Paul356

cant figure out how to add a couple of videos, so the stills will do. wish you all could have been there. i have another boat/volunteer gig during the messabout, so mess on without me. hope to see you all next year.

Some of the other "Legends" and I were sail camping up in Rainy Lake in Voyagers National Park last week, along the Minnesota/Canada border near Internatioal Falls. I had my CS 17. A few fotos follow. Moored in the lee of a rock wall in anticipation of a big blow that night. Sunset in Lost Bay My dodger and tent arrangement I even got the mizzen staysail up, singlehanded.

Pretty neat, eh?!

I'm not sure if I'm following your pix, exactly, but if you have your downhauls and reef lines anchored on one side of the mast and bring them back to be pulled tight on the other (port) side, that should work. then you can walk forward on stbd side deck. That's more or less what I have, just with the sides flipped. I added a little tent to my dodger this winter. I should have taken a picture. I'm hoping to be able to adjust anchor from cockpit, after setting anchor before I put up the canvas. Heading north for sail camping on Friday. Stay tuned.

Jeff, I rolled the boat out of the garage and stepped the mast, for other stuff. This photo shows how far the sail track extends near the deck on the main mast. A few inches.

A little sandpaper or emory paper along the under edge of the track, I think. Doesn't take much.

1. I would still apply the fillets and tapes outside, then sand the tapes fair into the plywood. That's my thought, others may differ. But my thought is that there is o reason to skimp in strength and integrity at this point. 2. Put the fiberglass cloth on bare wood, then unthickened epoxy on top and squegee or roll for a smoth attachment. The cloth will turn clear as you adhere it to the wood, rather magically. If you put a layer of epoxy on the wood first, you run the risk of the cloth floating and not adhering to the wood. Once the initial coat is on (top of) the cloth, you apply additional 1 or 2 or 3 filler coats on top, as needed, to fill the weave and end up with a smooth surface on your cloth. If you apply it hot (lower layer stiff but not fully cured), you can move pretty quickly. If you are going to paint, you can add some thickner to the fill coats to help close the weave. That's a trick I learned from Alan at B&B. Thickened epoxy may interfere with the clearness if you plan to finish the bottom bright. Main point, tho: first layer of cloth goes on to bare wood, then coat and fill from the top.

Ha, Don, yes, in part because I was darn through putting fairleads on the deck, saw that big hole and thought, why not? But, right, only one of those is tight at at time. And, Jeff, my main sail track ends a few (couple?) inches above the deck, which allows room for the sail stop as well. There is a length measurement shown on the plans, from black line at top of mast to black line at the bottom, the bottom black line being the extent to which the down haul can be used to pull the sail tight under the "rules," as if anyone is watching. But the black line gives a nice taught luff. The bottom black line marking on the main mast gives you room above the deck. I leave the main slides on the track when furling as shown in the pictures above. Also leave the excess in the track when reefing.

I If you bring all the lines back, you shouldn't need to go forward while sailing. Or, bring them all back on one side and go forward, if needed, on the other. But it's not as much an impediment as you might think. Below, first, is a picture of my cleat bank for the forward lines at the cockpit edge. From left to right they are downhaul (red speckle), first reef (blue), second reef (red), halyard (blue speckle) and snotter (blue w/ white). Below that is a picture of the (dusty, messy) foredeck with the same lines led forward to the mast step. So, it's not much clutter and it's a big improvement.

A different approach: I had a 3.5 inch pedestal compass on the big boat that couldn't be read from where I sat while steering, so I replaced it. I took that old compass and made a box for it and that's what I use on the CS 17 now. I just put the box on the floor and lay it next to the keel. It works fine, and in this boat I can see it well. When I don't need it, I put the cover on and the box goes back in the locker. Like others, I had trouble finding a permanent mounting spot that I liked. Photo below. I also put the GPS on a mobile mount, which is a 6-or-so-inch diameter circle of 1.5" wood with non-skid drawer liner on the bottom and the GPS cradle on the top. I move it around so I can see it from wherever I sit and wherever the sun isn't shining. This replaced the thwart-mounted cradle, which provided visible GPS only about 50% of the time. This is for the small Garmin 78sc handheld. That said, sometimes I just keep the Garmin in the pocket on my vest and pull it out as needed.

