Paul356

Off on an expedition to town 5 mi away on a broad reach. The wind had come up a bit, so a good chance to check out reefed sails. No problem. With five aboard (including grandson), we skimmed right along in comfort. Just started, so still getting the rudder down. A little video from the trip. We move smartly in this boat, reef or no. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN9kJSIEtS_h4rGfV1WmQlTSxXwDrTFbOMNRtRZF-GdR4YiTPE0AA1cL0aD_vgggQ/photo/AF1QipONK9QdZt6QvH-OA_1ogSeBgQY5XIasv5GPd3ru?key=YXM1Uzk4TE95S2EwcGR1SFNUdTc0anQySHNKWVRn I could have shaken out the reefs by now as the wind came down, but the boat was still moving so nicely, why bother? What we live for

Grandson helped build the boat, so naturally he wanted to crew In the boat lift. Made for a nice overnight -- except for the need to take down the masts. We were on the south shore, so exposed to prevailing breezes. Motoring = real slick https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN9kJSIEtS_h4rGfV1WmQlTSxXwDrTFbOMNRtRZF-GdR4YiTPE0AA1cL0aD_vgggQ/photo/AF1QipNaBtuYxFrgi2DjyGrGkdzkCu3v4P6Lu4ByTlhP?key=YXM1Uzk4TE95S2EwcGR1SFNUdTc0anQySHNKWVRn Speed was an easy 6 mph at around half throttle, depending on wind and load.

video similar to above. she comes about so easy, eh? sorry about the thumbprint at the end. https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/photo/AF1QipOzqMqQmzzvr_X-KcXhuezax1bzWzbJ3jSiPJWG

Here are some more pictures as I continue to sail this wonderful design and become more and more familiar with it. We spent a week with the family at Green Lake, a large and sailing-friendly body of water north of here. Our place wasn't the best for sailboats, in that I had to take the masts down every night since there was no good mooring spot and the boat lift had a roof frame on it. Nonetheless, sailing heads prevailed and we logged many miles. Also broke in Miss Q, the Suzuki outboard, which ran smoother every day. I still have not run a full gallon of gas through it, but the break-in period is definitely improving idle and slow-speed performance. Enough words: Wing on wing is so easy as to just happen. Heading in on a beam reach. Love that mast bend.

If your travels bring you through the Milwaukee area, be sure to let me know. Sounds like you're going the other way, but just in case...

Great to see you enjoying the fruits of your labors. A very fine craft.

I tried that spiral lacing on previous boat. I could never get it to work right, mainly due to the friction between the mast varnish and the line, I think. I ended up making "hoops" out of line, and those worked better. This was in the days before spectra and soft shackles. I think I used nylon line, but it might have been dacron. In anyway, I second the motion for hoops/soft shackles.

Short addition re "sausage bags:" I rolled up both sails, put one bag over one end of both sails and the other bag over the other end of both sails. Quasi-sausage. As someone said, saves putting in the battens, which was a very fussy and time consuming job, and the sails are ready to be put right on to the sail tracks with a simple unroll.

Hey, Batman, I used Total Boat one-part urethane on the blue and white areas. I was very happy with the result. I used two (sometimes more) coats of primer and two (sometimes more) coats of final. I sanded lightly between coats. By lightly sanded, I mean sanded by hand with 220 or 320 on a block or simply folded. I did NOT wipe the primer with xylene, as suggested, because I found it took the primer right off. I know a lot of folks have used the two-part, but neither my skills nor time availability seemed up to mixing batches of use-or-lose two part. In the cockpit, I finished off floor areas with one coat of Total Boat non-skid on top of the TB color coat (again lightly sanded). I was very happy with that result. I epoxied the dimension lumber before varnishing. Part of that is habit from previous boats, part is belt and suspenders. I might be inclined to skip the epoxy the "next" time, based on comments on this board from others with more experience. I have always felt, tho, that the epoxy gives me a nice base to varnish. Works for me.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CWJF28jwjOgcFtb42 video, I think

Christening with Spotted Cow poured down the centerboard trunk (Namesake daughter is a dairy veterinarian) christening.htm

;aunched.htm

Launched today! CS 17 is a terrific boat. It popped right off the trailer. The dock was not conducive to hoisting sails, so we motored out a bit (Miss Q behaved admirably). Hoisted the mizzen and laid to it while we got the main squared away. Always some details to work out, for example, the main was not attached to the sprit. (How'd that happen?) Basically, everything worked perfectly. It was such a joy to share all this with my helpmate, lovemate and crewmate of 45 years, who supported me throughout. We zipped back and forth on easy reaches. Beats and runs can wait for another day, We surfed back into the dock. It was a wonderful sail, everything I'd expected for the last 4 years of building. Too busy most of the time to take pictures, but some will follow.

I used mostly zip ties on my 17. Used wire where I needed extra pull. tack welded, like graham mentioned, then went over everything with the actual fillets. worked very well.

I copied Don's idea for my CS 17, but with a smaller lip. Even that much of an edge to push against makes a big difference. So far I'm ok stepping the mizzen. I've found that the real challenge is pulling the mast out. I put some marks on the mast portions that are buried so I know when I have 5, 3, 1 inches left so I can be ready for the foot coming loose. Again, even the small ledge on the foremast tube makes a big difference in giving something to wedge the foot against while bringing the rest under control. No tabernacle on this design without major redesign..

For the heck of it, I looked up the weather at Matagorda Island for today: A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 85F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. I think that's typical for Texas 200, or maybe even a bit on the cool side.

As noted, sails up in the driveway, and I now have most of the final mast hardware installed, along with the leads aft along the deck from the main mast to the cockpit for the downhaul, main halyard and snotter. Still a few nuts and bolts and cleats and mast crutches and registration numbers away from final.

Got the sails up in the driveway Friday! Very close. Hope to sail this week, or at least if the wind stops nuking. Thanks for asking, Lennie, much appreciated. Life seems to have a habit of getting in the way, even in retirement. Who knew. On the other hand, some of those interruptions are the happiest ever. Here's 7-week grandson come 1,000 mi to help.

I got lost on the paint debate about, oh, 10 posts ago. Whatever you did looks terrific.

Ours: "Miss Q". Runs great, but still worried about the hydro lock flaring up at the wrong time. Hoping it'll earn a better name.

here 'tis

very slick.

I'm in Milwaukee. Would love to show off. I'm 99% done (and as the guys on the board would say, have 99% to go.) Seriously, hope to be in the water as soon as next weekend. It's a matter of nerves now, I think!

I faired the cockpit tapes because I wanted the interior to look smooth. It was a pain, but I like it now that it's painted.