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I have used this feature a number of times. But today I saw my first like by someone else. I can't say no one else uses this feature, but as thoroughly as I read this forum I can't imagine too many likes got past me. The most common reasons I have for using the like feature is to show support for a good technical post without saying the same things again when some one else has already said them well in the first place. Also I use it to simply provide a positive reply for cool pictures and acknowledge that I enjoyed them. Anyway, I just thought it strange how little the feature is used. Not to imply written replies need to be limited, just a curiosity of mine.

Yea, probably time for a recap of Kalos. We have continued to add minor updates/upgrades to the rigging with the intent to make rigging easier. We can now rig from arriving at the boat ramp to motoring away in 1 hour 15 minutes. Not much longer than our Core Sound 20.3. Board up probably draws less than 30 inches, about 60 inches board down. The antifouling is Coppercoat, the boat normally lives in a marina. The boat sails beautifully, we have had her in 35 kts winds several times with no concerns at all. Initially we had range anxiety with the electric pod drive, but that has all but evaporated. The electric drive is just a small part of the sailing experience on Kalos, we actually don’t think much about it, it maneuvers much more positively than any boat I have ever sailed. Full torque at low speed and instant reverse stops the boat pronto. If we were to build it again, electric pod drive, no question. We have 200 amp/hr Battle Borne for the house batteries, 240 watts solar for the house, the Torqeedo 24-3500 battery and it totally adequate. 350 watts panel to charge the Torqeedo battery, with a interconnect buss if we decide to put all 3 panels to charge the motor battery (never had the need other than testing). We have shore power but have never bothered to plug in. We have about 60 gallons of fresh water, we have a solar water heater, refrigerator and freezer. Longest I have stayed aboard is about 2 weeks and been as comfortable as any other boat we lived aboard. Long winded answer, but it is a cool boat! We have invited and given talks at several local sailing clubs about both the electric system and the cat ketch rig. Coupla days ago we tacked down a river with a local hot J24 sailor and he really enjoyed short tacking in the channel.

Graham might have taken his upgrades a bit too far this time. What do you think? He's installed a big barn door rudder too and a giant boom..... Ok maybe I had you going? We all know Graham is a tiller man. Someone who thinks he's funny plopped this in Carlita's cockpit. Graham looked pretty worried when he came in last week and we told him we had "done some work on his boat".

Taylor and Alan just launched the heir to the Stewart clan. You all may have noticed that there were no Stewarts in this years EC, and that is why. I thought that he was going to be really cool and launch himself to coincide with the EC but no, he decided to emerge in his own time. Design name, LOA and displacement will be posted later.

I just got the wood, plans and epoxy for my boat build! I plan to read over the blue prints and watch some videos about building the boat and make myself familiar to it. And plan to start mid to end of January!! I can’t wait to get started!

I have been designing the Mathew Flinders for myself for more than a decade off and on, long before we did the Mk3's. What I was trying to achieve was to design the ultimate small voyaging boat that could easily be trailed behind a reasonable size vehicle and yet be be capable of crossing any ocean. She had to be built tough and live well for two people with room for a third person. She is not intended to replace the mk3's as they are great boats, but for anyone who wants to go up to the next level. I went through hundreds of iterations till I finally got it and I am very pleased with final outcome. As you can imagine I am really excited to see her come to life with Jay and Carol. I started at 22 feet and it finally grew to 23'4" as I massaged the ergonomics. When Jay ordered the boat, I did a lot of thinking about his comfort plus I had some interest from people who are a lot larger than me so at the last minute I scaled her by 5% to give 6'4' headroom with the final length at 24'6". If anyone has to have 6'6" headroom they can raise the cabin sides. The trailing weight will be around 4000" depending on how they load it. I am still planning to build the 23'4" version. One of the things that I worked hard on was the range of stability. She has positive stability to 180 degrees which more than meets the EU ISO rules for ocean sailing. I have attached one of the many stability curves that I made with the red and blue curves showing a best and worst case vertical center of gravity. That is to allow for builders to make their own modifications and still meet the high range of stability. I was also able to calculate the Flicka A well known small cruising boat, @ 20 degrees for comparison.

Finished planking, this is the part that you mess around 20 minutes and it look like huge progress, I’ll start filling and sanding tomorrow. That’ll slow thing a bit!

Don, The missing hatch sides and back were in the original drawings. You definitely have a builder modification. The good news is that what is built looks like it is to plan and shouldn't require any alteration to bring it up to spec. I would add some sides and modify the back to clear all of those nuts. Then put a straight edge on the deck across the hatch to measure the gap above the coamings for the gasket and adjust if necessary. I think that you would be better off with a mizzen staysail. It will give you the most bang for the buck. It is mostly in the cockpit and easier to take down if conditions suddenly get ugly.

