Doug Cameron

A couple of pictures of EC bound CS20, tentatively named Dillen Leigh (after a granddaughter).

Hi SOS I had word that you were going to be in a CS 20 for the EC this year. Michael Collins (GreyBeard) and I will be there in the CS20 taking form in my shop. I'm a little farther along, but I'm working alone in free moments. I'll try to post a picture soon. We need a whole fleet of CS boats to chase Graham down the coast next March. What are your thoughts about propulsion if the wind is not blowing and going in to Placida? I'm still wrestling between oars and a yuloh. Doug (Ridgerunner)

Brad, thanks for the references. I am leaning more and more toward some sort of sculling oar. I may have the boat in the water before the sails get here, so I can practice and still have time to get a set of oars. I'l put the oar sockets on the boat just in case. wojtek, great shots and a fast boat. You should come to the Everglades Challenge sometime. Doug

Tom -- The design calls for the thwarrt/seat in the center to be the mount for the missen. The design position for the oarlocks are just (11"?) aft of that. The folks at Shaw and Tenney say that effective one-oar/two-person leverage requires that you be on the opposite side. Gordy -- The alternate rowing/steering would work for short distances, but I would think that the yuloh would be more efficient over time. (Michael is working two jobs now, so he's not doing much fittness training) I could not keep up with Matt Layden when he was using the yuloh in his 600# Paradox and I was rowing a 650# Sea Pearl that was seven or eight feet longer. I think that the length and subsequent weight of the oars gets you on larger boats. On my little Shellback I can row for hours, and do so much faster than I did on the Sea Pearl. I think those are 7' or 7 1/2 foot oars and the boat is just over 11'. Oh, the choices. . . Centerboard is in and the decking on the forward seats goes on tomorrow. Rudder and housing is made. Still have the deck and lots and lots of sanding and painting. Doug

I, too, would like to hear people's thoughts about this. I am well alnong with a CS 20 for the Everglades race. I have been wrestling with two people rowing from staggered seats (11 1/2 foot oars, and you would have to ship the missen mast. This is usually sone from opposite sides (person on port rowing on starboard)) vs one rowing and the other with a yuloh off the transom (beter vision for long stints, but the length of oars for such a wide boat would be hard work . . . and, again, the ideal rowing seat would require shipping the missen.) -- how's that for a convoluted sentence? I hope to be in the water within a month! Doug

You should come to the start (at Fort Desoto in St. Pete) or the finish (in Key Largo) or both next March. Keep up with the race and come join us when we finish. It will be the first week in April. I will have my CS 20 (currently under construction) and Graham will surely trailer some creation of his fertile mind down. Keep up with the action at watertribe.com. Doug (Ridgerunner on the WaterTribe site)

This is more of a question about the Everglades Challenge, but I would think it would apply to all of us who are sailing sans motor and need to get in and out of launches, marinas, etc. Since the seat/thwart is occupied by the missen mast, should I add a second (possibly removable) seat a bit aft to accomodate rowing without removing the mast? What do you do? Work is going along fast on # 85. Finishing rudder and centerboard and trunk and closing in the tanks. Got to buy some paint this week. Still conflicted on the two-part Glidden (like Graham used on Green Heron). But that's another topic that has been hashed over here before. Doug

Graham mentioned using staples as temporary fasteners (ie. clamps). I did this (smaller holes) and did it through a piece of cardboard. It left no surface scars and they were easy to remove.

I see that the plans for the CS 20 only show fillets for the edges of the seats against the hull, but I keep thinking that they need a strip of 3' tape just like the bottoms of the seats where they meet the sole. Also, how do you finish the inside corner of the seats where the horizontal meets the vertical? just a simple roundover? Thanks Doug

I once built a Joel White designed Shellback using a plywood lapstrake design. First I assembed, squarde up, and screwed down the forms. Then, beginning at the bottom, I screwed the cut plywood piece on the frame (the bottom first). Then I planed the edges at the angle the next piece would take (with the side effect that this created a greater bearing surface for the glue). The next piece goes down against this angle and overlapping a wee bit (this opening is filled with thickened epoxy, kin to a fillet). The center frame on this 11 1/2 foot boat became a rib, the others were removed and the screw holes filled. Tom, I think you saw this green and white boat with a lug sail at Cedar Key). Doug

For my Shellback (~11 FEET) I use a jetski trailer with 8" wheels and bearing buddies. It has been to Cedar Key from Tennessee twice at interstate speeds. I change bearing grease once a year.

Small Craft Advisor for July/August arrived today with a clouple of articles about the Watertribe Everglades Challenge. Randy Marshall has written a fine account of his race on the EC 22 with Graham. Good job Randy.

The dinner Saturday night is $10. Ron Hoddinott of West Coast Trailer Sailors says that those of us coming from afar need not bring a covered dish. See you all there!

I don't think he flew the staysail or the headsail. He was reefed down much of the time. I hope this tides you over till Graham has a free moment.

It has been calmto 5 mph here at checkpoint 1. Just now (5 PM) we began to get a little N breeze and temp drop. Doug

Great sledding weather down here: Saturday West winds around 15 knots shifting to north in the late morning and afternoon. Seas 2 to 4 feet. Bay and inland waters a moderate chop. Chance of showers. Saturday Night And Sunday Northeast winds around 15 knots shifting to north on Sunday. Seas 2 to 4 feet. Bay and inland waters choppy. Chance of showers. Sunday Night North winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 3 to 5 feet. Bay and inland waters choppy. Slight chance of showers in the evening.

