to go for bedding deck hardware, mostly because it never completely hardens. It stays rubbery while sticking like the Dickens. That way, when you need to rebed the hardware in 15 years--or whenever--you can do it without taking off layers of fiberglass/paint/whatever. The other thing for deck hardware is to drill oversized holes and fill them with thickened epoxy. After they dry, sand them flush and drill new holes the right size. It's a lot of bleedin' work, but between that and the adhesive sealant you bed the hardware with, no water's getting in. Of course, all my experience has been with fiberglass boats with cored decks...

Do you have a board stretcher? That'd be the tool to use...

Good deal.

Great. Thanks!

How much wood is required to build the Bay River Skiff (15)? (I'm sure the info is posted/discussed around here somewhere...?)

It's so simple, it's brilliant!