My CS20.3 is getting a mini refit and paint…..would be a perfect time to do this mod. But…….I really haven’t had a circumstance that I felt lea helm that I couldn’t balance out. A longer board might help the windward abilities…. I am quite sure it would be worth it, that may be my next winter project. As you sea……Indecision may or may not my problem.

Alan sent me an email asking if I had any good pictures of Skeena to provide to SCA for a story Marty Loken was doing on "camp cruisers you can build". I sent a few pictures to Marty, including one that was taken by a photographer from CLC that was on a support boat on the trip to Cox Creek winery. My longtime friend and sailing partner Joe was with me. This trip was a new event at the MASCF. I got an email from Marty saying that that pic had been chosen for the cover, which has been quite a thrill for me. Building Skeena was a long process but having her is such a joy. I've been singing "when I get my picture on the cover, gonna buy five copies for my mother" who sadly isn't with us anymore, but was the one who instilled craftmanship into my life. Thanks Alan, Graham, Carla and all the fine folks at B & B, and to all those who showed me the way, and answered my questions. Barring catastrophe, I will see you at the messabout with covergirl Skeena.

Here is the first installment. It was a grand adventure but as much fun as it was to leave, it was even better to return. The trip was everything that I hoped that it would be. People asked me why I rushed, I could have spent a year doing that trip but you cannot just abandon your home. We live in hurricane alley and I did not want to leave Carla to have to face one alone. I was able to get a good flavor of the area and I can drive to places in the future and I can do a section in as much depth as I like. I did this trip for many reasons. It is obvious that my voyaging days are over so I made this like a mini voyage and I also wanted to prove the mk3’s as a valid coastal micro cruiser. Carlita turned out to be close to perfect for me. The only improvement that I can think of would be to have a 20 mk3. Nothing wore out or broke except for the wind indicator when I scraped it against the mizzen mast while raising the main mast between bridges. I was able to glue it back together. Note to self, watch the indicator as it passes by the mizzen mast. Beside being fast and easy to sail, navigating in shallow water was where she excelled. She covered many miles in water less than a foot deep with no centerboard or rudder, steering and tacking with just the sails. When aground I would walk around the boat, looking for deeper water. The bowsprit gave me the leverage to rotate the boat to face the deeper water. The boomkin was just the right height to lift and push. I usually got away with it, saving me from having to wait for the next tide. An electric pump for the water ballast would be handy so that you could lighten the boat quickly if the tide was falling. I tested the water ballast several times. I naively thought that Delaware Bay was going to give me a break. The forecast was SE 10 to 15 knots, I ended up with 2 reefs in each sail and still surfed to 8 knots. I broached her twice, the first time I was concentrating too hard on the chart and got way off course at the wrong time. The second, I got slammed on the starboard quarter by a breaking wave. The rudder ventilated down the low pressure side and around we went. To my amazement we never heeled past about 20 degrees and suddenly we were safely laying a-hull. Several times I deliberately rounded up to reef or to tend to some business but with the luxury of picking my time. Single handing can be hard sometimes. Another test was on the last day: There was a small craft warning for Pamlico Sound with forecast SW winds gusting from 20 to 30 knots. I was only 28 miles from home. I decided to get underway at 5 am to beat down the Pungo River and cross the Pamlico River before the wind reached full strength. The plan worked well and just before the Hobucken Cut got narrow I decided that I could afford to put the anchor down and have breakfast. I left the sails up as it was going to be a short stop. It was hot down below with the vent and hatch dogged down. I opened the hatch to full wind scoop, forgetting about the sail. It was very pleasant. Suddenly a big gust blew the bow to port and the reefed foot of the main caught on the hatch and we were laying over. By the time I got on deck and realized what the problem was we were upright and it was over. I lowered the hatch to just a foot above the deck and life was good again. When I went to raise the anchor it felt like it was fouled. It was the hardest breakout of the whole trip. I have some other ballast ideas to try but I think that it is valid as is. Steve, yes I brought the anchor back to the cockpit and I am very pleased with it. There is nothing special except that I have a cleat about 18” forward of the sheer break. I left the bitter end tied to the bowsprit tube and the main part of the 100 ft rode in the anchor locker, the rest was just flaked on the cockpit forward. The Danforth self launches because it does not stow neatly. The Bruce/ claw stows neatly but I have to give it several flicks from the cockpit before it will launch.

