Gordy Hill

I still kinda like the idea of a Belhaven 24...........

I weighted my centerboard because, when just left on it's own it would float with about six inches showing below the boat. I sail in very shallow water. When the board hit bottom I would release the downhaul and let it float. The problem I had was that there was no way to really tell when the water was deeper again. There's a big difference in sailing quality between 6" and 12" of board showing. With the board weighted to float 12" to 18" showing it would tend itself. It would be light enough to adjust itself at 6" and pretty much follow the bottom down to 18". If the board is too heavy you'll have to lift it in shallow water and then you have the same problem of having your board higher than necessary. As mentioned in an earlier post, I also cut back the leading edge of my board. I let the board out about 8" and then drew a line parallel to, and about 4" from the keel. By cutting off that triangle I had much more board exposed when there was only room to expose 10" or 12". I felt that light-air sailing in shallow water was definitely improved and the workload was lessened.

There's a boatbuilding school in Cedarville?? I'll be on Drummond Island in September to drag fake fish around Lake Huron. I hope I can find time to check it out.....

I made my tiller pivoting with a large stainless steel bolt with a wing nut. I wouldn't have it any other way. I took the rudder off for trailering. I often used it standing up for better visibility in shallow water. I had a hiking stick, but felt the rudder was easier to steer with. At anchor the tiller can be folded up and out of the way.

Member Posts: 297 CS15 or CS17

Travis, I also added one 3" circle of weight to the rudder blade. I considered adding more it worked so well. It just made the blade want to float a bit lower and tend itself when in shallow water. It always seemed that when the blade kicked up because of the botttom I was always pretty busy and not really able to adjust it right away.

With my boat I sailed in very shallow water with bottoms of mud, weeds, sand, oyster shells, or old chevy engine blocks. I like the uphaul - downhaul system Graham designed, but I changed it a bit. In my first Great Race , my friend was continually 'searching' for the bottom using the horn of the centerboard. We would pull it up in shallow water and then not know when it was deep enough to put it down a bit. In light wind, or during a lull the board would float in a position leaving 4-6 inches exposed out the bottom. I used a hole cutter to cut two 3" holes on the board and, after taping off one side I filled them with epoxy and bird shot. This left the board floating about a foot lower. In this position it was still at quite an angle and basically 'weightless'. When it touched the bottom it pretty much took care of itself and returned to it's position when the water got deeper. For me, the uphaul-downhaul with the addition of weight worked quite well. I also changed the shape of the leading edge of the centerboard. If there's only about 6" under your hull only a small triangle of board will be exposed. If you let the board out a foot and then cut off 6" on a line parallel to the bottom, what's left is a board with much more showing when there's only 6" of water. I didn't actually use an exact number of inches, but that was my thinking and I ended up with a board with a sweeping curve to the leading edge. It helped measurably in very shallow water and I really don't think I gave away anything in deeper water.

At about 16:00 Southern Skimmer is moving well touching 6 knots at times. They're about even with Laurel and the Sea Pearl is barely visable to their rear. They can just barely carry the chute and are as closehauled as they can run with it. They may have to drop it at any time, but for now the weather is beautiful and if the wind would clock a bit everything would be wonderful. They have about 20 miles to get to the pass.

At about noon Southern Skimmer was all but becalmed. Randy was rowing and keeping an easy 2 - 2.5 knots with the sails just barely filled. A Sea Pearl with both guys rowing was moving very nicely and passed them.

MICROWAVE?????? Heck, if it's that cold wait a day or two! Now I've put resin in the freezer for a few minutes to give me a bit more working time........

Jeff, I had the plastic hatches very much like the ones you're considering. They sucked! They were rather efficient when it came to keeping water in. They were terrible at keeping water out. I was really amazed to find they couldn't do what they were designed for and cost so much. I've seen Graham's version and I certainly would choose them on my next boat. My two cents....

If you put wooden masts on a CS 17 it would break in half, turn turtle, and sink out of sight. On the other hand it would look great and you probably wouldn't notice any difference 'cept a bit more to lift into place when rigging. It's your boat. Go for it.

Wes, A couple of rod holders let into the side decks can come in awfully handy. I've caught sea trout and ladyfish while trolling and a really nice flounder when I was just drownding shrimp at anchor. When you stop for a quick lunch ashore you might try throwing out a bit of squid and just keep an eye on the pole.

Ok, Maybe it's just me, but there's no way I'm going to sail around with a fender on the top of my mast. I had intended, but never got around to putting styrofoam shipping peanuts in my masts. Just having the masts buoyant should help. I was going to go next door to the stairs on the apartment building and just position the masts upside down and fill them up. Actually, I think the filling from a bean-bag chair would work better. What I might consider is one of the small self-inflating belt-worn life vests that isn't much bigger than a ham sandwich and blows up when submerged.

