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Core Sound 20 Mk 3 -- #4 "Chessie" . .


Pete McCrary

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Last weekend (August 5) Craig and Colleen Ligibel hosted a BBQ for members of the Chesapeak CatBoat Association at their home in Annapolis.  "Chessie" made her "coming out" at the occasion.   She received many compliments and invites to future events.  A good time was had by all.

 

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Fellow members of the Chesapeake CatBoat Association honoring Chessie's "coming out."

 

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Chessie and her builder.

 

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Chessie's cabin interior showing her afghan & bunk pillow with the sails stowed (battens in place) on starboard birth.

 

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Builder Pete McCrary and best friend, occasional boat-building helper, and wife Annie feeling good at Chessie's "coming out."

 

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Our gracious hosts Craig and Colleen Ligibel.

 

We next trailed Chessie down to Lusby, Maryland, for a weekend visit with son Jim and family.  Jim has just accepted a position teaching physics at the College of Southern Maryland.

 

Now, hopefully, we will get some fair sailing weather.  I'll be taking pictures as opportunities arise.

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It's so warm and humid (~> 99%) on some mornings and seldom going below 78%.  So, I'm trying to get things finished up on Chessie in the mornings.  Here are some of the recent additions:

 

Running boards for the trailer.  Easier access to the boat.  Also, a nice place to sit or even stretch out for a little brake while preparing to launch, or making her road-ready after a long & hot sailing day.

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The starboard board needs to be shorter so the the tongue may fold as close to the hull as possible.  That allows the pickup and Chessie to be in the 2-bay garage at the same time.

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The transport crutch seemed a little dull -- so I thought a little left-over boot paint would brighten it up a bit.

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I'm discovering that I need little reminders for important tasks.  After dragging the CB when loading the trailer (and Graham's warning about "roller" damage to Bailers), I expander my sign at the crank to include reminders for the rudder and OBM.

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Planning my first overnight next week.  I'll launch solo at Leesylvania State Park on Tuesday and anchor across the Potomac on Mattawoman Creek.  There's a Maryland State Park (and docking) where I will pickup two sailor friends (who live in Maryland) on Wednesday am for a day of sailing.  I'll drop them off in mid afternoon and return to Leesylvania and home before supper time.

 

My Maryland sailing friends, Norm and John, are fellow members of The Shallow Water Sailors.  An interesting groop.  Check out their web page:

 

http://www.shallowwatersailor.us/

 

 

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Chessie goes on her first "overnight" tomorrow morning.  She will sail from Leesylvania State Park and anchor across the Potomac in Mattawomam Creek near the marina at Smallwood State Park.  We will meet two sailing friends at the park on Wednesday am.

 

Just in time for Chessie's cruise, I fabricated a couple of rails and screwed them to the companionway's carlins -- creating a convenient rack for Drop Board stowage.  They can be stowed and retrieved from the cockpit.  The space has little other use.  The below photo shows the rails screwed to the carlins under the garage.

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These photos below show the Drop Boards slipped into the rack.  Retainer "dogs" are not required because the rack is never used when trailering.  And the carlins slope slightly down towards the bow when on the water.

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Chessie's first overnight cruise was a success.  My plan was to launch from Leesylvania State Park and sail over and anchor on Mattawoman Creek (Smallwood State Park [MD]) -- and meet my sailing friends there the next morning.  However, the day was very hot and humid (feels like 100+) and lots of wind (~ 10 to 12 knots + gusts).  I opted to make the 3 mile crossing by motor.

 

I was tied to a vacant floating dock when, just before dark, a park ranger told me that I couldn't stay there overnight -- I had to rent a slip at their Marina.  The cost was $20, but included was access to shower facilities, etc.. A welcom convenience.

 

The next morning we were sailing in a very nice northwest breeze of about 12 knots.  The ballast tank filled nicely and with 600 lbs of crew, Chessie handled very nicely (no reefing).  The sails filled nicely and the bends [in trhe] masts were beautiful fair curves.  Each sail responded predictably to adjustment of their snotter and downhaul lines.  After lunch the wind dropped to almost calm and motoring back to the Mattawoman Creek ramp we emptied the ballast tank.

 

This was Chessie's first outing with any substantial wind.  The other two were calm or < 3 or 4 knots.  All aboard considered Chessie to be a very good sailboat!  After dropping my friends off, I motored back to Leesylvania in a calm light rain pleased with the first overnight cruise.  To get really good photos we need a "chase" boat.  Here are a few photos:

 

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The running boards really help when launching / recovering solo.  Notice the [new] plank between front and mid rollers.  This allows one to walk up to the bow and clip on the winch hook without wading in knee-deep water.

 

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Chessie's slip at the Marina.

 

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After a shower and shave (a triple S) -- Chessie's galley was assembled and I prepared myself coffee with bacon & eggs.

 

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These Maryland watermen woke me at 4:30 am on their way out.  Returning here at 7:50 am.

 

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Homeward bound.

 

In the next posting I'll report an occurrence that might have caused considerable damage.  Just note that one must take extra precautions  towards days-end when physical and mental fatigue begin be be factors.

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At the end of the cruise on the ramp's parking lot an accident occurred that resulted in NO SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE, but could have been very serious.

