Paul356

I've had very good experience with the Shopsmith discs. They are gray, available at Lowe's and sometimes at my local Ace. They seem to last forever. They are a bit pricey, but my rough guesstimate is that they come out ahead on a cost/disc basis since they last so long. They also perform well. Recently, tho, based on something I read either here or on WoodenBoat, I ordered a 50 pack Dura-Gold Premium - Variety Pack - 5" Gold Sanding Discs on Amazon. The 50-pack has 10 each of 60, 80, 120, 220 and 320 grit (180 might be nice, but whatever). I have used a half dozen so far on ply and 'glas, and they seem to be holding up petty well, or even better than that. They may be close to the Shopsmith. They certainly do not throw grit like the cheapo discs. Given that the cost for 50 is about the same as the cost for 10 or so of the Shopsmith discs, I probably will continue with the Dura-Gold. I'm using the lighter-weight Bosch 5" sander, and I am able to get both a quick cut and a fine finish with the grits provided.

Hi, Andy. I'd say iffy. We pondered both bridges and couldn't quite tell if the CS 17 masts would fit beneath them. The water was still a little high last summer, so maybe if it falls again this summer the clearance will be more obvious. Mona Lake is at Lake Michigan level. West of the second bridge is a channel before the lake, so there's an area where you could pull up and put up masts if you wanted to motor out first and then rig after the bridges. Mona was pretty good for sailing, especially in the middle pool, where the ramp is. The ramp, in the park on the north shore, was fine, and there was a sandy beach next to the ramp to pull up and rig or get the car, etc. Two slots at the ramp. I just tried to check NOAA charts and there isn't one for Mona Lake, which you have probably discovered already. The overall Lake Michigan chart that is available does not even show the bridges.

Finally found the link to Alan's mod that I was thinking of (I did a number of searches on the forum. This came up on the second page of results for "outboard well 17")

Here's one solution, involving a motor mount that had been available from Duckworks. I'm not sure it is available any more. I use that motor mount, with some modifications, and just pull the motor up as hard as I can and it locks.

Alan of B&B ran a series of posts on this site a couple years ago showing a motor well he added to his boat. I tried searching and couldn't find it. I imagine Alan will weigh in at some point. It wasn't the youtube shown above, which is a well in the interior of the 20. The one I'm thinking of involved putting a sort of box in the transom of the 17. It took Alan about 3 hours. Would take me about 3 weeks.

Alan of B&B ran a series of posts on this site a couple years ago showing a motor well he added to his boat.

Well, this is one way I did it, stringing the tarp along the mizzen, which I tied up with a halyard. That was so-so, and a lot of work. Version 2.0 is a lot better: I just tied the tarp back from the dodger to the mizzen, made a kind of gasket joint around the mast, and then pulled the tarp corners down to the opposite quarters of the boat while tying the sides out to the gunnels from the dodger back to the mizzen. And I made up some tent poles to make U's underneath, from fiberglass "replacement" poles I found on the web. So that required sockets, but I could use my oarlocks. It all worked, notably in a roaring Wisconsin Thunderstorm. Not pretty, I suppose. I kept a lot of the tarp over the dodger to help insure rain-proof-ness. The tarp of which I speak is from REI, sold as a camp tarp, 12x12, lightweight, waterproof.

My solution: A dodger, and then a tarp tent to keep my feet dry. Except the tarp doesn't show here. The tarp extends back around the mizzen (which is always the problem), and then ties down to the corners. I think I may have a driveway picture. I will look.

Sad to say, I am finally and officially out for the Messabout. I wish I could make it, but there's just too much going on and it is a long, l-o-o-o-n-g drive from Wisconsin (for everyone but PadrePoint, that is). Hope to see you next year. I will miss it.

I'm still up in the air, and if I come it wont be until Friday eve at the earliest. BUT, if after all that the trip would work. I'd join you. I dont need to rush home.

Hey, way to go. Lookin' good, and sounds like you had lots of fun.

Yup, all good. I started watching the Aussies a few weeks ago. They're a great group. The only thing they're missing is a Core Sound. That foto is from Rainy Lake, Minn., 2020. Tx, PP.

Here's a pretty neat video of a CS 17 in Australia cruising in some of the Great Barrier Reef waters, in company with an O'Day Day Sailor (I believe). We've seen the CS before, and it's nicely tricked out. Note in leaves the O'Day in its wake (that may be in part 2, this is a link to part 1). Fun to see.

Not sure if we're talking about counters or power skiffs or what anymore here. But i did want to add that my experience with Halcyon tracks with Kennee's, especially in the last year or so, when I think Total Boat improved the mix. It's pretty good stuff, not up to "real" varnish, but definitely worth using unlike some of the other water based products. We have used Halcyon at our volunteer shop, where short recoat time is always a plus because the kids or other workers are only on hand for a couple of hours or so at a time. With Halcyon, they could get two coats in one session and come up with decent results to boot. The soap-and-water cleanup is a real plus in that setting as well.

Having been reminded by the picture that Don just posted that Mandy is only 12 feet long, bring the halyard down the mast, put a turning block on the "foredeck" and run the halyard back in one shot to some sort of cleat on the middle thwart. Bingo.

I run the halyard on my CS 17 back to the helm. The halyard comes down the mast, through a small harken single block (as a turning block) on the deck near the mast, then through a couple of bullseyes to lead it aft, then into a clam cleat with a keeper-thing on it so that when I release the halyard, it will run free and not keep re-engaging with the clam. I will try to get a picture later today. It works well. Halyard is 1/8" yacht braid, which is plenty. The downhaul, snotter and two reef lines also all come back, the same way. I have the cleats mounted about mid-way back on the boat, on the side deck (or I guess it's really the coaming). I can reach them with my right arm and still run the tiller with my left arm. To let the sail down, I just uncleat everything and let the lines run, basically.

Randy, i guess you kind of need to do the mental math: What's the (a) effort of climbing in and out of the trailered boat vs the (b) effort of unloading and reloading the boat on trailer plus bending over a lot vs. the (c) effort of making a rolling cradle [if you don't have one already] but saving the effort of bending over. I think the key variable is how much work you must do inside the boat, and what kind. If it's a lot, I'd go for putting the boat on a cradle.

Good deal. I'm hoping to make it to the messabout, but I got roped into something the evening of the 19th, grrr, so will have to leave then to start driving. I'll use the spaghetti dinner as an incentive, assuming all works out...

Are you bringing either boat to the messabout?

I guess so, re jackstands. It's hard to move those once the boat is on them, tho. The cradle on casters gives lots of options. I built the boat half in the garage and half wheeled out to the drive in nice weather.

Yup. Mine was very similar. I also doubt you could get actual jackstands low enough to fit under the 20 with the keel on the ground.

I'd go back to the cradle plans in the kit. I.e., a plywood cross sectional at roughly the forward bulkhead and another 3 or 4 feet forward of the transom, and one at mid-boat, if memory serves. Put those on a rolling frame. put a couple of cross timbers blocked up to the keel underneath if those don't seem sturdy enough, but I bet they will. I crawled all over my 17 (mk I) on that setup.