JeffM

Thanks, Brent. After the work I put into my yuloh I'm still hoping to get it working, though I'm also putting bigger blades on my telescoping oars. At what angle did you hold the loom on yours? It seems like the blade has to enter the water at a considerable angle to the vertical. I might need to increase the curve to get the thing to feather properly. Tom, the anchor (which I found in the basement when we bought the house) is a Danforth type with dimensions that make in an 8S. According to handy-dandy tables I've seen, it should have been more than adequate for a 20' boat in a 10kt wind. I have 6' of chain on it. The second night I set my backup anchor, a 13S. It's a heavy, ugly, bulky thing and I'd just as soon leave it in the forepeak. But after an entire day I could have been sailing...

Thanks, Adla. You've got some inspiring pictures yourself! Hull speed on the cs20 is a bit under 6kt, but I once averaged 8kt over a good stretch last summer. Others have gone faster yet. I'm not the type to take to roller coasters and such, but its fun on my boat!

I don't have any glass on my interior except in the forepeak--insurance against holing. I have floorboards in both fore and aft cockpits that are meant to be converted to bunks, but I've found I like having a flat floor in both places, so I leave them in full-time. As a consequence, not much of my batten is exposed to foot traffic.

Only an 11" draft? Cool, Garry! May I ask, though, what you'll be getting in a p28 that you wouldn't in a P26? I hope we'll all be able to look at more detailed drawings soon.

Joe, have a look at my "help with mast stepping" on this forum for close-ups, and "adventure" on the main forum for the steppers in place. As for the reefing step, I not only made sure my mizzen downhaul would clear, but reconfigured my main so it would, too -- even with the mast stepper (which is about 9" tall) in place.

Thanks, guys. I plan to try moving the mast my next windy trip. With my nifty new steppers, I might even try it afloat.

Your sheer looks nice and smooth. I had trouble getting that. Good job!

Just back from a weekend solo on Narragansett Bay--more about which later. Just one burning question right now: how do you get the best sail shape when reefing sleeve luff sails? I found that, sailing alone, even a 10kt was too much without reefing. I had to reef several times last season also, and have never been too happy with the sail shape. The main problem seems to be bagging at the luff. so that the sail bulges there. The snotter cannot make it flat, though cranking the mast a half-turn further helps. Where should the reefing snotter loop be when reefed? on the forward side if the mast? a little further around so it doesn't unravel when the the sheets are let way out? How can I roll the sail around the mast tightly enough so it doesn't loosen up under way? I haven't yet tried reefing using the extra mast step, and I'm a little reluctant to do so if it means sacrificing one option for balancing the helm. Also, it's a darn sight more time and effort moving the mast than taking in and shaking out a reef.

Brent, any tips on how you decide on snotter tension? (I'll be out over the weekend in 10-15kt, so I expect I'll want the sail pretty flat.) Also, how do you decide on snotter position on the mast? I know it balances foot vs. leach tension, but I don't have a good handle on how to judge it.

Joe, I'm not sure what your pockets are. With my sails, the pointy end of the sprit fits into a loop at the clew. A little tension on the snotter keeps it there, no matter the sail shape. To set up (boat head to wind), I fit the sprit into the loop (not always easy with it whipping around in a stiff wind), push it taut and clip the snotter to the loop I have on the mast. Then I tie the sheet block (with sheet left rigged) around the clew loop between sail and sprit. To furl, I loosen the snotter, unclip it from the mast, then pull the sprit out of the loop, lay the sprit on deck and wind up the sail around the mast and tie it. I don't use stopper knots on anything but the main snotter.

Nice, Brent! Would you mind explaining the rig (block & line) on your mizzen sprit in the top photo? I can't figure out what it's for.

The camera made it--amazing, since it fell into a bilge sloshing with salt water--but, alas, no pictures of the right size for posting. I forgot to mention one of my last-minute innovations: the Popcorn Speedometer, for those with no GPS. My oldest lays up on the pointy end and, on command, drops a piece of popcorn (butter-flavor, microwave) even with the prow and as close to the water and as far out as possible. Helmsman, looking at watch, counts seconds til popcorn is even with the transom. A table worked out in advance converts the time it takes the boat to move its own length directly to speed. (I thought of this a long time ago, but only just thought of an object I was willing to foul the seas with.) It nicely complements my present speedometer (a poly rope dragged behind from a delicate spring scale): the popcorn speedometer is most accurate at low speeds, while my spring scale is more reliable at high speeds.

Congratulations, Joe! The day was a long time coming, but your quality work made it worth waiting for. Here's to your first real sail!

