PeterP

Well, I am officially shutting down my ice box test run after 18 days. I quit draining the melt water when Irene hit but when I looked in this morning there was still a good pile of ice in the bottom- probably 4-5#. Good enough to chill a six pack or make a pitcher of G&T. I am tickled pink. I feel that with a mix of soft & block ice I could go 3 weeks. That is not bad. I know blocks are not always available but when I can get some I'll be in clover for a good while. PeterP

Edward, sorry I don't really have any drawings. I am doing my own thing with Graham jogging by elbow from time to time. There will be three permanent bunks - V-berth and a generous pilot in the main cabin. No more. My take is - if you build 'em they will come and I am bit apprehensive about them coming all at the same time. This is not that kind of boat. It's about a comfortable cruising boat for a couple with an occasional overnight guest + one more in the cockpit in a pinch. Put too many people in a sardine can, throw in some bad weather and the fun is gone before you know it. That's not even talking about overwhelming the head etc. The boat is VERY ROOMY noticeably so even as compared to 26 -ask all those who have seen it- but again we are talking two three people max. The extra 2 feet of length add a huge internal volume and the super low center board case frees up a lot of internal space as well. PeterP

Slowly getting back up to speed after my surgery. The first picture shows the port 20 gal water tank all plumbed in. It took a several tweaks to get that sorted out. Its twin to starboard is being framed in even as we speak. I am really excited about the ice box. I was bit worried when I poured the first batch of foam since I did not get the anticipated expansion. But the thing seems working just fine. Last Sunday I filled it with just on 100# of soft ice. Each day - to simulate usage- I would open it in the morning and in the afternoon. At 5PM each day- Happy Hour - I drew off the melt water through a valve in the bottom- measure the volume and put it in a styrofoam box with warm bottled beer. The volume and temperature were enough to chill two bottles in about 30 to 40 min. On top of that - all that melt water can be used as rinse water, shower water or in a pinch filtered and boiled for tea. That boost my water capacity significantly by 15/16 gals. After 7 days exactly the box is still 2/3 full of ice. I am adjusting my hopes from 10 days to close to 14. I feel it would be feasible to get easy two weeks with some hard ice blocks in the mix.

Bob, I sailed my CS17 with the mizzen in the middle, with main furled. I have a set of reefs in my sails but no good/easy way of reducing sail. I try not to be out when it is uncomfortable but you always end up getting caught sooner or later. So I rolled up the main and moved the mizzen up forward as the quickest way to reduce sail area. It worked fine - the furled main was creating some dirty air but I remember thinking Hey this isn't bad at all. Having the mainmast standing leaves the cockpit free of clutter and that is a plus in my estimation. Perhaps doubly so when things are rocking and rolling and you need to reduce sail by 60%.Boat felt amazingly well balanced but in all honesty I was thinking more along the lines of Where the heck are the brakes on this thing rather than How is my laminar flow. PeterP

G Man, Wife and I got a kick out of your post from Abu Dhabi. We lived there in the eighties when the buildings were a lot lower. My oldest was born in the Women Hospital on the Corniche. All we sailed back then was a Mistral windsurfer.You brought back some memories. Good luck PeterP

Yes, Joe - I built a half wishbone for Dickie Newsome's CS20 -way back. One of Graham's - "I think that would be a good idea what do you think can you knock one up". Dickie still uses it. You need a line to hold the belly up - it being asymmetrical - the gravity makes it sag otherwise. Personally, I can do without them. The sail sure sets pretty but the halfbone hurts my eye. I would sooner have the full job if I had to have one at all. PeterP

Wes relax - you are right. I've always done the same thing. I think Ray missed the crucial factor - there was very little wind. The only way you get any joy out of flat sail in those conditions is going down wind.PeterP