So, this is what I’ve been doing of late. It’s a digital drawing with “colored pencils”. Sorry for taking the initiative to draw it without asking, but here it is. Peace, Robert

I'm gonna make it!

OK, so it looks like this project is done. The boat floats and does not leak. Sails look very nice. Thank you all for the support. We folded the boat on Sept 2024 and finished in July of 2026.

Haha. This year we didn't bring a spinnaker or oars. We were up to the wire getting the boat done and wisely I think prioritized the windvane getting done. So far we wouldn't have used a spinnaker much def not required. We thought oars for this boat would be too ungainly since the coaming is so high bet we are rethinking that. The mirage drive off the transom really didn't impress. We didn't even bring it. Our only mode of aux propulsion is 2 stand up paddles which works quite well especially if you do it from the low side the coaming is narrow and its easy to do a normal stroke and the heel brings the wayer closer to you.

I still haven't produces a video from my epic trip to Maine last summer, but here is a sneak peak! Skeena is such a great boat. 42.mp4

Nanocruising, a small podcast in Canada contacted us about doing an interview about the Core Sound 17. Graham shares some history and insight into the design. Good job Graham! https://www.nanocruising.com/

Some more pictures; attaching the strakes Mounted wheels ( pneumatic 10" casters) under the strongback so we can pull it out to paint- will replace the casters with two trailer axels, one front one back, first time out of the narrow ass shop! wow! its always so much bigger when you can step back and look at it from more than 5 feet away. Topsides are ready for epoxy primer Bottom needs to have the strakes faired in and high build sprayed Spray Pettit epoxy primer Apply Pettit Black Widow bottom paint Flip it and move on My real job keeps slowing me down- and it was brutally hot this summer

@Andy Woerner Please introduce yourself to me. I’ll be there with my CS17 Windependent.

I just wanted to share these with the group. The wing-on-wing is a photo by Diane Gallo from mid-July, medium evening air on Lac La Belle near Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, downwind leg of a "fun race." The beam reach photo is by Eric Miller during the recent Michigan Messabout at Muskegon, breezy day.

I took Skeena on a low wind shakedown yesterday before I head to Maine August 2nd fr two weeks sailing out of Rockland. A couple of thoughts: 1. I love this boat. When you spend as much time as I did building, it would be a bummer if it wasn't waht you thought. 2. My sails need a bit of work. The batten pockets stitching and some other areas need attention. Time to get to work with needle and thread. The clock is ticking. 3. A video. She sails herslelf: Skeena off Sodus Low Res.mp4

Hi everyone! I just picked Chessie up today. I'm excited to get her out on the water, and appreciate the care and attention to detail that has gone into this boat so far.

The 20.3 isn't a fishing boat, but it sure is great for fishing. Sailing speeds are good trolling speeds. Eton caught a bluefish trolling in the Pamlico River which we ate for dinner. We put in at Potters Marina which is a great place to launch; $5 ramp fee gives you access to a bathroom and shower.

Well cats and kittens, it's been a while. Not sure anyone remembers or even cares about this build, but here it is, Nine years later... Nine years! Seems like yesterday I laid the keel. Progress ground to a halt during covid. Engines were difficult to get so I didn't see much reason to push hard. Then I picked up a project 1966 mustang that I did an 18 Month complete restoration on, a couple new rental house remodels and poof, five years have passed. After all of the nonsense it was time to focus back on the boat. Don't feel too bad for me, I have other boats to play with. Plenty of water skiing and cruising during that down time. Anyhoo, it came out of the barn this last week where it saw the sun for the first time, then the engines were fitted. There's a few more details to complete, but I'm thinking it will be in the water in October.

We've been now under way for three months. As expected, the dinghy has gotten a lot of use especially here in Scotland. We've sailed it to pub several times, and rowed to various shore-based adventures. As we had some guests visiting, we also found out it rows pretty well with three adults on board. So far we've found that the best way to assemble the dinghy is upright with the stern section tied to our inner forestay. This way we've been able to do it in winds over 20kt. Instead of a bridle we also deploy and hoist the dinghy vertically with a halyard tied to the painter. You'll see a lot of the dinghy in action in our June video (Finnish audio but with subtitles): It is soon time for some paint repair, as some of the rocky landings have left scratches in the bottom.

Just in case anyone needs another opinion on silicone; it is pure EVIL!

I have had good luck with the 36 brush boxes of brushes from Harbor Freight. After I unwrap the brush I fold the bristles over my shop vac (hose with vacuum on!) and vacuum the loose bristles out. Not for varnish but good for slocking epoxy.