The weather forcasts look good this far out. Saturday it's NNW 3-11 with gusts to 20, Sunday at checkpoint 1 it's NNW at 20 with gusts to 40. Everyone can check on the progress hour by hour at watertribe.com (and click on discussion). I'll see you guys at the beach on Friday! Go Team B&B!

The information is from the WaterTribe discussion. The Chine wings allow Matt's designs to sail to windward without deep lateral resistance structures (like centerboards, dagerboards, or leeboards). He also uses a balanced lug rig rather than the supposedly faster Marconi. Those who only consider the conventional idea of an 8 foot boat being slower do not know Matt. He is not called Wizard in the WaterTribe for nothing. He once showed up for a challenge with a blowup boat from West Marine and a sheet sail and left everyone behind. He won the watertribe in Paradox, a 14 foot cruising dinghy. Downwind or on a reach in a strong wind he can't stay with Graham's designs, but weather plays a role. The year we won the Everglades race in a canoe with a schooner rig, we paddled for 30 hours while the sailboats rocked in the calm. Matt's Yuloh allows him to easily move 3-4 knots for hour after hour in calm, using big muscle groups. I'll be interested to see who comes into Key Largo first. Following the discussion page several times a day during the race is exciting! watertribe.com

The designers race is on. Matt Layden (AKA Wizard), a man of amazing stamina and fittness as well as an EC winner and boat designer, made the following announcement of a change in his EC craft this year. (He is sailing from his home in Stuart to the start!) Class 4 beware; this is to announce that I'm changing my entry for EC2007 from Enigma, the 12' boat I sailed in last year's UFC (and current single division record holder for the EC), to a new and even more advanced super-go-fast racer that I'm finishing up as I write (well the epoxy is hardening on the last parts anyway). On the theory that the less boat you have to drag around the faster you can go, I'm continuing my trend of several years in bringing out a shorter boat than last year's. Sand Flea is an 8' decked pram, 45" beam, 85 lbs empty weight, 45 sqft sail area. Sand Flea hit the water for her trial sail yesterday and let me tell you, she is blazing fast! Still, in spite of her obvious superior speed capability I plan on reining her in and letting a few other competitors finish ahead of her this year, just out of the kindness of my heart... Will be leaving tomorrow or Sunday to sail in to Ft DeSoto; see you all in a week! Matt

Just 10 days until we see you on the beach at Fort DeSoto.

Yes, I forgot. These are downwind sails. A careful sailor can ise the Spirit Sail or the Pacific Action Sail without outriggers or leeboards, but you c an't get much closer than a broad reach. The advantage is that they are easier to stow when the wind gets too high or stops altogether and the prudent kayaker decides to paddle. One of these had problems with dousing when there was serious wind pressure, but I forget which one. Again, the watertribe.com discussion group is a source of much experience on this topic.

Mark Balog at Balog Sail Designs (http://www.baloghsaildesigns.com/) makes fully battened sprit rigs that have been successful in WaterTribe events (We won with a set). He uses blow-up amas, wooden leeboard and aluminum akas that are easy to store and very effective. Most of the wooden amas I have seen are home-made, some using the CLC design and some original. Prijon/Wildwasser has an interesting rig. watertribe.com is a good source of information and answers to questions, and Bill Herman (Snorebringgator) has posted a link to a sailing video with his new Prijon rig. Good luck. It's a fun, wet ride, and you won't point as high as a purpose-designed sailboat, but you can put it all in or on top of your car.

It's on my radar. I haven't worked out all the calendar issues for the spring and early summer yet. With Cedar Key, a presentation at the Charleston sea kayak festival, and several wilderness first aid courses to teach for NC camps, it's a busy time of the year. I am trying to combine a Saturday wedding near Zephyrhills with the Cortez gathering. And, oh yea, I have to finish the Core Sound 20. That said, I have enjoyed the articles in MAB and would like to come down and mess about for a few days before Florida gets too hot. So it's a firm maybe.

Bud wrote:[Doug How is the shoulder coming along? Hope it's doing well,it will prob take some time to get some strength back in it. Bud.] The arm is out of the sling. After 6 weeks immobilized, the right arm is noticably smaller than the left. But I am pushing the PT hard 3 times a week, and they give me exercises to do 3 times a day. There is an ache deep in the bones, made worse by the passage of a cold front. I am returning to the easier parts of the construction -- interior fillets are coming soon, after the forward bulkaehd is scribed and wired in and the hull is straightened. I can't wait to get to Florida in 6 weeks and see everybody, even though I will be a race volunteer. I have great hopes for Graham's entry. The boat looks great (and fast!).

Ray I was building the Core Sound 20, but my shoulder got progressively worse and it was operated on December 1. I get out of the sling next week, but there is no way to have the boat finished on time. I will be in front of Graham at every checkpoint, but only because I will be working as a volunteer checking in the front runners. I hope to have the Core Sound 20 in the 2008 race, and it may be ready for the Cedar Key gathering in May. Doug