I have tried the longitudinal strip technique recently when making a 7ft tube for the C/B pennant for the P28. Not sure if I like it that well. For shorter tubes I still like the old way of doing it the best- namely winding 3in or 4in tape over plastic on a mast blank. Not too tight. Lap about 1/4 in. Go a bit long, stick on the ends with masking tape or whatever. Wet out with epoxy. Wind on another layer from opposite end. Wet out. Do another layer if need be and that depends on your tape weight and the strength required. End for ending the layers evens out the selvedge on the tape and gives it a nice bias/ crisscross pattern. Since the mast is the form you know it will be a perfect fit -the only question is how much plastic to wrap around it to get a decent annular clearance. Two wraps of light weight plastic or one of heavy duty greenhouse plastic work for me.PeterP

Jim, I have holes in gussets and knees because they do provide good tie off points. On my 17' I have my fenders on loops through a gusset midship if I expect to come into dock. They flip in/out as needed. Real convenient that way and having the fenders tied off stops them from flying every which way when underway. I did not glass the gussets. Fillets only. PeterP

Okoume is pretty and light. But ultimately it is the glue holding it together that is the most important factor. Make sure your ply is waterproof before you put it in the boat. Get a sample of the ply and boil it in water for 10-15 min. If it de-laminates look for something else. PeterP

My two sinks have finally arrived. I will have a 8 in. round railroad style in the head and 16x18x8in deep for the galley. Since I got them through internet faucet supply they were a whole lot less than marine stuff. Just had to wait some since they are oddball size. Also roughed in my galley stove. For some reason I had thought that Force10 was a New Zealand outfit when I ordered it. Felt it was time to let the Kiwis have a crack at my money. Well, Force 10 is French -but I do like the French and the stuff they don't know about cooking isn't worth knowing. I think it is going to be a good one. The only thing is that for some reason they, too,employed the same Mongolian goatherd that has been playing the joke on the world writing the so called "asmbuly instrucines" for all of us DIY's. And the installation measurements (in millimeters -naturally) were for a different unit altogether! If I had know that I could've added over an inch onto my icebox. Another gallon of ice. Too bad. I guess I am lucky it did not go the other way where I had to cut things out to make it fit. This way I will have an easy access for clean up. And thus ends another exciting week in the boat shop. Off to see the scalpel wizard tomorrow for yet another shoulder repair. Wish me luck and speedy recovery.PeterP

Tom, shorter equals stiffer - I would cut the bendier one down to mizzen size. Chances are you will have the same bend in both of them at the end of the day. PeterP

Thanks Garry, I noticed you traded for a trawler. Doesn't Bruce Van Sant own a Krogen? I just finished reading his Passages South. PeterP

The cabinetry is slowly taking shape. Making the icebox was a bit more involved than I had anticipated. Much sliding of partitions back and forth- recalculating of volumes - adjusting foam thickness etc etc. The final product is a 26 gal box with 4 in. insulation. I know it's 26 gal because I poured 26 gallons of water into it. Built in drain that will keep the ice dry and at the same time provide cooling water for the daily drink. I am hoping to be able to put about 100# of soft ice in with just under 2 cuft of stores. With 4" insulation all around + good fitting lid -I would like to get 10 days plus out of my ice supply. Looking at the box you'll notice the aluminium finish. It is to make the box IR opaque. Added tweak to improve efficiency. Unfortunately, when I poured the foam I did not get the optimal expansion. I ended up short on total volume. I calculated having 5% excess and ended up about 10% short. How that affected the R value remains to be seen. The next picture shows me glassing a 7ft tube for the C/B pennant. Apparently, it is another flash of inspiration from that bubbling cauldron of invention that is my friend Tom Lathrop. I always made my fibreglass tubes the simple way. Wrap the aluminum with plastic, wind the glass tape around it, wet out, let it set up ,pull off the mandrell. Apparently, with longer tubes there have been instances of plastic bunching up and preventing the 'glass sliding off. Hence, Tom's invention: lay 1"strips length-wise before wrapping To pull the cured tube off you start with the strips - each removed strip increases the annular gap thereby decreasing the chance of a bunch up. It worked but not quite - none of my strips pulled entirely. But the tube came off very well. Last picture shows the port side as of today. Ice box not quite insulated, 20 gal tank under the settee (one of two- the other one to s/board) that needs to be plumbed in. My two burner/oven Force 10 came today and that will go in next. Hanging locker with louvered door. The Beta 14 diesel was delivered last week -so that will have to be addressed soon. The sink should be here next week. PeterP

