Gordy Hill

Jeff. I drilled a 3/4 inch hole right through each mast a few inches above the deck and had a section of 3/4 inch heavy walled aluminium pipe welded in place and ground it down until it was pretty. I then took a piece of aluminium rod that just fit into the tubing. I slid the rod into a foot or so of the tubing and welded it, leaving about 4 inches of the rod showing. This made my "Mast Wrench." (Graham calls it a Maast Spanner) With someone holding out the clew I could use the wrench to turn the mast and roll the sail up very neatly. Even alone, the Mast Wrench made furling the sails neat and easy. It's not too easy to explain, but the Mast Wrench looked like a foot or so of 3/4 inch aluminium pipe with a section of rod sticking out the end. A floating Mast Wrench could be made of oak or ash.

Ken, I had a simple cradle of 2 x 12's. The boat didn't seem to mind at all. One little note. When you launch your boat, take your time. Get everything sorted out and stop for a minute and take a breath. The moment your boat actually floats will stay with you forever.

Ken, I had a simple cradle of 2 x 12's. The boat didn't seem to mind at all. One little note. When you launch your boat, take your time. Get everything sorted out and stop for a minute and take a breath. The moment your boat actually floats will stay with you forever.

When I was building Sawdust , my CS17, I got to where I finally installed the framework for the seats. I layed a piece of plywood on the framework and climbed into the boat, sat there, held an imaginary tiller, and stared off into the rear of the house. It only gets better.

Just talked to Graham. The phone was breaking up, but my best understanding is they chose to sit out a storm last night. It seems the other guys has a chart/GPS and Graham reconed it nearly impossible to navigate florida bay at night without one.

I'm at work and surrounded with up-to -the minute weather info. The wind seems to be SE to SSE 6 to 11 knots. It's hard to tell because there's no reporting at Flamingo and the seabreeze will change things a bit. They may have to tack a bit getting to Flamingo, but their course to Key Largo is about 90 degrees. The wind is forcasted to swing more to the south and increase to 15 to 20 knots overnight. Tomorrow, the other guys will be sailing in rain......

The start [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

The Everglades challenge started at 07:00 this morning. I slept in to 3:30 and drove to the start site. I took my 16 foot center console and went out to get some pictures after the start. They took off from Fort Desoto park at the mouth of Tampa Bay. Once they were beyond the wind shadow they picked up a following breeze of about 8 to 10 knots. There was an incredible mix of boats. Most were kayaks, kayaks with little itty bitty helper sails, kayaks with bigger sails, kayaks with hi-tech fully battened sails and a number of kayaks rigged as catamarans with twin hi-tech fully battened sails. There was a Norseboat ( I'm not sure of the spelling) A "G" Cat, a Seapearl and a few other sailboats. The Seapearl was being singlehanded and was having a hard time getting off the beach and down to the water. The kayaks that were being paddled mostly made for the passage inside the barrier islands. The sailers headed a few degrees west for the open gulf. The guy rowing a Sunfish (??!!) seemed to be heading for the open water and was right in the middle of the pack! We caught up with them about an hour after the start. We had to go launch my boat and come back around the island. Ok, we had to go around TWO islands and I was looking for them in the wrong part of the Gulf. Anyway..... when we left it appeared Graham and Fred were well ahead. Bear in mind the paddling kayaks were taking a different route. Gordy

Hey! Wouldn't a coat of car wax take care of the UV thing????

Ok guys, I'm not an expert on this graphite stuff. I've used it on my centreboard and rudder blade and love it . If I were building now I'd also use it on the inside of the centerboard trunk. It wouldn't do for the deck for obvious reasons, however, if you used it on the bottom of your boat it would look nice and give a hard slick finish. True, it would not be UV resistant and I'm sure you would notice some chalking in about ten or twelve years or so. What makes it so nice is when I sanded it down to 600 grit my rudder blade was ultra slick and looked like carbon fiber. It was exposed to the sun quite a bit and I noticed no effect. You could also buff it out with compound and have an awesome finish. Who knows, maybe it would make your boat slide more easily onto the trailer. I wonder how powdered copper would work.............