On my CS 17, I put the sprits and sails up and out of the way the same as Graham shows on Carlita. Alternately, sometimes I just take the mizzen off the track and put the furled sail and sprit on the rear deck or hanging out over the transom. I have the main sheet and the two furling lines running back to the cockpit so I can raise and lower the main or reef it from the cockpit. This is not "single-line" reefing, as that would be a bit too much to rig each time I set the boat up for day sailing, but is what I'd call slab reefing, meaning separate reef lines at the fore and aft ends of the sail. I do, as hinted above, have a hook on each of the forward reef lines that go into the cringles on the main so I can reef down the main to first or second reef from the cockpit. I then reef up the clew from the back, which I can also do from the cockpit. And yes, the main comes down if the halyard is released, much as Alan describes. I have the stainless slides and track, so it comes down pretty easily.

Messabout fotos look great.

No worries in Wisconsin for homebuilts. Just show up with the registration fee. They even issue a hull number. Remember, this is the state that doesn't require license plates for boat trailers, either. Boats and trailers apparently viewed as a natural right, here.

I put the HIN on my boat, drilling little holes toake the letter and number shapes in the transom rib. Didn't look all that great, actually. My daughter said, "What's that thing supposed to be?". Oh, well, I can always i.d. the boat if I have to, cuz it ain't coming out.

That's what you need.

I used to be a big fan of Wet Edge. Then I had a problem last summer with the Gray and Tan not drying. Took over a week. I think, actually, it may have had to do with their primer. The primer was dry enough that I was able to sand it and get powder, not nerdles, but still. I put the gray over some other primer this summer and it dried right up. I had called Jamestown last summer and their answer was, basically, it was all my fault. Well, thanks for that. I've been using Petit and interlux since then. I hasten to add that I have seen mixed reviews but mostly positive on Wet Edge and, like I said, had good experience in the past. Guys at my volunteer shop had good experience last summer with White Wet Edge, so maybe it's either the pigment or was the humidity. Like it doesn't tolerate anything other than air conditioned air. Don't know. Makes me very nervous, tho.

That's a really nice boat, at a really nice price. Somebody buy it! ( I already have one. )

Nice idea. I like that it's all above deck and doesn't require cutting into the deck and making a new watertight compartment or worrying about forward swing, bury, etc.

I have a 2.5 Suzi on my CS 17 Mk I. It works swell. Goes c. 6 mph at full throtle, great for getting in and out of places. Keep the oil level low, at the mark, and don't store it on its side like they say in the manual. I store it vertically in the winter and "face down" (pull cord facing down) when traveling. Run it dry when you're done for the day by closing the gas valve, and then reach in through the side hole with a phillips screw driver to open the screw a half turn and drain the carb into a rag or paper towel held under the housing, too. None of that is in the book, all of it is very useful. Someone will weigh in, but I assume it would be fine on the MkIII. It's a very trustworthy engine. Started first pull 3 or 4 different times when I needed it on last outing. I love the way it purrs at low throttle.

Real nice, Steve.

I have a collar similar to Don's on my foremast. I made it out of the tube when I installed the tube. That is, I left the tube about 1" or 1.5" proud sticking out of the deck, then cut the shape back so it had the lip in front, flush in back. Boat is in storage now, so no picture. The front lip is not very high, but it's plenty, so I think Don's lip will work fine. I bolstered the outside of the tube lip with some thickened epoxy, which is due for a renewal this year. It's just enough to push the heel of the mast against as I raise the mast, to keep the heel from sliding as it gets ready to drop into the hole. Raising the mast hasn't been the real problem for me, although I can see where the pivoting ring would help me some.

Careful if you move the black part down; the motor may not have room to tip up.

I think this is really neat. The issue still to be addressed is pulling the mast -- especially the main -- out of the mast tube, which always seems to me to be a problem. Once it was up in the swivel, backing it down would be good, but we need to think of a good way to get it up out of the tube. That's not a problem with a full tabernacle, I guess, because there is no tube; you just swivel the whole thing back.

Pretty neat.

Apparently EC 2025 is going to start on Friday afternoon, and monohull sailboats like Core Sounds (i.e., not beach kayaks) will need to be launched from the ramp, not the beach. Lots appears to be up in the air. Alan is in the thick of the discussion so will be a good source for news going forward. Stay tuned.