Paul356

Steve, thanks for letting us take over your thread for a while. Frowley, here is a picture I happened to have that shows the end of the main sprit with the second reef in. The second reef line is the white braid with red tracer. You can see I've pulled the cringle down tight, and the cheek block is just up the way on the sprit, where it can pull the reef cringle straight down or I guess down and a little back to get max foot tension. Its cleat is just ahead of that, as close as workable, so I can reach that easily when hove to with the main luffing, with the mizzen sheeted in tight or mostly tight and the sprit midships or nearly so. The first reef line has the blue tracer and is also cleated in this picture, tho the cringle is not pulled tight. Same routine, cleat closer to the end. I start both reef lines in the clew hardware in some fashion, also to help get maximum foot tension Finally, I see in this picture I have the mizzen reefed, too, using the downhaul hook in the first reef cringle at the mast (also a white braid with red tracer). I also need to credit one of our colleagues in Ohio who put up a nifty video on jiffy reefing a few years ago. Got lots of good ideas there. I'd say I let off enough slack on the snotter to let the main sprit drop about 18". Otherwise I can't seem to get the sail reefed tight in back. So it's ease and cleat halyard, ease snotter, set mast reefing line (which tightens halyard), set clew reefing line, set snotter. The sprit is rotated 90 degrees to the left in this picture for some reason, although that sometimes happens when sailing, too. I ease the mizzen snotter to reef, too, but you have to be careful the sprit doesn't run too far forward and snag the main if the main is swinging. Hence a good idea to be lying pointing slightly one side or the other of the wind, so the main is clearly one side or the other of the mizzen. You don't need long, tho. Heaving-to: Right now, I'm saying I have two methods. One is with the mizzen pulled in tight and the rudder cocked just a bit to one side. Boat is almost dead into the wind (as just described), probably moving backward a bit. Good for setting/reefing sails. The other is to be reaching or beating and just head up so sails are luffing, then lock the tiller down a bit to keep the boat trying to head up a bit. The sails will luff, the boat will continue to fore reach but lie very steadily and you can be perfectly at ease. Good for taking a rest, finding lunch, starting the outboard, etc. Depending on how close you are, may also be able to use this to reef or douse. It never even occurred to me to try to heave to with the board up, and it seems the board and rudder blades provide needed balance and . But I guess I'll have to try. Maybe with the blades up the boat will slide and make that slick that keeps waves from breaking.

What jk said. Keep board and rudder down, lock tiller. Sheet mizzen tight. You'll be moving backwards, but sprits will be luffing on the centerline and cleats for reefing lines on sprits will be easily accessible without filling the sails. Dont forget to ease the snotter when easing the halyard and tightening the reef lines, then retighten the snotter once the reef lines are set. All my mainmast lines--halyard, downhaul, both reef lines and snotter--come back to the cockpit so I can reef from the cockpit while lying into the wind under the sheeted mizzen. Reefing the main is a matter of 30 seconds or less. That includes grabbing the clew reef line and yanking it forward in its clam cleat on the sprit. Reefing the mizzen is so quick that grabbing the sprit to tighten the clew reef line and cleat it is not an issue.

Anything nice and clear will work for the trim piece. You can finish it bright or just paint it. Cut a clear piece out of a knotty chunk from the big box store, or go exotic and get some mahogany from Rockler. Up to you. Just so it's sound, smooth, fits.

On the main mast, I have the forward reefing lines start from the deck, "up" thru a reefing hook, back down thru a block on the deck, then thru fairleads back to cockpit. As I put the sail on the mast, I slip the hooks into the cringles, and with plenty of slack they get hoisted into position. When I take the sail off, the reefing lines stay on the boat, so all I have to do next time is slip the hooks into the cringles. I use the mizzen down haul to reef the front of the mizzen, since every thing is right there and it's easy to move the down haul hook to the reefing cringle. As to the reefing lines in the sprit ends, I leave the sprits attached to the sails and sort of flake them in the boat for transport. So those reefing lines stay threaded. With this setup, I can jiffy reef everything from the cockpit, in maybe a minute or two. Hope that helps, or at least gives some ideas.

Steve, I had the old mast track so screwed it in, so the holes were filled. There are both filled and hollow rivets, right? Which are yours? Could you apply a drop of goop if needed?