You can always say you are a Survivalist and that's you version of the cammo look. No seriously, wait until Monday and call the paint store and see what they have to say. I'll bet they have something to help you. To give you an example -the two part I use has two recommended thinners for spraying. I was having problem with orange peel when the weather got hot.What I did not know was that you can use a brushing thinner to SPRAY in hot weather to get the paint to flow out right. Had to ask the right guy. Whatever you do I would not mess with the paint ratio. PeterP

Jim, I have no experience with that brand but I would look closely at the thinner.Most of these two part paints have different thinners for different temperature ranges to help them go touch dry relatively quickly to avoid dust and bugs from spoiling the finish. You can scrape the mess off and go sailing as is while you are regaining you composure. The epoxy will keep the water out as well as any paint. Just tell them it's finished bright. Good luck PeterP

Some people just put the jug in a bucket of hot water. I like to use infrared lamp to warm it. ( from Lowes at about $10). No change in properties when it goes back to liquid. PeterP

Thanks, the wood is sapelle. Looks similar to mahogany and it cost me a whole lot less. PeterP

Put in a quick and dirty corner post to my cabin top. Saved me a lot of time messing with compound angles and cutting rabbets etc etc. To make up for the time I gained on the corner post I decided to make my own louvered door for the head. Not a good trade. Louvered doors take a LOTS of time if you have to hand rout them. I still have to tweak a couple of louvers. But you just can't beat louvered door for looks and airiness. PeterP

Go buy one of those IR lamps from Lowes -run you about 8-9 bucks. If your epoxy is cold and thick it may not mix well. I like to warm mine up under the lamp as I stir it in the cup. Sometime, when the temperature drops halfway through the cure, it stops the curing process and it has a hard time getting going again. It will cure eventually but it may seem like forever -think -now you have to warm not only the epoxy but the glass and plywood as well. The whole matrix. Here is another situation I like the lamp for. Let it shine on the joint a bit to speed up the cure. In fact -if you go to B&B site and look through the pictures there's a guy (me) doing a butterfly on a CS20 under a bow roof shed and I am doing precisely that. Try it and good luck PeterP

Sam I've been there with bad mix. At one stage I had 2:1 -3:1 and 5:1 going so as you can imagine I ended up having to re-do some stuff. I try to keep things as simple and consistent as I can and always make sure stuff is cured before moving on. That way I don't have to tear out half the boat to "remodel". The top of the centerboard case is in place - you can see it in the bottom of the boat- 5 3/4" bellow WL - all that is missing is a 3/4" cap. The board will be a long and narrow blade - mostly buried in the keel when retracted. PeterP

This has been a rough week. I am really glad to see this stuff finally hung in the boat. Week started well enough - nice weather - with some three coaters ( roll a coat at 9AM second at 1PM and third at 5) Then it all kind of got away from me. It got cold - which I hate and then I had a couple of "mishaps". Screwed up the top carlin for the cabin side and misglued one 1x2 inside the anchor well. Did more remodeling than building. But all's well that ends well. PeterP

Ken, are you giving us the whole story? Let's see : a couple of national emergencies declared since you got there and now they telling you to clear out? What exactly is going on? PeterP

No problem, a few days heads up would be nice - I am on the road a bit getting the rental fired up. PeterP

Joe, you are exactly right on my English. It is hard to follow sometime - I've been told that before. I like the word bower because it seems to describe the subject succinctly. Forward -sleeping - quarters versus bower.You be the judge Bower as in the bow, Bower as nest like, Bower as in lady's boudoir because undoubtedly She will target it for feminine touches i.e. "window treatments and such. Airhead on the other hand is a proprietary name. Brand of composting head. No holding tanks. It is situated against the aft cabin bulkhead. Inside the cabin next to the companionway. When I re-read the post- Bower and Airhead- it really hit me in the face. Sure sounds like something you'd hear on Country radio. Considering that I've just picked up playing button accordeon I sense a whiff of Providence. If I could only find a fiddle player who does not mind being called Airhead we could have something going there. What do you think? How is that EC going? PeterP