JPower210

I agree wholeheartedly here- if I were building my 17 right now, I think I would use the most rot resistant wood I could and just paint it. And bed it on the keel, with the idea that it would need to be removed at some point. I wonder if a piece of pressure treated might be good, but I would want to get some other opinions before I went that route.

I ordered mine, as well as a lot of epoxy, from Raka.com. But most of the epoxy/glass suppliers have it. Dynel is similar, but some tests have shown that Xynole is a bit superior from an abrasion/impact standpoint. For the strip- you don't need a lot of screw to hold it- I think I used 3/4 inch screws. The joint at the two hull panels should have an epoxy fillet, as well as the thickness of the wood joining, to take and hold the screws. I pre drilled undersize, placed a blob of sealant and hand drove the screw to avoid stripping it out. No problems as of yet. For the keel- I ran my glass over the bottom seam, and then screwed the keel on- the keel got multiple layers of epoxy to seal, but, eventually it will be replaced as a maintenance item. I didn't like the idea of trying to make the glass or xynole wrap a 90 degree corner either. And the recommendations above about keel rollers make sense- my rollers are big enough that the keel can't hit metal as it comes on. I also found the addition of guide posts on the trailer helped a lot as I typically sail single handed and the wind always seems to want to blow my boat out of line when I am taking it out of the water. Hope that helps!

Unfortunately, it does not sand as easily...but I found that it is worth the hassle, and just takes a bit of a different work plan. I used a bit more epoxy to make sure that I did not end up sanding into the cloth, (which is a benefit for this application in my mind), and I used a flame to heat seal the "fuzzies" when needed. It's also a lot friendlier to work with from a cloth standpoint, draping easier and no itch. It's a lot like a loose weave tshirt fabric. I wouldn't use it in a very weight sensitive application due to the extra epoxy required, but a few extra pounds on my 17 were worth the reduced maintenance and extra toughness. I am incorporating it into some of the other projects I am working on as well- right now on a OB 20 that I have started.

That doesn't look like a fun job, but I bet when you actually get into it it won't be as bad as you think- I'll add another suggestion- when you add some glass on the bow, consider Xynole- I used it for the bottom of my 17 and have been impressed with it's ability to stand up to beaching better than regular fiberglass. And I'd definitely consider a metal strip, half round or hollow back running down the stem to the keel.

The other option would be to talk with Alan and order a mast kit- Mine went together pretty fast, and I spend more time fairing the joints than I should have. The track that B and B is providing works slick!

I bought a new long shaft Tohatsu 3.5 for my CS 17 completed this summer. So far, I am really happy with it. I ordered it here, http://onlineoutboards.com/ and was quite happy with the service, price and delivery. I run it on alcohol free gas, and so far, no issues. JP

It's worth trying but I am going to guess that it will sink the transom a bit more than might be good for performance. If it were me, I'd sell the 6 and get either of the smaller motors. I have a 2.5 Honda that I have had for years and a 3.5 Tohatsu. I like the Tohatsu on my 17, more for the neutral/forward gear box than anything else. I am amazed that you have not heard that you don't need a motor yet.... :-)

Bedded mine as well- in case it needs to come out, as well as wanting a slight bit of flexibility on a part that might take some shock loads while trailering, etc. Backed up by judicious amounts of epoxy and a fairly big, shaped hard wood block to spread the load. JP

How many young kids do you have? Walt makes a good point- obligations outside of the boat make a difference- that being said, I have two kids under 4, a more than full time job, etc. and I wrapped up a CS 17 this summer. All told, took me about 16 months, and that was with a kit- I found that the minute I stopped setting deadlines for myself, the project became much more enjoyable. By far, the majority of my available boat time was after 9pm, and I got very proficient at breaking stuff up into 2 hour chunks- Would I do it again? Well, yes, I am starting on an OB 20 kit right now....but I definitely have the "addiction". In all seriousness- I will say that my "free time" tends to be spend on things like this, rather than watching the game, going out with the boys, etc... and that is by choice. Building, creating, restoring, using boats is the top of my list for how I want to spend my recreational time. It is a big commitment, and not one to be taken lightly, but it is immensely satisfying, and I would venture to guess that if you are asking the question, you are well along the way to making your decision. Good luck! JP

Robert is right- Just go for it! Especially with the kit, it's just one step after another. And it's a blast! JP

Looking good!

I put graphite in the last couple of coats of epoxy, which I also did on the centerboard. Painted down an inch or two when I did the interior, more for looks than anything else. JP

Hi Rick- how is the build coming- just started to put together the jig for mine. Curious to see where things are at after a summer to work on her- JP

Hi Greg- I hope the health issues are resoving and you will be back at it soon- take care- JP

Roy- that looks like an interesting idea- I would get Graham's take on it, but I guess my question would be what would the benefit be? I get the shorter mast piece, but I wonder how much shorter they would be. And, at least for me, the addition of a boom at head level would eliminate one of the biggest safety/comfort factors of the existing rig. It does look like it might bring sail area lower in a predominately high wind sailing area- JP

Bob has a great point- although I had my seat tanks in, I had the boat sitting upside down on the trailer so I could move it around with a couple of 2x's supporting the hull resting on the gunwales- they got in my way a lot during the glassing and painting-

So.... if it were me, I might do those inwales first just to have any curvature those add to the overall hull "glassed in". Probably wouldn't make a bit of difference thought.... As far as glassing.... well, I decided I didn't want to worry about running up on the local oyster shells, I mean sandbars, and I glassed with Xynole. It was a bit of an experiment as I had not used it before. I also glassed to the sheer, both for protection, and because I didn't want to try and fair a mid panel stop. I know a few folks have had luck with not/minimal glassing of the hull, but for me I like the extra protection-

I was able to get away for a bit today and make the 2nd attempt at a 1st sail. It was blowing about 5-8- I decided to try a ramp I have not tried before in Davis, NC- appropriate as it put me sailing in Core Sound- Couple of changes made to rigging, and most importantly, my beautiful, hand shaped "cones" on the end of the sprits are now "pegs" which fit into the clew loops fully and snugly. I think I may remake the sprits over the winter to give myself just a bit more length- I did find myself block to block on the snotter which was fine today, but if I wanted to flatten out the sail I would not have had any more travel to do it. So- my impressions are even better than before! I hit 5.2 knots according to the phone GPS while reaching across to Core Banks- sailed as far as I could before the centerboard started telling me it was getting a little shallow- i actually held the board down, used the sail to pivot 180 degrees and reached back towards the mainland on a reciprocal course. Did a little bit of close hauled stuff, and then a run directly back to the ramp. Had a big sea turtle pop up to take a look at me as I was headed in. The ramp channel has a 90 degree turn to get in, so I ran until the turn, then a little reaching, and then just let the sails go as I glided in under sail. What a fantastic morning! Too bad this pesky work thing gets in the way of doing this every day-

Nice work- it's great to see a shop producing smaller, well crafted boats!

C'mon Robert- the 17 Messabout? Get going and you can make the '16 one When it comes time to paint, take a look at the System 3 water based stuff- it's a little finicky to put on, but it was really nice using water to clean up and thin on my boat, and the lack of the chemical smell sure made me feel better about using it. JP

Thanks- as much as I love bright finished surfaces, I also wanted to minimize heat and maintenance- I have come to the point where varnish looks great....on other people's boats. :-)

Robert- Welcome to the club!!! JP

Another vote for the 814's- They were in my rigging kit for the halyards and I am adding them to all of the cleats-

Yep- I can just picture what my wife, who is awesome, would say if I said I was going to build a plane. And, I don't think it would tow the boat very well....

Stay tuned- pictures to come...