Paul356

You need to get a bugle and learn how to play that. How cool would it be to hear the skipper holding forth as you approach the landing. Or in a fog bank.

I switched to the Ronstan units on all 4 of my sheets, i.e., double-ended main and mizzen. They make a huge difference, especially when I'm sailing alone in heavier weather and need to adjust from where I'm sitting without moving. They are pricy, but worth it in this case.

For better or worse, we had 7 folks - 5 adults and 2 kids - aboard the 17 recently, in a moderate breeze. Lots of room for everyone, and the double-ended sheets were helpful to me trying to keep an eye on everything from the back end.

If you are motoring into waves, you are likely to find that the mount and motor will move up and down, perhaps dangerously. I'm guessing that if the mount comes up X degrees, it might come out of the deck bracket. Is there a way to lock it down? If not, explore adding one. I had some issues with a motor that came up and over and out while motoring upwind into waves last year. Not pleasant. Did I mention the rocks? I have beefed up everything and added a "preventer" system. And I'd guess I'd say don't say you'll always plan on sailing upwind in those conditions. That's what I thought, too. Then it became necessary to motor upwind (or just pull in for the day).

I leave my sheets on the boat, fasten them to a strap eye on the sprit ends with a snap shackle when rigging. I got red line for the main sheet, blue for mizzen. Not only does it help me keep them straight, it's much easier to tell guests (like at the family sailing extravaganza last week), "pull that blue rope." Or more importantly, "keep your butt off that red rope." Stuff can happen too fast on a dinghy to stand on ceremony.

Yes, flat stock for me "next time."

Both my sheets are double-ended (CS 17). Very handy.

I wont argue that, except I had a terrible time with my lightweight brass keel strip buckling as applied so wish I'd put something heavier on.

I put one like that on a Clint Chase Caravelle we built with some veterans at our volunteer boatworks. As an extension, it works swell, as they say. But it has a standard tiller clip on top to hold it in park that always snags the mainsheet. Now that I see yours, the clip is coming off and a rubber band is going on.

Thread, or thread/twine wrapped around the halyard a couple times, then sewn back thru and trimmed, kind of like a whipping.

Great sailing, great day.

Thanks.

Smart!

Well, as noted, 8 yrs in retrospect, there might have been a notch in my transom too. Over in Michigan now w/ daughter and a bucketful of fine relatives. Moored in a slip at white lake, near muskegon. Fotos of happy sailors to follow soon.

Here is a picture of the twisted gudgeons, post-incident. The bottom rod bent back some, so the top rods lifted out of their gudgeons. That allowed the bottom rod to twist to the side, but because it had a pin in it, it stayed in the gudgeon, motor attached and running. All the gudgeons are now replaced with heavy-duty ones, and all the rods have holes for pins.

As PP mentioned, I have this mount on my 17. A couple of things to note: 1. It works pretty well and is a good alternative, I think, to cutting a notch or box into the transom. At the time I built mine, Suzuki did not offer the long-shaft 2.5 hp motor. I think if I was doing it now, I might consider cutting a notch into a beefed up transom and using the 2.5. However that would bring the tipped up motor further forward and further into mizzen-snagging range. Two things I've done to reduce snagging on my rig as is: a) I make sure to put the throttle handle all the way over and back when sailing with the motor up. That helps some. b) I moved the sheet attachment forward about a foot on the mizzen sprit. That brings the sheet forward and has done as much as anything to reduce snagging. I have not noticed any ill effects. 2. Last fall I had the boat motoring in some pretty good sized waves for a few hours. Long story short, the top stainless rods on the motor mount bent a bit in all the motion and twisted the top gudgeons...and the motor mount twisted loose. (In other words, the mount and engine rotated on the bottom rod/gudgeon, which was still pinned in.) Argh! Naturally I was just a short distance from a rocky lee shore. The bottom rod held, because it had the pin in it, so the motor did not fall off. The motor ended up horizontal, still running, until I hit the kill switch. Needless to say, it was quite a scene. Quick work by my travel companions saved the day, but I was motor-mountless for the final day of our trip. I later talked to Chuck at Duckworks and made these mods: I replaced the single strap gudgeons with DW's heavy-duty double strap gudgeons and installed them with heavier bolts, and I drilled a hole in each of the top two rods so that I can put a pin in through all three rods now. It is much stronger and I do not expect further problems, esp since the one rod with the pin did hold, even though it twisted. Fingers crossed. I thought about reworking the transom, but I'm pretty confident in the new hardware I installed. So....

Very similar to Peter's comments. I used some double braid dacron. I routed a groove in the leading edge, tho not too deep. Maybe a half or quarter of the rope depth? I don't quite remember. Then I coated the groove with epoxy and also soaked the line in neat epoxy before putting it into the groove, and made sure all the drips were caught, etc. I assume this would work on bow or keel; it certainly has worked on my centerboard and rudder.

Looking good. A busy, productive day.

Time for a sail, Pete?

Our local shop makes "mooring covers" that go around the masts, which would allow you to keep the cockpit covered and sails bent on. this is an example, not from the local shop. https://www.landfallnavigation.com/zim-420-mast-up-top-cover.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwz_WGBhA1EiwAUAxIcciSIt6pMiSHcn5cNbAKxGeTJInvaXJ5zew1MwsC56V8bWZ8djgXqRoCqswQAvD_BwE

I'm pretty much in line with Thrillsbe's recommendations. All the epoxies he mentions are good choices. I would go with MAS for the same reason he mentions: not sure why, except that we've been using it at the volunteer shop where I work with good results. It has very little if any blush to clean up, depending on the formula. Their "economy kit" #3 might be of interest to you, since it includes thickeners and pumps as well as 2 gallons of resin. https://www.clcboats.com/shop/products/boat-building-supplies-epoxy-fiberglass-plywood/marine-epoxy-fiberglass/mas-epoxy-kit-economy-3.html Sailrite makes good kits. I've made a couple. A home sewing machine suffices, but a canvas machine is much easier. If you use a home machine, take your time and do some practicing. I'm not sure of the price diffences between a kit and a sail ordered from Graham or one of the other suppliers. It may not be that great, i.e., may not be worth the frustration. But your sail will be ok if you order it from Sailrite and take your time. The "southern pine" that Grant used to make the shipping container in which he sent my kit was pretty good stuff. I actually used some of it in my boat. In other words, living where you do, heed Thrillsbe's advice to look through the big box piles and you're likely to find some usable sticks, or sticks from which you can rip what you need. Up north here in Wisconsin, our big boxes have "fir" and "white lumber", which can be just about anything, many knots included. There is also pricey "clear pine" from New Zealand, of all places, which is very nice but expensive and not always straight. That southern pine seems quite the thing, by comparison. Good luck to you. Keep asking questions. --pb CoreSound 17

Alternately, I hit the img links and they downloaded and I was able to watch them that way.

Great days.

I was out on Saturday with a loose group of small boat fans based in Madison, WI. The wind on Lake Mendota was 15-20 from the SW, the temp was in the high 80s, it was sunny, and the day was beautiful. I thought I'd share. That's a friend's Sea Pearl in the video. What a great day. As the skipper of the Sea Pearl said, "That 17 really scoots." 20210605_124618.mp4

Im in MIlwaukee, if that helps. Reacher is in Marinette/Menominee.