JeffM

My thanks, also! My boat's not due to be wet for months, but I'm already thinking about fooling around with a piece of polytarp. One thing I haven't figured out, though, is how to mount a block for the halyard/backstay when I have sleeve luff sails.

This week I finish the seats. Since my sails are on order from Graham, I'm beginning now to think about masts. And after my recent mast tube adventure, I'm more than ready to ask for help AHEAD OF TIME! Two questions: (1) I can't believe that simply wrapping tape around my two upper mast sections for bearings is going to automatically give me straight masts. Are there any tricks to this? (I don't have any very large perfectly flat work space -- garage and basement are a bit bumpy.) How will I get the bearings to come out perfectly round, and how will I know when to stop wrapping? (2) How can I install my mast steps so they are vertical (side to side)? At the moment I'm working in my garage and just have clearance for the 8' lower sections. I'd figured maybe to locate the mizzen step and base of the mast tube with the kingplank and thwart already in place, and use plumb bobs to establish vertical and rake. (Or maybe fix the bottom of the mast tube and nudge the kingplank?)

Dale, I can't figure out why they won't fit. The .25 inch difference in diameter, less the .065 (X2) wall thickness of the outer pipe, should leave you with .12 inch of air somewhere. Is the reaming going to lower the strength? I suppose the double thickness of pipe, and the epoxy, will more than make up for it.

Beauty!!! Maybe it should be sold as boat paint -- I'll bet no tractor looks as good in it!

I'll second that request. I'd seen a related post or two, but have never seen the thing in action, nor have any idea how it is rigged, tacked, etc. Especially single-handed. Jeff CS20

Welcome, Steve! Tasmania is near the top of my list of places to visit... maybe... someday... I was briefly in Australia years ago, but didn't have money nor time enough to cross the strait. If I had it to do over again... Jeff Michals-Brown CS20 #65 in progress

Okay. Guess I'll leave it alone. Don't want to mess with anything Graham doesn't approve of. Thanks, Graham!

Very nice, Graham. I've been waiting to see your dodger/cabin design. I like the flexibility of being able to sail with it up. How high could you make it on a CS20 without catching the foot of the mainsail?

I'm beginning to have second thoughts about my plan to put a store-bought hatch in the foredeck to get into the forepeak. The more I look at that oddly-shaped deep locker, the more difficult it seems to use. Perched on the foredeck, it would be difficult to reach the bottom. Also, the size of my hatches would make it impossible to get bodily into it for maintenance. What about making a simple cutout in the foreward bulkhead? In the interest of getting into it, I'd want to make it as wide and tall as would be safe. How narrow would it have to be to stay safely out of the water in a capsize? How tall could I get away with without weakening the deck support in the center? I seem to recall news of someone doing something similar in their CS, but I can't remember who.

Thanks, Peter. That was one of my first thoughts -- especially since there was snow on the ground at the time. No noticeable effect.

Maybe that's my (other) problem: I taped the plastic to the mast full-length. (Couldn't imagine a little package tape could thwart me so completely!) I'm going to try Mike's knots next. Thanks!

Don, What are you rowing with 11' oars? I'm building a cs20 and haven't gotten around to figuring out oars yet. I've seen sturdy-looking adjustable painting extension poles that I wondered about turning into collapsible oar shafts, but I've no idea if it would work in practice. But if you can stow 11' oars, then maybe length is not the issue I expected it would be.

Thanks, Ken! I'll look you up when I find myself in your neighborhood. I want to see that beautiful boat up close.

I used 6 oz cloth rather than tape. I tried to pull it flat and smooth, but didn't think I was putting excessive tension on it.

Ken, I'm about to start looking into lumber for rubrails, etc, and I'm not too far from you. Would you share your source/s? Almost all my other dimensional lumber comes from Maine Coast Lumber -- nice folk and good prices, but you don't just get a few pieces spur of the moment...

Maybe I sinned in a former life, but this is getting ridiculous. Having made my tube and spent a week trying to get it off, I finally sawed it lengthwise. Then I patched the cut with three staggered layers of 6 oz tape. Before I did so (concerned that the tube might be too close-fitting on the mast), I put the tube back on the mast -- but this time over 6 mil plastic. (It was definitely necessary, since the difference in plastic thickness made at least 1/8" difference in the tube circumference. Now I have a beautiful, strong tube. Only trouble is, it's stuck on the mast again! It isnt as bad as before since I can twist it a little at a time using significant leverage, but it definitely doesn't want to slide off the pipe. I've got a strap wrench for applying twisting force, but haven't thought of a good way to pull it lengthwise.

Your account and pictures make her seem a majestic, living creature in distress. It's wrenching.

A slow way to get around the yard, but a very effective way to burn off restless energy!

Yup, that was probably the problem: I was using 4 mil plastic. I never was able to get it off without sawing and chiseling it. Just as well, since it would have been too small. I rewrapped the mast -- this time with 6 mil plastic, put the tube back over it, and applied three staggered layers of tape longitudinally over the cut. The gap I had to close was fully 1/8" across -- the tube probably would have given trouble binding the mast in use. Tom's ideas are worth having, though I would probably have done okay if I'd used the right plastic. I made the tube of 4 oz cloth rather than tape, but I was careful (maybe too) to wrap the plastic tightly.

Thanks, Mr. Riccelli! You put a great deal of time into your reply, and I appreciate it! I'm going to take a little while to digest this. The cod's head I gather is a bluff bow. I'm not sure I understand how, at a speed-length ratio of 1.5, the trough of the bow wave can coincide with the stern wave -- how can one motion make two waves that cancel each other out? (The destructive interference of my high school science days involve waves from two different sources, or waves reflecting from a barrier and interfering with oncoming waves.) I wonder about the trade-offs in hull type: I appreciate that my cs20 hull can, at the right points of sail, wind speed and load, achieve speeds only possible in a displacement hull of much greater length. What do I give up for this advantage? My boat will have more of a "snap roll," handle rough water less calmly and probably have a greater wetted surface than a displacement hull of similar size. Should I have any other concerns? Thanks again for the lesson!

It was probably 4 mil. But I put on a little extra. I'm getting ready to clamp the tubing and tube with lumber that has 3" half-round cut-outs. If the tube really is too snug finished to fit the mast without binding, I might have to cut it anyway to open it a smidgen.

I was quite pleased with my mast tube -- until I tried to get it off the mast. Aluminum tubing is tricky stuff to get a grip on without deforming it. When I couldn't budge it bare-handed, even with the whole family's help, I finally went out and bought a pair of these strap-type pipe wrenches. Even now, exerting my full weight on these wrenches, I can't budge it. I'm trying to avoid sawing it off like Ray did -- partly for fear of damaging the tubing. Ideas?

Incidentally, I'm trying to understand the elements of hull speed. It has ocurred to me that it can't be as simple as being proportional to the waterline length; otherwise I could lengthen my waterline by the simple expedient of putting little extensions on a hull. I expect that length must be bouyant enough to help the hull span the wavelength. In that case, would a punt-bowed boat have a greater effective waterline length than a pointy-ended boat of the same waterline? What about a boat like some of the Bolger designs (Micro, for example) that have free-flooding wells at bow and stern? Is their hull speed limited by the waterline length of the buoyant part of the hull?

The cb and trunk are nearing completion, and I

Thanks, Dave. Interesting history lesson! Is it still relevant in modern boats? I don't know how difficult it is to unship the bowsprit of a weekender, for example. Of course, even in place, I suppose it might reduce the trailer length, since the bowsprit might ride well above the bow chock.