Don Silsbe

@Andy B— Whatever it takes. I made a mistake. The oars on my BRS15 and CS17 are 8 footers. My sculls are 9.5. I can bring both to YOUR Michigan Messabout, if you like.

Love the color!

@Hirilonde As we all know, the volume of boats increases exponentially with boat length. My 9’ oars woked very well on my 15’ BRS 15. The same oars were awkward on my current Cs17.1. I have been on a CS20.1 before. They are mammoth. Using 9 footers on a 20 would be an exercise in futility. I’m hoping Andy can hold off until the September messabout. I can bring my 9’s and my sculls for him to try.

I have a pair of 8 footers on my CS17.1. Last winter, I had to row about a mile with them. Not fun! Longer would have been better, but then you have to stow them someplace. That would be easier on a 20. I am tempted to try out my 9.5’ sculling oars. Those definitely won’t stow well on my 17. If I ever get my boat out of dry dock, I’ll give them a test for you. Carbon fiber, and light as a feather. Probably cost no more than a pair of S&T 9.5’s. (They want $600 plus shipping!) Concept 2 Bantam oars cost around $350, back when I got mine. Here’s a video of them in action on my 14’ rowing skiff. They’d work great with a set of Gaco oar locks. IMG_8217.mov

@Hirilonde— Geez! Don’t give away all the light air secrets, like puffing on a cigar to determine wind direction. A piece of mag tape from an old cassette clipped to the foot of the main is another way.

I’m coming all the way from North Carolina. Surely you can make it, too’

I see that everyone in the photos are sitting well aft of the mizzen. This happens a lot, until you become aware of the importance of fore-aft boat trim. Especially in medium to light air it is important to position yourself up near the mizzen when sailing solo. In light air, both my feet are forward of the mizzen thwart (when sailing solo). IMG_6994.mov If you have a passenger, they definitely need to be ahead of the mizzen thwart. Even in that situation, the helmsman should only be as far aft as the seat hatch. I have friends who sit alongside the tiller. In doing so, they take the boat off her lines, and bury the transom. This throws everything off. The only time I sit that far aft is in higher winds, and then only when on a run. @everybody else— Am I right or wrong?

I like to remind people that free advice is worth every penny you paid for it. LOL. But there is a lot of experience represented on this site. Sometimes, you’ll learn several solutions to a problem, and you’ll have to decide. But that’s part of the fun.

There is definitely satisfaction in the lofting process, but it comes at a price— time. I’m happy to see that Kyle is leaning toward the kit, albeit for plywood sourcing issues. @Kyle Ibsen— If you’re still considering a scratch build, do this. Buy a set of plans, and a sheet of underlayment from Lowes. Select a sheet with a variety of parts on it. Lay them out on the underlayment, and cut them out. Keep in mind that you should always cut wide of the line, and sand down to it. Note the amount of time you’ve spent doing this, and multiply this by the amount of parts it will take to build your Marissa. (And the Marissa contains a lot of parts!). If you buy a kit, all you need to do is sort through the stack to find the correct part. Now, stand back and compare the satisfaction factor of measuring and cutting process to the time saved. Only you can decide which is the way to go. Doing this process does take extra time, but you can use those underlayment parts for full-size patterns, if you go with a scratch build. By the way, most of my boats were scratch builds. My preference would be to do a kit if there are many parts (such as a Marissa) or the shapes are complicated (such as in glued lap construction).

@Kyle Ibsen— First-time builders should watch Alan Stewart’s excellent series on building a Core Sound 15. It is full of all the best practices for building stitch and glue boats, even powerboats. I think all of us refer to it from time to time, regardless of experience level. It is textbook.

“I need to find more time for sailing!” Don‘t we all!

@Andy B— I agree with Steve. If you need some epoxy thickening powder, let me know. I have gallons!

@Jknight611— That’s what I use, but sometimes it releases.

Well, my renovation project has been going forward, albeit slowly. Life and naps have a way of encroaching on project time. This past week, however, I passed a major milestone. The framework for the seat tanks is now glued in. The parts have been made for months. The roadblock (besides Life and naps) was removing the old framework. That stuff was the old B&B (I think) fiberglass framework. That part was OK, but it was modified and did not provide an airtight seal. There was no attempt on the part of the builder to provide this! Plus, the ‘glass framework was attached using a bonding material, probably 5200. I don’t use the stuff, so I’m not sure. It was a lot like Polysulfide bedding compound, but stronger. It took a lot of work to prepare these surfaces for epoxy! Anyway, all of that work is behind me. Here are the last two tanks. Onward!

@Andy Woerner— I’ve always used only screws. My previous boat, which js now 10 years old, was built the same way. It is holding up well.