Charlie Jones

As I said previously- that bubble is NOT a normal thing- Pilgrim was sailing fairly quickly and sliding down a wave of about 3 feet. Laura happened to snap the shot when the main backwinded a bit. However, the masts ARE a bit stiffer than the plans call for and the luff round IS a tad large for that. The sails were cut for a bendier mast, All in all, she does a wonderful job and has surprised MANY sloop sailors when they found themselves staring at her transom as she sails past.

Dennis- if you only knew how many MILES of fillet I've run since 1976 Seriously- a gloved finger, wet with alcohol ( either denatured or just plain rubbing) will smooth a fillet to where you almost have no need to sand. If I'm not glassing over, that's what I do. If I'm glassing it, it gets taped while wet and smoothed with a brush.

Carl- here's two pics of the CS 17 forward deck framing First looking aft, then forward

Actually she was sliding down a wave. We had some significant ones that day. Travis shot a series of Tehani pretty soon there after and they show her bow up, then bow down, and the dinghy is almost hidden in a couple. They were taken in Matagorda Bay on a pretty gusty day, and neither boat had a motor running.

Oh boy does she ever "sail on her feet" Here's a shot taken from Tehani- Hard to weather we were JUST edging Pilgrim- as soon as we started sheets she was in her element. I think you can easily spot the difference in heel angle between the two boats. Travis had JUST shaken out his reefs and we SHOULD have had one in

Still can't see the videos, so I can't comment. I sit here for 5 or 6 minutes watching a little circle of dots go round. and round. and round. ;D

Can't get either video to load for me, but Ray is correct. Here's a link to a picture of tying a bowline two different ways- I prefer the first. http://www.realknots.com/knots/sloops.htm Do realize that a Bowline is not a fool proof knot- It CAN shake undone under the right conditions. Which is why I use the Buntline hitch for halyards and dead ending sheets like main sheets at the becket.

I was sorta hoping that picture would get lost

I've not seen a Belhaven in the flesh but here's a couple pictures of space on the Princess. It's a pretty good sized boat. There are a couple of cockpit lockers this size, two smaller spaces plus under bridge deck stowage- That's me working in there- And one of Laura working on the interior- there are three storage lockers this size each side-

The Princess is simply a more complex build Ray. The Belhaven looks to be pretty much the same as the Core Sound 20 in construction of the hull and decks- it uses the butterfly. The Princess uses side panels bent around a couple of frames ( one temporary) then the keelson on laid in then the bottom panel's screwed on. It's not a true "tack and tape" in comparison. Additionally you have the motor well. Having built both a Princess and a Core Sound 20, I just think it would take longer, for the same builder. The Belhaven just looks to be a simpler boat.

The Princess is a quite complex boat to build. It's also a great deal larger than the Belhaven. I'm somewhat surprised that it's figured at 2/3 though. I'd think the Belhaven would be a good deal less than a Princess. I'd suspect a bare bones Belhaven to be much cheaper than a bare bones Princess 22.

It's called "the school of hard knocks" right Mike? Takes a lifetime to graduate. 45 years ago I would have wondered the same thing- Now, after messing with the stuff for years, I'm still learning, as I imagine Mike will agree. You just do it- and if it doesn't turn out right, you pitch that piece and start over, til it IS right.Then the next time you know how. One quick tip- ALWAYS cut the largest piece first. Then if you screw it up, you can use that to make smaller parts.

Konrad- you can put the thickened epoxy, however thick you want it, into a baggie. Then clip off one corner and use it like a cake decorator to squeeze epoxy into the hole. As you push the bow eye in, with it's nut attached, epoxy will ooze out. Just squeeze more in until it's all filled. Then seal it up as Frank outlined. I like using the packing tape Then just throw the baggie away.

It's called a "bow eye". How I install them is pretty simple. I use the U-bolt style with two legs. Put two nuts on each leg, one at the end of the threads and one about 1/2 inch from the other thread end, towards the bend. Bore two holes so that the nuts will slip in, deeply enough for the plate to seat when it's inserted all the way. Then fill the holes with thickened epoxy, insert the U-bolt, refilling as needed and tape it to the stem til the epoxy cures. You can then ( and I have) pick up the boat with that bow eye- it ISN'T coming out. In fact I built a Princess 22 for a customer and that's how we held the boat up while installing the 400 pound ballast pig and also while running the trailer underneath.

