Dale Niemann

He mentioned the overnight lows in the 70s. Since no one has picked up on that I will take a stab at it. You can always work in late evenings or early mornings. Actually, if you are 1st coating bare wood with epoxy the ideal situation is decreasing temps. Unlike FL where we have H 95 L 80+ in the summer you may have ideal temp variance. Coat epoxy in evenings and temp decrease will suck it in. If I remember right, Rob White wrote about doing major coating operations starting evenings and going well into the night with his air conditioner turned on also.

Lenny I screwed 'lively' keel on with brass screws from the inside and left them in. I think there is really no need for that. Next time I will use temp screws and remove them after epoxy sets. dale

Here is what Graham said in his email. "The bailer can only leak if it is bent or the gasket is not sealing. Both issues are not hard to solve. If you squeeze wire cam lever outward at the aft end, you will pull it out of the holes and the middle part will come down, aft and out. You can now inspect it to see if it is bent or the gasket is worn out. The gasket is made out of neoprene which you can scrounge from somewhere an cut another one out with scissors. I have made them out of an old wet suit. Let me know if it works. I hate to see you buy a new bailer if you can fix your old one. The one I have in Southern Skimmer was scrunched into the trailer and now does not leak a drop." dale

On my Marissa 'Salty' I did as Graham had suggested and rebuilt the edge as you have. I left about a 1/16-1/8 max round over and it seems to work fine. I am sure Graham will have the definitive answer if he is not too busy. dale

Even though my bailer is presently bent and leaking, I agree with Dave. Generally, it has served me well over the 5 or so years I have had it on my CS 17 'Lively'. Either my son or myself bent it getting her off the trailer. Neither one of us will admit it. I put some emergency tape over it on the bottom and did a quite a lot of sailing that way. However, I miss it. When I bring 'Lively' in for a well deserved and needed re-fit and paint, I will fix it. It did work well for removing water while sailing but was also very nice when cleaning up the boat when returning from a sailing trip. I had sent Graham an email indicating the problem and that I wanted to order a new one from him. He graciously replied that I did not need a new one that I can just bend it back to proper shape and then proceeded to explain to me how to do it. For those of you out there who do not know Graham, this is just the kind of great honest guy he is. dale

Lennie, My Marissa 'Salty' was professionally painted with AwlGrip. Dave Z I purchased my AwlGrip from JD. dale

Lenny, My 'Lively' was painted with 2 part System 3 LPU in 2007 and she still looks not too bad. You have seen her. Remember this was done in just about the same temps and humidity as you have. I followed their instructions and used their primer. dale

I just want to remind everyone that you do not have to fiberglass the whole hull. My 'Lively' only has all seams glassed with two layers of glass and the hull painted. She has been around since 2007 with no problems. If you are using a high quality plywood like Okume you do not need all that extra glass absorbing epoxy and making the boat significantly heavier. my 2 cents worth. dale

Here is the one rasp I have found to be best for removing epoxy. I have used it a lot and it does not seem to get dull. http://smile.amazon.com/Shinto-Planer-Saw-Rasp-10/dp/B001AWZ4S0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1399480221&sr=8-3&keywords=shinto+rasp dale

Doug, Thanks for the up close and personal tour of your boat at Cedar Key this weekend. She is a beauty. I think you have the right idea with the open cabin top and Oh what a big cabin. Plenty of space below. Graham, I think you have a real winner on your hands with the CS mk III series. Now, which one do I want? By any chance will you do a real little pocket cruiser a CS 15? Dale

Great shot Scott. Thanks for sharing. See it was all worth it. Dale

I have both a commercial hatch and Graham's hatches in my 'Lively' CS 17 plus a smooth kayak type hatch on the forward deck. I like my forward hatch because it does not stick up at all so is not obvious. Looks great. It does leak a small amount but that is because I used window seal and have not worried much about it because I never put anything up there anyway. My personal opinion is that Graham's forward hatch sticks up too much and looks like a big hatch that should be on a 30 footer not a 17 footer.. Graham's hatches are by far the best for seats and I have one on each side. I love them. Next boat I will definitely use them. The commercial hatch is on the aft seat under the tiller to starboard side. I do not like it much. It gets water in the sealing cracks and then when you open it the water leaks or drips inside. Next time I will use Graham's in the aft compartment also. Dale

Good luck Alex. Your guy is the only person I have heard that believes in covering epoxy with gelcoat. Please let us know what happens if you try it. Personally, I think two part epoxy based paints hold up as good or better than gelcoat. Dale

I can row 'Lively' my CS 17 without unsteping the mizzen. However, I did set her up with two rowing stations. The aft station would require removal. I have rowed her for very short periods and would not like to row her for long periods. On the other hand at 73 I would not like to row any boat for very long. Don't know if the rowing stations would be different on the mk3. dale

Brian, I really admire your guts in building a sailboat and not knowing how to sail. Get some books on sailing. They sure helped me back in 1970 when I moved to FL and had never sailed before. I went to the library and got all the books that they had on learning how to sail. Then I just got on the water and learned capsize recovery very fast. However, my "boat" was a Styrofoam 11 foot boat. A great learning experience boat. Please just approach each outing as a learning experience and have fun. You will be fine. Dale

Doug, Keep up the great pace. We all really want to see your boat at Cedar Key. Even if it is not painted. Dale

I know you asked about sailing qualities but I would like to add to what Howard and others have said. If you are planning to trailer your boat, another Big advantage over sloops is rigging the free standing masts. It is as simple as dropping the masts in their holes. No standing rigging to add time and effort before launch. my 2 cents. Dale

Fishman, I believe I mis-spoke. I was thinking of the solid wood planing such as the inwale or gunwale. I was not thinking you were speaking of the ply edges. After looking back at the previous posts I realize it now. On planning ply edges, I am not sure it makes much difference which way you plane. Sorry, Dale

Fisherman, Did you really mean plane fore to aft? It seems to me that to avoid cutting into the grain on a piece that is bending inward you would plane aft to fore particularly from midsection forward. Dale

Sounds interesting to me, Lennie. Be sure to send photos of the artists work. I like the second board best. Dale

Thanks for the update Graham. Dale

So Doug, I thought I would see your boat at the EC when I went down there this afternoon.LOL I thought I saw you but did not get a chance to ask you how your boat is coming. Some interesting boats there. I noticed Mosquito is back. Good luck to Allen. Dale

My advice is to build exactly according to Graham's plans. I did on my CS 17 'Lively' in 2008 and have never been sorry. Well, I did make a modification of the bow hatch but that is all. I love her and the solidness of her construction and the way she sails. Graham knows what he is doing. Please do not try to second guess him. Dale

She is looking great. Have a great launch and celebrate! Glad to see a boarding ladder. I definitely recommend one based on my experience of getting knocked off balance on the bow by the sail and falling in the water. Was able to get back in boat OK but it was a definite struggle and I am in fairly good shape. I immediately installed a boarding ladder and now have peace of mind about it. Dale

Thanks Rattus for a very astute comment. I could add Great Blue Heron which comes in various colors including bones and crab claws. I got a big kick out of it and it surely applies around here. I must reconsider my color choice based on your comment. Dale