I know the southern contingent has been on the water nearly all winter, but this was the first time I'd been out before mid May. I not only wore my dorky winter cap with the earflaps tied up with stringy things--I had the earflaps down! Two fleeces, warm sweatpants and neoprene gloves (get some!) completed my attire, and my boys were similarly bundled up. Blame my eagerness to begin the first full season aboard the Beatrice Ann. Or my eagerness to test a few of my improvements. The wind was right for a trip on the Taunton River (SE Mass) and environs, so we put in at the ramp in Somerset at mid-afternoon Sunday, and spent several hours navigating the Taunton and Assonet Rivers, arriving back after dark. My boys were troopers (and 11-year-old Aron is learning to tack), though they did insist on cramming themselves under the foredeck toward the end to get warm. No pictures yet--I'm hoping my camera will recover soon from an accidental wetting. The new mast steppers performed very well, though they were not used afloat--the real test. The removeable AA-powered LED running light worked as expected, though I found getting the attachment pin lined up a bit twitchy. The bucket head (http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/05/articles/toilet/index.cfm) works nicely--at least for a male crew out only for a half day. My yuloh was no good: it needs work at least to make the pivot loose enough to change angle of attack automatically, and a handle added to the loom to help it. I may have been asking too much for it to help me against wind and tide simultaneously, though. And did I mention that everyone who goes out in cool weather should invest in neoprene gloves? That was the smartest West Marine "sale" impulse purchase I've ever made. The dodger and roof are still in the (slooww) works, but they're on the list for completion, hopefully before the first overnight. Then I'll also try out my transverse bunk: aft floorboard that spans the seats to make a side-to-side bunk for the under-6-foot set. With that I'll be able to sleep three in comfort.

Do you have your sails? On mine, there is no length of luff sleeve above the head--anything wrapped around the masthead would have to fold the leach against the mast and spoil the sail shape. If you wanted an attachment that would avoid the plug and stay with the sail, I suppose you could sew a webbing loop to the existing webbing loop from one side to the other and hang a block from that. The webbing is strong enough, but I'm not sure I'd trust the sail's stitching to take the load. I suppose that, with the halyard doubling as stay, most of the load on the loop would be downward, taking advantage of the existing webbing's strength. Hmmm...

Wow! You started this in January of WHAT YEAR??? At this rate, you will have completed your circumnavigation of the world by this time next year!

Joe, I drilled holes angled across the (okume) end cap, poured in a little epoxy, then screwed in waxed #10 by 2" ss screws. (They're a pain to get in and out, and probably overkill, so this season I've shortened them some.) After the epoxy was well-set, I took out the screws, put on the sail, then screwed them back with the eyestrap as shown. (This is for show--my block still needs to go on the eyestrap.) They're on the front of the mizzen, since the stays'l has to set equally on either side. Because of the tightness of the space, the edge of the luff sleeve does get pinched a little under the edge of the eyestrap. Since I've only sailed six times, and only used the stays'l once so far, jury is still out on how much damage that will do. That one time the stays'l worked fine.

Very nice building sequence, John! Gone adventuring yet?

I'm a two-by-four-and-ply type home handyman. The last time I saw the inside of a woodshop was junior high -- and my little project turned out crooked. Just like my boat. (Nobody is allowed near her with a tape measure or T-square, lest they find out that the distances from centerline to gunwhales are not quite equal...) But d***ed if she doesn't look pretty good and sail even better despite me! Go for it. There's a lot of help right here, and I took advantage of just about all of it. The two-paw is a good choice. I'm thinking of building one myself, so I'll have something with good capacity that's still car-toppable. (Probably should have built that one first!)

Thanks, all. Lots of useful info here. The point about not delaying the first coat is well taken. I'll have to check prices and mull the work involved. Here is the link to the Tin Bin (all-aluminum cs17): http://www.messing-about.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1216&highlight=aluminum+paint%2A

I'm mulling over painting Bea Ann's masts. Partly cause slightly corroded aluminum is ugly, partly because it leaves my hands and, more importantly, the luff sleeves, blackened, and partly because, well, its corroding! Any opinions? paint options? (Rustoleum?) procedures? Should I leave the mast unpainted where it comes in contact with the steps or mast tube? How about the hidden parts of the bearings between sections? I already had a look at the "tin bin" aluminum cs17 posts, and the ideas there seem too expensive and fancy for this job.

Nice! How long have you been at it, and do you have any idea when you'll be done? I don't think I could both HAVE a boat, and BUILD a boat: the best building days (warm, sunny, me not working) are also the best sailing days -- and I'd rather be sailing!

My third (maybe 4th?) order just arrived from Duckworks. Good source of odd & ends, quirky things like the folding toilet, clever things like the boarding step/handle and the removeable LED running light. Some very cool articles in the magazine, and always something new! Almost makes me sorry they lost the Watertribe Everglades Challenge to Graham & Co.

Um, that "two-holer" is two seats, right Craig? Of course, nowadays you could only use it 3+ miles offshore... and only if you had a very tiny bottom!