Paul356

It's nice to have another B&B in Wisconsin. Plus I like the colors, the name, the wooden seats. All worthy of you and the boat.

My impression in reading about the bivvies is that the top of the "tent" lies right on your sleeping bag. Not sure, but seems that way.

I have a dodger on the CS 17, and really like it. It's quick to set up - 15 seconds - and really cozy under there. I've converted it to a tent for sleeping while camping by adding a tarp, but by itself it provides a lot of shelter and comfort. Now, did I make it? Um, not quite. I ordered a kit from Sailrite, but realized after I got the kit that I'd never get our sewing machine through all those layers. Plus, it seemed really complicated. I ended up making the aluminum bows the way I wanted them with the parts from Sailrite, made an angle gauge to show how they should line up and then took the sunbrella and everything else to a canvas shop. The shop did an absolutely wonderful job, far better than I could have imagined let alone executed. I can sail with it up.

Hey, Steve, I saw Skeena in WoodenBoat. Congratulations!

Comgrats!

My daughter was with me, as noted, and saved the day. Those kids, eh!

Hey, Steve, Having turtled my 17 a few years ago, I know the embarrassment and chagrin. No surprise you didn't rush to write about this. It took me months to go public, and months to get my confidence back. But I also know the learning that can follow, and certainly laud you for your insightful report. Mine, too, was totally operator error. As my wife just said, "Good for you men to write about this." I'm glad to hear you got back on the water so quickly.

No doubt about it. Boats and their builders talk to each other.

Well, I read it somewhere. Enjoyed it. Liked the cozy cabin and the big spray, among other things.

Looks wonderful.

FWIW, I pulled my 17 to a mess about a couple of years ago behind my 4 cyl camry. No issues, including in the mountains of west Virginia. Kept up with the traffic just fine. Also went to CT and back last summer and round trip Milwaukee to international falls this summer.

Good point, Joe. Here was Graham's advice for sailing the CS 17 upwind on a sporty day. I had the winds that day at 20, maybe 25 mph. They were also gusty with variable direction and waves in the 0 to 2- or 3-foot range. So there was plenty of opportunity to play the gusts, the puffs and the waves. 1. Tighten the snotters to flatten and depower the sails. (I had done this). 2. Lower the sails as much as you can get away with, to reduce the heeling force. (I had double-reefed both main and mizzen, but see below). 3. Raise the centerboard so that it rakes to about 45 degrees aft, to raise the center of lateral resistance, and also reduce the heeling force. [Graham then notes: "You do need to keep up some speed to make up for the smaller centerboard area."] (I had never even given this a thought. I understand now what he's saying, since I was heeling a lot, probably often 40 degrees. I say that I try to sail the boat flat, but I wasn't managing to do so that day (see also below). I think part of what Graham is saying is that you're going to trade some leeway for progress. I'm eager to try this tweak.) 4. The worst thing you can do is try to pinch, because the waves will stop you. (I'm sure I was often pinching, and I know the waves were stopping me. Later in the day, in a different part of the lake, the wind was the same but the water was flat and I scooted upwind, tho on broader tacks than 45 degrees, just as Graham's envisions.) 5. To avoid pinching, sheet a little further out than normal but not too much and try to hold her flat and full. [Graham doesn't specify, but I suspect he foresees a fair amount of hiking here.] (I played with the sheet and tried keeping the boat flat, but I suspect I didn't do enough of this and was -- ironically enough -- underpowered. See next. 6. Graham's first reef is just the main. If he still cannot hold her up he will reef the mizzen. "I [i.e., Graham] like a fair amount of weather helm in these conditions. If you take away too much power, you will be slow in the lulls. Rather than feather too much in the puffs you are better to ease the main for a few seconds and bring it back on quickly. If you have speed you can come up for the bigger waves as long as you fall back on course right away." (As I mentioned, I tried playing the sheet some, but I more often was holding the sheet and trying to head up in puffs. I'm eager to try it the other way around: hold course and ease. And I'm also now convinced I should have left the mizzen at one reef, rather than double reefed at that point. Although it was blowing, it wasn't survival.) As Graham notes, all of this can be tiring, especially solo. But he adds that "the CS 17 has a high angle of positive stability, which means that she is forgiving in gusty conditions, but sailing at large angles of heel is slow." A couple more notes: The Scamp has water ballast, which adds 300 (500?) pounds to her weight and certainly helps her carry on through chop. And, when I finally got frustrated with my sailing ability and turned on the 2.5 hp Suzuki, the CS just drove straight to wind like nobody's business, at 5 mph or even more (vs flat calm top end of 6.5 mph). So I was very impressed with that. And I stayed dry, too. And that's my report. --pb

I actually didnt put in a drain tube. I figure the tube is usually filled with mast when exposed to weather, so any collection of water will be minimal. I can put my bilge pump down there if needed when I take the mast out. I didnt like the idea of a hole or drain tube up there. No problems noted so far.

The Scamp is, um, seaworthy. There is no comparison in speed to the CS. If I was going 4.5 that day, he was going 3.5. It actually points ok, tho CS still has the edge. It is also small in the cockpit, tho it has a lot of storage. But 1 person sailing, or 2 people at most. I must admit that on a rough and wavy day, he was able to move upwind double reefed where I was not, but in talking to Graham later, I think it was operator error on my part. Finally, i think the hull is pretty complicated to build vs the 15.

I was close on the wind, and if memory serves, making about 4.5 or 4.7 mph (statute mph, not knots) in wind of about 10mph. Flat water. The boat was pretty heavy with gear, so this would be roughly equivalent to two people day sailing, I think.

Here's a sample day's sail. The track is in two parts, because that's the way it fit my screen ( ). I Logged 21.3 statute miles on my GPS. You'll notice some backtracking and side trips as the group formed and dispersed. We had to short-tack through the buoyed channel. At one point in the channel, US red nuns are on the right and Canadian green "cans" with spindle tops are on the left.

More:

Now some stills. I slept on the boat several nights, using either the dodger or the dodger and tarp tent. I cooked most of my meals on the boat as well. I used an anchor buddy to pull out into the cove and back to shore. The campsites, which must be reserved, had sandy beaches and decent holding ground for an anchor.

Here's another, the usual one-handed affair while trying to sail and film at the same time. (Jack is my grandson.) 20200918_102038.mp4

My CS 17 and I joined a Scamp and two sailing kayaks on Rainy Lake along the US/Minnesota border for a week of sail camping in mid-September. It was a great time, tho often brisk. Some might say chilly. The wind was usually on the nose, but we had some good sails, both traveling to our campsites and and just out day sailing. One of my favorites shots is this video, from John Hippe aboard his Scamp. New: I replaced the MOV. file that needed to be downloaded. Enjoy. P9140541.mp4

No weak links. Just went north for 6 days of sail camping on Rainy Lake near International Falls. Spent a whole day double reefed, no issues.

Come any time, except a week from now boat and I are going sail camping in the minnesota northwoods. Cant wait.

I used drywall screws thru plywood pads to fasten the deck down. Then filled the holes when screws out. Worked well, ooks swell. Wax the screw threads s so they'll come back out easily. I used clamps where possible. For example. Consider at least a rough cut of the hatch opening so you can get some clamps in there. Use lots of screws, every 6 or 8 inches where there are bends, for example. I believe I screwed perimeter only, not interior, or at least not many interior.

Nice.

I used jamestown's total boat non skid paint on the floor of my cs 17, straight from the can, over their primer. like it a lot.