Good question Tom. I did my centerboard and rudder blade with the graphite and was really impressed with the finish, so much so that I think I'd do my next boat with it. However, I like the idea of a black boat. Although it doesn't take much graphite to treat the epoxy it sure sounds like a good idea to do a test with paint on it.

Tom I did the same with my CS17 and among other advantages I found that it made it much easier to put on a really good finish. If I were to do it again, from where you are I'd add graphite to the next coat of epoxy. When you sand all the high and low spots will become apparent. Then, you might consider doing below the waterline with a couple more coats with the graphite and sand and polish it. The finish you'll get is amazing and the color goes much deeper than paint, so small dings and scratches don't show. Gordy

When I went to the larger sails I got a window put in the main and can't imagine sailing without one. It made a wonderful difference. Gordy

Dale, I used polypropylene on the bunks of my trailer and the results were remarkable! I often launched off a causeway into about a foot of water and it took two of us to shove the boat off. With the poly it was very easy by myself. I think it would be my first choice for the keel. Gordy

Dale, I used polypropylene on the bunks of my trailer and the results were remarkable! I often launched off a causeway into about a foot of water and it took two of us to shove the boat off. With the poly it was very easy by myself. I think it would be my first choice for the keel. Gordy

I had my rowing position well forward of the mizzen and it rowed beautifully. According to my GPS I could maintain 2.5 knots comfortably and manage about 4 knots while flailing the bay to a froth and looking like an idiot. Gordy

I had my rowing position well forward of the mizzen and it rowed beautifully. According to my GPS I could maintain 2.5 knots comfortably and manage about 4 knots while flailing the bay to a froth and looking like an idiot. Gordy

Just a quick note: Don't pour into the small container. Try using a cheap, clean, plastic gravy ladle. You won't get anything in the groove and will get a better seal when you close up the larger can. I really question weather I should admit that I learned this from a woman on a DIY show on daytime TV......

If I got this right this is a picture of Sawdust, a CS17 with the custom tent . It's basically a bimini top with sides and windows. I cut down the forward bulkhead and made a large casting deck at seat height which gave me a 8 x 5 1/2 foot sleeping area once I raised the floorboards. Without the floorboards raised I could sit upright and cook or whatever inside the tent. Even with the forward bulkhead in place there's plenty of room for two people to sleep comfortably. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

If I got this right this is a picture of Sawdust, a CS17 with the custom tent . It's basically a bimini top with sides and windows. I cut down the forward bulkhead and made a large casting deck at seat height which gave me a 8 x 5 1/2 foot sleeping area once I raised the floorboards. Without the floorboards raised I could sit upright and cook or whatever inside the tent. Even with the forward bulkhead in place there's plenty of room for two people to sleep comfortably. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

Just a quick note. if you don't have a drill press the bung cutter will skitter all over your board. Drill a hole (or a few) in a scrap of plywood the same size as the outside diameter of the bung cutter and clamp it to the piece you want to cut the bungs from. It's a bit of a bother, but it works.

Scott, I would strongly consider graphite ONLY on the bottom. Besides giving a fantastic finish, the color runs clear through the fiberglass. A scratch, therefore, is pretty much invisible. I don't think the graphite makes the fiberglass any tougher. Gordy

Scott, If you're going to paint the bottom there's really no reason to use graphite and the paint might not stick to it very well. Gordy

For the NOISE Frank! He wants the dog to get used to the sound of the gun. .......................................maybe I could have been clearer...

First, I really really wouldn't paint the graphite-epoxy surface. First, there's no need and second, if you wet sand it with really fine grit it looks fantastic. Scott: I bought a box of 12 gage shotgun shells at Walmart with the smallest shot I could find and just cut them open. If you go to a gun shop you can buy a bag of shot. This is a better idea because now I have all those shells with live primers and powder in them. Finally I found a friend who wants them for training his dog. It doesn't really add a lot of weight. but both the centerboard and the rudder blade float much lower and work better with it. A few more smaller holes full of the shot and epoxy might be even better. I was concerned about weakening the board, but I think shouldn't be much of a problem if you use your head. Gordy "No good deed goes unpunished."