Here's some decidedly vague info that may be a bit helpful. I obtained a masthead float from Alan and Graham last winter for my CS 17 MkI. I was going to get a kit, but they had one made up and basically sold it at cost (thanks!). I put it on the mizzen, even though they advised putting it on the main, since if I had put the extension tube on the main the outfit would no longer fit under my trailer cover. The recommendation to use the main was in order to get the greatest righting moment. I had to sacrifice about a foot of moment, I suppose, by moving to the mizzen. In any event, I do notice a slight added windage when stepping the mizzen. How much is very difficult to quantify. A "slight extra push"? Maybe? So I assume there is a corresponding *slight* decrease in windward performance, but I certainly have not noticed anything, and I have not noticed any visible signs like added mast bend. I take the float on and off each launching. It just takes a minute. It turns out the hardware store had a car air filter wing nut with a quarter-inch threaded bolt that fits perfectly, so I don't need to install a screw to hold it on, just twirl in the wing nut. The float has a name: Moby Turtle. I've also been very careful to make sure my masts are sealed. When I did capsize and turtle last year, one filled and one didn't. The one that filled had a 1/8" hole at the top that I had drilled and abandoned. That's apparently all it took to fill. So, having capsized and turtled and not wanting to repeat, I certainly feel safer with Moby T at the masthead, and it's worth the peace of mind for the negligible loss, if any, in performance and the added minute or less of setup time. Obviously the float is not the only option, given some of the other devices folks have found, but it is easy to use, out of the way, and does not seem to interfere with getting anywhere. Here's Moby Turtle at the mizzenhead. (Plus I love this picture.)

That's for sure! Enjoyed building and dreaming, now enjoying those dreams come true.

I worked on my 17 over parts of four summers (end of one summer, beginning of the last), since I'm in Wisconsin, don't have a heated shop, and so had to wait for warm weather for the big epoxy work. I was also working full time. I was going to say a total of 800 hours, but would not quibble with 1200. This includes the inevitable false starts and backtracking. This was not my first boat, either. In addition to the shop time, there was also a lot of time spent away from the shop, tracking down supplies, paint, fittings, motor, trailer, good clear wood for the dimensional pieces, new tools, etc., etc., etc. I think B&B has added kits for rigging, etc., that would save some time. Also, I should add that I bought the pre-cut plywood kit from B&B, a huge time saver that also adds accuracy to the build. If you're building from scratch (from plans) with your own plywood, figure, what, another 200 hrs? I strongly recommend the kit. I'll close by saying this boat gives me great joy.

A good tip Alan mentioned earlier is to make sure your masts are sealed so they provide flotation rather than filling with water. Might want to check that if you haven't already. Interesting observation about the sails acting as baffled while sheeted, slicing through the briny deep when not. Based on your description, my thought would be to have your skipper get to the CB as quickly as possible and do the righting. If the crew can get to the low side coaming in time, fine, but rather than wait for crew, get the boat upright first, and get crew in second, through boarding ladder if needed.

Hey, great picture, Reacher. You did the Core Sounds proud with your performance this year.

One more... Sailing out to the anchorage for the evening. (Photo credit: daughter!)

I'm writing this sitting on my CS17 - the original - anchored out in a protected bight in Connecticut near Norfolk. I want to echo a lot of what Steve said. I was drawn to b&b because of the the Everglades performance. I seriously considered another small cruiser, but when I read a user report that it didn't do so well upwind, ixnay. Plus its tabernacle was too tall for regular garages. So core sound seemed like the one. My wife and I drove to NC for vacation, met Graham and ordered one on the spot. The 17 has a lot of strings, and they're always catching on something, but when everything is in place, it's the sweetest 17 footer you could hope for. I had a long reach out today, the wind shifted, and I blasted back. Now it's time for boat and I to dine. Like steve, I'm so glad my path led to b&b.

Tempting, Joe, especially since I bailed out tonight and head for dry quarters given the all day rain. And it would be great to see you and your cruising waters. But it's been so great to spend time with daughter and grandson....

Heading out to Cockonoe last night. Got a late start, but thank you, GPS, made it thru the dark. Odd little voyage. (Photo by daughter)

Anchored in the bay at Cockinoe Island, near Westport. Some rain came up so I huddled under the dodger for breakfast until it passed. 8-foot tides here.