 

THE MAINMAST FELL DOWN onto the unprotected sliding companionway hatch.  There was no damage to the mast -- not even a scratch.  And the sail track had no marks or dimples.  The aft frame on the sliding hatch had a few slight dimples.  But the wind vane was broken.  Post accident investigation reveals less than careful securing of the mast prior to removing its retaining nut.

 

I used the main topping lift to secure the mast upright.  The business end was belayed to the port-side anchor cleat and the line (from.the mast-head) was reeved thru the anchor roller's top (or aft) roller and back to a cleat on the starboard side of the companionway rail.  There it was made taut and belayed to the cleat.  Then I went into the cabin and took the retainer nut off and started to open the forward hatch so that I could place a stool and two throw cushions on the opened hatch.  The next step would have been to lower the mast onto the cushions.  That never happened.  As I started to open the hatch (an inch or so) there was a loud  noise.  The mast had fallen down of it own accord.

 

Post accident investigation revealed that when I tightened the topping lift, the anchor roller had been jammed by the anchor chain so that the top roller was not pulled back to its aft position.  Then, when some slight vibration occurred (opening the hatch ?) it became un-jammed and instantly the line had slack of aBout 8 to 10 inches -- enough for the mast to rotate past the top-dead-center for the retaining line.

 

I think the lack of damage was do to the fact that most of the mass is close to the pivot and the energy at impact was transferred to a "whip-lash" of the top half of the mast.  It would be kinda like trying to break a rubber baseball bat by hitting it against a smallish tree.

 

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Roller in aft position where it should have been, but wasn't.  The sudden change of position created additional slack of perhaps 8 to 10 inches.  Enough for the mast to rotate past the top-dead-center of the restraint.

 

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This shows the position of the roller where it should NOT have been.  My failure to notice the difference was the root cause of this accident.  Usually, tightening the line causes the top roller to rotate aft -- but this time it [apparently] was jammed by the anchor chain and I didn't notice [it].

 

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This is where the mast hit the boat.

 

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Observe a couple of dimples made by the sail track.  There must have been multiple hits from "bouncing."

 

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The wind vane.  Maybe I can get a replacement part.  I consider this a very low "tuition" for a valuable lesson.

 

I'm truly embarrassed by this -- and I hope the members won't be too hard on me for the failure.  Lesson learned:  Be especially alert and cautious when at the end of the day you may be tired and/or anxious to get home.  I knew better -- I just didn't see the obvious.  Do any of you watch "Air Disasters"?

 

 

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You made it to the First Scratch Incident! John Vigor wrote a humorous story about his "First Scratch Ceremony", in which he intentionally inflicts the first scratch to a boat so that future damage may be withstood with humor and dignity; of course, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty, is duly beseeched.

 

http://johnvigor.blogspot.com/2011/10/first-scratch-ceremony.html

 

You may now sail with humility and ease ;-)

 

Nice boat, by the way!

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Also good to know that dropping the mast on a hard edge does not result in damage to the mast.  I was unstopping my masts by hand and over balanced a couple of times.  I caught myself, but had visions of dropping the spar on something hard and seeing the tube dent and bend; sailing over.  I do not plan to experiment, but your experience suggests there is substantial strength in the assembly.

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Sorry to hear about the "oops". We all occasionally have something happen that we don't expect---well, maybe PAR doesn't. Or the Master (Graham). Now you can quit worrying about your first ding. I like the mast retaining nut in the anchor well where I can reach it without going into the cabin. I can just lean against the mast with one hand while I reach the nut with the other. No need to tie the mast up. Of course, if I slip it can fall on my head. But, with my hard head, no harm done---I hope.

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Paul -- I think "assembly" is the right word.  I'm sure the new SailTracks laminated to the mast had a lot to do with the mast not being damaged.  Also, the flexibility of the entire assembly helped a lot, especially in avoiding damage to the SailTracks itself.

 

Steve -- The aft coaming on the sliding hatch is 3/4" Mahagony.  Not nearly as dense as oak or yellow pine.  I don't think it [that piece] flexed much, but rather the whole companionway assembly and, of course, the mast/SailTracks.

 

I think it would be interesting to calculate the rotational kenetic energy that had to be dissipated in order to suddenly stop the mast-assembly.  A nice Physics 101 exam question.

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No I make oops's too, though I have developed keen methods for hiding these occasional errors over the years. Several years ago I built a nice daysailor for a fellow out near Daytona. In route to his house, the mast, which was well wrapped and dogged down to the deck, moved somehow and ate a pretty good size divot, in the short combing surrounding the forward end of the cockpit. Naturally the customer wanted a replacement combing piece, which he agreed to install himself, but I insisted on taking back and return it in a week. I carefully cut part of the combing off, about a 1/2" down from it's top, then laminated a same thickness strip of mahogany back down in place of the damage, insuring a clean glue line and rounded over the top edges. Stained dark, it was nearly impossible to see this repair and the owner literally put his nose on the combing to see the seam. Yeah, we all screw up or at least learn the hard way . . . Welcome to life. It's not that we don't make oops's every so often, but how clever we can be dealing with them.

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