Graham in Oriental

We now have a website for Graham's Trip! www.sailingforparkinsons.org

Heading to have the motor installed. It’s been an adventure, looking forward to see if it floats. Have enjoyed the comments, everyone has been so supportive. Thank you

Designer said, "Probably the best thing in the world for kids is having a Spindrift". When I told my wife this, she said, "so does this mean you're never going to grow up?"

Don and Dave- Thanks for setting me straight. I must have heard your voices a few minutes into the video when I realized they were hanging over the side! I had just dropped Luanne off to take a few shots and didn’t take them in quick enough to claim status as an old salt. If you guys would give me a second chance I promise to be more attentive. I did tell Luanne about my transgression and that someone on the forum would notice. Her reply “tough crowd”. I love it!

Ravenswood—low volume and standard. The LV has been varnished with poly urethane and is ready to be covered. With the frames cut and stringers made, the second on went together quickly—three days from frames in the jig to FROG. It’s startling how fast they come together when everything is prepped. Laminating and then sanding and finishing the coaming is the slowest part. Takeaway from the coaming is to use very thin, straight-grained stock. I used African mahogany (wood store had a nice piece of 8/4) but next time I’d use maple or oak as Jeff recommends. Also cut it very thin. The book said 3/16ths, I went with 1/8, but next time I go for 3/32s. 1/8 was as thin as I could get on my table saw but if you have access to a band saw set up for re-sawing go thinner. The mahogany looks great but the grain was a little squirrelly. I don’t think it was worth the extra effort. Looking forward to getting them launched now! Hal

I Asked my granddaughter if she would like to do the artwork on my kayak. She kept it a surprise, didn't let me see it till it was done. I told her to do she wanted to. I think she knocked it out of the park.

One of the things I love about going to the Messabout is learning something new. This year Graham asked me if I had seen any of the Swedes videos on foam core boat building. I told him I had not. Graham knows I am interested in foam core boat building, perhaps he also knows two of my grandparents immigrated from Sweden. Anyway my interest was piqued. So now I am learning a little more about the interesting life of Sven Yrvind. He is a bit of a blue water sailor so his mindset is a little different from us coastal cruisers but his emphasis on the advantages of keeping boats small and simple certainly resonates.

Graham sent in this picture with the caption...”Missed it by only that much. Just 200 feet to deep water.”

Day 4 - Coinjock to North Landing RIver (27.2NM) Graham’s trek up the ICW continued with southerly winds that pushed him through Coinjock and past the Currituck Sound. A couple lines of thunderstorms swept through the area and around 3:30 Graham threw out the pick. I suspect the north winds arrived and he called it a day. That combined with the thunderstorms. Graham sent in this picture with the caption “second thunderstorm”. Graham reported earlier in the day that he was running with 2 reefs in the main and 1 in the mizzen. When asked about how his power system was holding up he said everything was working perfectly. He has on board a ~120Ah LiFePo4 battery which he is recharging from a 50watt solar panel using a Victron smart solar charge controller. A shunt monitors the battery state of charge. Graham reported that he battery is typically reading about 90% in the morning indicating that he is using about 9-10 Ah overnight running his anchor light, charging phone and running cabin lights and fan. He shouldn’t have too much trouble keeping up with that with his 50 watt panel.

The Wheezer is progressing toward the conclusion section of her little symphony (yes, I’m a musician, among other things.) I took nine photos during our three hours together today. She’s is doing the epoxy and varnish layers on her own. She decided to make the mast bushings as a first project of the day. This is one of those things where I described how to do the tasks and she did everything... I just watched. Starting the second bushing for the smaller mast piece... each of these needed about 90 inches of fiberglass tape (cut in half lengthwise.) Moving on to make bushings for the middle mast piece. These bushings only needed about 30 inches of fiberglass tape. They are set aside to harden. We’ll make collars after these harden and are fitting well. The skeg got a bigger fillet along its connection area to the hull. We moved on to flip the boat back over and to add the third layer to the gunwale. We could have bought some sealant to attach the outer layer but decided to use epoxy glue instead. It won’t be a working tender (until The Wheezer builds herself a cruising sailboat ?) and I don’t think the need will arise to replace the outer part of the gunwale. I think the thicker gunwale looks and feels better than with just the two layers. Plus, the strips we put on are the pre-rounded edges of the 5/4 inch treated 12 foot deck board from which she cut all the gunwale strips with a table saw. A bit of surface sanding is all that the gunwale will be needing. She decided she wanted the bow end to be a point rather than to have a blunt cut off nose. Builder’s choice. ? The rudder pieces are epoxy-coated on one side. I marked the areas in the inside of the rudder cheeks that will be glued and she put a first epoxy coat on the portions that won’t be glued. Two more layers and we’ll glue up the rudder. I let her know the choice that some make to bolt the end of the tiller to allow it to swivel up from the aft end of the rudder assembly. We’ll see if she wants to do that or glue it permanently (as is typical.) The last task she did in our three hours together was to drill a hole in the bottom of her boat inside the dagger board housing. We’ll router out the opening when we flip it over again. I added an extension to my 1/2” drill to reach the bottom. Both her parents are dentists... I suggested she could let them use this drill in their workplace. ?. Maybe just to give the patients a little “thrill?” ?. OK, maybe not. She admitted that it felt weird to drill that hole through the bottom... something that I believe most of us who’ve built a boat can relate to. As I left for home I took a shot of the pieces she will leave as a bright finish. A few more coats of varnish are still coming to them.

