Don Silsbe

This is what I have on my 17, and what I used on my Bay River Skiff.

I used a pair of swiveling cam cleats like Peter used. They worked well on my Bay River Skiff, so they are part of my Core Sound 17 improvements. I also had motor mount problems. I did the simple fix, and hung a fixed bracket on the transom. I’ll be at this fall’s Messabout, although I’m leaving early. Look for me. I’m sailing my CS17 Windependent.

I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I got the primer coat on. This is the worst possible time of year to be doing this. With the heat and humidity, I’m soaking through two tee shirts a day. For several reasons, I’m saving the area from the forward thwart on forward for September/October. I want to go sailing! (And appease my patient wife.) Looks like it is going to happen soon. Fingers crossed.

@Andy Woerner— Did I say screws? That’s not right! I used epoxy only. Wonder what I was smoking…

@Captain Tim— Don’t I wish Brodie was helping! For some mysterious reason, he has disappeared.

I've never seen battens that were totally sewn in. There is usually a pocket with elastic, velcro, or string ties holding in the batten. Post a photo of some of the other batten pockets, and we can figure it out. In the meantime, here's a sail plan for a mk 1 mainsail. Hope this helps. Hope I didn't break any copyright rules by sharing.

I’m still plugging away on this boat. In my last post you can see the grungy white latex paint that was slathered everywhere by the previous owner. It also got slopped onto hardware! Fortunately, it responds well to paint stripper. It is slow-going, but I’m making progress. I’d like to do the whole interior, but a) I’d like to go sailing, and b) my sweet wife has been using the phrase “still working on the boat” a lot lately. So, some of the interior stripping and painting will have to wait until this fall. Gotta go sailing, and gotta keep my bride happy (not necessarily in that order). So, if you’re coming to the Michigan Messabout, you’ll see a two tone interor.

For now, I’d just screw it down with screws and nylock nuts. Let’s discuss it at the MI messabout. I suggest maybe a new thwart with a new attachment method. You could take the opportunity to consider using other configurations for your control lines.

So, you just sail along, dragging a Rappala behind?

Love the color!

@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.

On a boat with as many parts as the Marissa, I would hesitate to sign up for measuring and cutting. It will more than double your build time. That’s fine if you’re more of a builder than a boater,, but I’ll bet you’d actually want to use this boat sooner rather than later. Just my opinion. I also believe the Marissa is one helluva boat.

I just taped the seams.

My latest fiasco was with sprits. The curved surfaces were a problem. Next time, I’ll try extra rubbing/burnishing to get a better contact. In the past, my tape has released. Any other tips?

That’s always a special moment. Here, I’m hamming it up for the camera.0