Don Silsbe

The 15 is a great boat, but she’s a little tight for sleeping aboard. I must say that @PadrePoint has a tent that he has pitched on his 15. He’s about 6’-2”, too! Maybe he’ll share a photo here of his tent setup.

Hawk had a Sea Pearl, and sold it to buy this CS17. He is disenchanted with all the reefing lines on the CS17– too complicated for him. He missed the simplicity of the Sea Pearl. He bought another Sea Pearl. Moral of the story— Save your breath. He’s selling a beautiful boat. Let’s help him get rid of it, and into the hands of someone who will love it.

If I were you, I’d consider taking only oars on my first EC. Get the “lay of the land” (water) before doing anything extreme. If you swing by here on your way down, I’ll loan you some 9-1/2’ Concept II bantams. They have big blades and carbon fiber shafts. Also, I might find myself in FL about that time. I could take them with me. IMG_8217.mov

List on the Town Dock. It might seem like a local paper( Oriental, NC), but it has a wide readership. I had some serious nibbles when selling my Bay River Skiff. https://towndock.net

Here are a couple of examples of mark3’s with no britework taken at past B&B messabouts. IMG_0692.mov

What I did on my boat was insert a hefty block of wood at the top-aft end of the c/b trunk. It is secured in place with four beefy screws. If she were to turn turtle, the c/b slams into this stop. Plus, I have a masthead float. My current boat has the old uphaul/downhaul system. If I ever change that, I’ll add the block.

@Steve W— I had a weighted c/b on my Bay River Skiff 15, just like the mark 3’s. Never had a problem. Sure did clean up the top of the trunk!

I just watched Alan’s video of Carlita’s start on the EC. Sandy Bottom says “What’s the rush? Some don’t pull off the beach until 5 minutes after the start.” SOS ignores this, and continues to urgently get launched and under way. I guess 5 minutes is 5 minutes. I love that competitive zeal.

Yay!

I’ve been around gasoline-powered engines for 70 of my 76 years. We played with them on a daily basis, when I was a boy. I’ve never experienced one fire. If money were no object, and I could afford the extra batteries to extend my range, I’d probably join the crowd. But for me, my little Suzuki is a thrifty, trouble-free auxiliary.

It’s exciting to watch her take shape. How is the county involved in this build?

@Captain Tim— I only use ethanol-free gasoline in all my small motors. My Suzuki 2.5 has nearly an unlimited range, if I pack only 2 gallons of fuel on board. Considering my initial outlay for the motor was under $900, I think I did the right thing, too.

I’ve watched a few YouTube videos on the subject of cheap lithium batteries. A man with experience in that technology tears apart five cheap ones. What he finds is very interesting.

I suggest you head to Florida, and cruise with the WCTSS. Right now the temperature here in North Carolina is 26, and it’s warming up to a balmy 48. High temps in the Tampa area are around 74. They have an event going on this weekend, and several next month. They are nice people, who are eager to help, advise, assist, and share knowledge. These photographs were taken at an event I participated in two weeks ago. Windependent performed like a dream. https://www.facebook.com/share/g/19rtCzkx6U/?mibextid=wwXIfr 1F54848E-CBDF-4606-855A-9CCCD51DA4C5.mov

Let me share a tip with you. When I nest the dinghy halves, i always put old towels in the corners, between the halves. There is a lot of scuffing and abrasion between the two. Granted, mine travels in the back of a pickup truck, so there’s a lot of vibration*. But if you start to see paint wear on the corners, break out the towels! * I use my nesting pram when we go on trips in our travel trailer. It gets me on the water while camping.