I had a lovely window in the main of my CS17 and really liked it. It stayed unwrinkled because I had sleeve luffs and stored the sail wrapped around the mast. After having the window I can't imagine sailing without one.

Opps! ....as I was saying.... I'd look close at the Honda 2. By the way, when I was shopping for a motor for my 16' CC I found out that the four-stroke Mecurys were really Yamahas. I also found out that the difference between the 'Salt Water' model and the standard model was a slightly different rinse hose hookup and a decal. Another interesting point is that eack manufacture only makes a few sizes and adjusts the horsepower with different carbs. In Mercs, the 9.9 and 15 re identical and I had a mechanic friend who would make your 9.9 a 15 for $200. The 40, 50, and 60 are the same weight, but it's about 100 pounds heavier to go to the 75. ( which is also a 90 and 115 I believe)

On my CS17 I used oars. I found they almost always started except on cold mornings. They were relatively quiet except when in a mess of d*%%!!! floating weeds. The Sea Pearl guys in the WCTSS all love the 2hp Honda 4-stroke. Apparently they are satified with the power and Ron Hoddinot has sailed/cruised extensively with his. If I still had my CS 17 I'

Wes, I was able to find poly about 3/4 inch or so thick. I drilled half way through with a hole saw that matched the inside diameter. Then, turning it over the pilot drill bit lined up perfectally with a holesaw that matched the outside diameter. (almost) A little grinding and it was perfect.

Wow! That's a beautiful boat Norm! Are you going to have a cove stripe and boot top? If so, what color? My vote would be for the green, but I'm always amazed at how well some colors that I never would have thought of turn out. Check with Graham. He's worked out a formula for the boottop that's a little wider on the ends so it looks right. It really sets off the boat and makes it look a lot longer and sleeker.

Welcome Greg! Now; Where are you? Where are you going to build your boat? First boat? First build? We gotta know. Pictures, remember, lots of pictures. Gordy

Hi Dennis! My first response is that building the Spindrift 12 might be a waste of time. I would think your wife will be taking the CS 15 out more than the Spindrift. I has sleeve luffs on my CS17 but would probably consider a sail track if I built a larger boat. On the CS 15 I would certainly go with the sleeves. Bear in mind there's a number of very knowledgeable people who prefer the slides. Instead of tape on the outside of the chines and keel I chose 6oz cloth for the entire hull. I have no reason to regret it but did notice that it is possible to sand right through the cloth on the edges if you aren't careful. I've been in some heavy weather in my CS17 and was very impressed with it. In fact, I can't think if a comparable boat that I would have preferred. That said, Lake Michigan can be pretty nasty if you're caught offshore between harbors during a change of weather. Keep us posted and remember, we require pictures, lots of pictures. Gordy (Build the 15 first.....)

Greg, I skipped the outside tape and instead put 6oz cloth over the whole bottom. One advantage I didn't foresee was that it was much much easier to get a really nice finish on the glass than it would have been on plywood.

I can't see any reason for using up nice looking wood for a centerboard. It's really hard to beat fir. It probably wouldn't make a difference, but it seems your board would be more stable if you stick to just one wood. However, I don't think you have to worry too much about electrolisis between dissimilar woods.......

I coated the centerboard and rudder blade with epoxy with graphite. After sanding it down to 600 grit they looked like expensive carbon fiber pieces. I'd consider using graphite-epoxy on the inside of the centerboard trunk as well.

Sukie, We're on a touchy subject here because many people feel spray rails on a sailboat are just wrong. My theory (totally uncomplicated by facts) is that the boat displaces water out 90 degrees from the part of the boat that does the displacing. This is not to be confused with the water being displaced by a displacement hull, but rather the water we can see as spray whether the boat is on a plane or not. If you run beside a power boat you will see the spray goes forward, sidewards, and everywhere in between. The water appears to want to go up, but there's a boat in the way so it runs outward along the bottom at roughly 90 degrees to the keel to the chine and then off into the air where it can be blown back into my face. Many power boats have horizontal "steps" for the boat to ride on. I don't think they realize the water the steps are riding on is moving outward. Boston Whaler has very exaggerated, almost vertical, steps that capture the water and harness the lift generated. They also work as great shock absorbers. As the bow plunges down into a wave there is that much more lift from the rail. I think inch wide spray rails made of 3/8 inch ply and slanting down at about 45 degrees would make a tremendous difference. I would run them back about 6 or 7 feet. It's true the leeward rail would probably cause some drag, but it would also create lift right where lift would be a good thing.