Yes it was breezy- VERY breezy at times. On average the winds were stronger than last years event 48 boats left Port Mansfield, 32 boats arrived at Magnolia Beach, 29 made all the scheduled stops. Capsizes included a SeaPearl 21, a Potter 15 and a San Juan 21, plus a few other smaller boats. Many broken things, like rudders, sprits, etc. Laura and I actually did an extra day- we launched in Port Isabel on Saturday and sailed to Port Mansfield for the start on Monday ( Sunday was truck/trailer shuttle day). We did that because that sail- those 36 miles- were the ONLY portions of the entire ICW I had not sailed, from Mile zero in Norfolk , Virginia, to the tip of Texas- so I finished that this trip Not a circumnav to be sure, but a small accomplishment none the less. The Core Sound 17s are fantastic boats. Two made it to the finish, including one I built a few years ago. The one who didn't dropped out after the third day because the rudder had broken, had been screwed in the down position to finish the second day and the skipper was very leery of sailing the next leg due to narrow cuts and very shoal water, with a non-kick up rudder- a wise choice. The Princess 22, as usual, simply marched through the fleet, on whatever day it was. Pilgrim was towards the very front on arrival on each and every day. That boat stands up like a church and just GOES. I'm quite proud to have been her builder. And Graham is to be complimented on some great designs. Our little 'sharpie converted to a trimaran', performed flawlessly, although VERY wetly. She is a fast boat, but NOT a dry boat. We sailed under either reefed sails, or just a reefed (as Graham calls it ) front-s'l most of the trip, and were first to arrive on two days, and never lower than 5th for any of the legs. We saw 13.2 on the boat on one day, surfing down waves in Corpus Christi Bay. Sailed at 8-9-10 for many hours too. One of the great stories of the event were the PD Racers. We had 5 sailing this year and they were the heroes of the sail. Rescuing two of the capsized boats, spending hours bailing one of them, PLUS when a small Cartopper capsized and lost his whole rig, these guys scrounged around in those 8 foot boats, came up with materials and BUILT HIM A WHOLE NEW RIG!!! Right there on the beach- wasn't really pretty, but the guy finished the sail using it. Fantastic!! You can see many pics at Texas200.com by the way

Reminds me of a story I read some years ago by Sven Lundin, of the Bris sailboats. He was ocean testing either his first or second Bris, when he capsized out in the North Sea, breaking his mast. He jury-rigged a mast and got back in but it took him several weeks to do so. The problem was that during the capsize, the boat got flooded, spoiling all his foodstuffs except for several cases of Swedish Meatballs in the bilge. So for the time it took him to re-gain shore, he lived on Swedish Meatballs, cold from a can. Said, even being Swedish, it took him several years before he could face another one ;D

Hey- our boats don't sail without Spam aboard. Laura slices it REALLY thin and fries it for breakfast- GREAT with pancakes. Then we slice it slightly thicker and make sandwiches ( with cheese) for lunch (no need to cook it further) , and if any is left, if can be diced into either shells and cheese, or Potatoes AU Gratin for dinner. Three meals from one can ain't bad ;D Good stuff, and it's really just ham with some spices added, and is all pre-cooked. Although I HAVE started buying the low sodium variety.

Or take a very narrow wood chisel, chisel away close around the stub until you CAN grab the stub with little vise grips. I use really small ones. Had to do that just today in a piece of brightwork- fortunately the hardware covered the chiseled out part.

Kewl- I'm glad to see my ideas working for others. Nice looking work too by the way.

Konrad- Tehani is a Rhodes Meridian 25. Hull # 10. Built in Holland in 1961.

Laptop- Aye. IPhone- also Aye.. Just need to find places on the gulf coast that have even HEARD of WIFI. Last tow trips to Florida, we couldn't get online til Pensacola. Figure a few weeks to cross La, what with stopping to visit friends in Vermillion Bay, Madisonville (friends), then stops at Gulfport ( friend) , Pascagoula ( good friend), we may make Mobile bay by mid August ;D

Back on the forum- at least til July. We plan to leave after the 4th of July, for an open ended cruise- meaning who knows when we'll come back. Laura is working hard getting Tehani ready, while I'm working hard finishing up projects for customers. Plan is eastward during summer, Keys for the fall and winter, Bahamas in the spring

Something happened to my profile on Firefox and ALL my favorites, passwords, etc, got wiped out. Frank just fixed my password so I can log in again. So I'm back ;D Thanks Greg Luckett for the phone call, and thanks Frank, for fixing it.

Definitely in the future plans Tom. I've laid against that Oriental dock on two previous occasions. Looking forward to doing it again.

Wellllllllllll ;D I am not taking any more new boats to build, but I have three or four ongoing projects to finish up. Then we're going cruising, long term. This is Laura's last week at work, and she has a few canvas jobs to finish. We plan to stick around to sail the Texas 200 again in June, then load up Tehani and boogie eastward - sloooooowwwwlllllyyyyy ;D Probably leaving sometime in July. One place we intend to visit is Vandemere NC by the way- AFTER the Bahamas