Received this from Textron Systems Retirees Association. Thought some of our forum members might enjoy it. “Do You Remember? Did You Have One? Do You Still Have One? “‘A TSRA Member recently sent us this humorous paragraph on the ancient computing device called a Slide Rule. “BREAKING NEWS: Mathematics Teacher Arrested at JFK... A school teacher was arrested today at JFK International airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, an ancient wooden device called a “slide-rule” as well as a code device called an “abacus” that he claimed was a calculator. At a morning press conference, the new Attorney General selectee said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. “Al-Gebra is a problem for us,” the Attorney General said. “Al- Gebra has terrorized many young people for years. They derive solutions by means and extremes and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values” “They use secret code names like ‘X’ and ‘Y’ and refer to themselves as ‘unknowns,’ but we’ve determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.”

Thanks everyone. Mama and Henry are doing great. Very difficult delivery ending in c section but it's all over now. He is perfect.

New B&B design stats: Design name: Henry Wilder Stewart LOA : 21" 53.34cm Disp: 7lbs 5oz 3.32kg

I think I have found a novel way to self quarantine oneself.......mention to your friends that you are doing some sanding and getting ready to lay fiberglass. All the sidewalk engineers have disappeared?

Here is the current photos of the Mathew Flinders, we have been working intermittently for about 3 weeks, all the bulkheads are fileted and taped into place, the head bulkheads are just sitting in place (well almost in place!). A very gentlemanly way to build a boat, standing on the outside reaching in! The “rollbar” is part of the building jig, the inner skin of the cabin will sit on top of the jig, so at 6’3” I have an incredible amount of headroom. To show scale, Carol is standing in the galley.

Hi everyone, I'm new here but purchased a Marissa 18 kit back in July. I was finally able to get started and will try to post progress updates as regularly as I can. I'm liking how everything came out from Graham, I can already see the thought and planning that went into it. I'm so glad I got the cnc cut plywood kit, it saved a ton of time already and there's no question on how precise the fit is. So far I have about 20 hours into this project, although quite a few of them were spent visualizing and thinking! Decided to dry fit to see if anything need adjusting and mainly to see the shape. Just starting but so far so good!

I may have missed other posts relating to future plans for B&B Yacht Design, but I noticed this entry from Graham on another thread and thought that it deserved it's own thread. I want to applaud Graham and Carla, first for their commitment and innovation to boat design and building, and second for their foresight and good fortune in bringing Alan and Beth into the business. I also want to thank and congratulate Alan and Beth for keeping this wonderful enterprise alive.

I talked with Carla yesterday. She is doing MUCH better. She is off of anti-biotics now and the infection is gone. She has 5 sets of plates, screws, and rods in her neck, but---this is hard to believe---she has a full range of motion!. And NO PAIN! She is able to eat normally now, and it "all comes out the way it is supposed too." She has lost a lot of weight through her ordeal. She feels good but is still very weak. Her main job now is to build up her strength and endurance to the point that she can begin physical therapy. She still has more surgery to come on her lower back. (Still pain in her lower back, That was where she was originally supposed to have the surgery until tests indicated a very dangerous situation in her neck.) This will happen, maybe, in December. She is back in he office trying to get everything back on track---including Graham. Her computer went down just as she got back, and they went through a period when the phone system was "off line". Who did I just hear saying "When it rains, it pours."? Beth was a great help in getting out plans and such. Carla is very thankful to all of of you for your concerns, well wishes, and prayers. She said that there were literally thousands of people, church groups, and friends praying for her, and she credits this for her recovery from a very dangerous and trying situation. Thank you to all of you. And most of all, thanks to God!