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Peter HK

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Everything posted by Peter HK

  1. Well I finally pulled my CS17 Wildcat out of the shed. It had been nearly three years since she last got wet. Two years ago I bought a holiday home in Noosaville, a beach side town one and a half hours north of Brisbane. It’s just near a boat ramp on the Noosa River. There was just one small problem- the CS 17 didn’t fit in the garage?. Luckily I had also previously built a smaller dinghy (a Welsford Golden Bay Dinghy) and a canoe that can fit in the garage and these have been well used in the last 2 years for sailing, fishing and exploring. Finally we planned a bigger trip. Near Noosa is Lake Cootharaba and the headwaters of the Noosa River. Up the river is national park and some designated campsites the largest of which is Harry’s Hut. The plan was to launch at Boreen Point on the western side of the lake and sail to the entry of the river, motor up through the narrows and then camp a couple of days at Harry’s. The CS17 would be ideal as a camp cruiser and would easily fit enough gear and supplies for the three of us. Well at least that was the original plan. I had intended to go with my son-in-law David and grandson Oliver (Olly-aged 8). My wife is not the camping type and she had suggested the girls (my daughter Melissa and granddaughter Elise aged 6) stay in Noosa and enjoy the resort town facilities while the boys roughed it. Elise would have none of that, not wanting to be left out of anything that her brother got to do. Her mother didn’t completely trust us with the 2 children so Melissa decided to come along as well. That makes three adults and two children and all the gear in a CS17- I wondered if this was perhaps a bit too much. Nonetheless we planned and limited the amount of gear as much as possible and in the end managed to fit it in. Departure day arrived and the forecast was good - mostly sunny and light to moderate breezes- so we launched and headed off. Despite the load she handled well, reaching in 10 knots of breeze and we crossed the lake in about 45 minutes for the 3.5 nautical miles to the river. The entrance to the river is a very shallow channel so both rudder and centreboard were raised, the motor bracket lifted to the shallow water position and the motor used to steer. Once past the shallowest bit the rudder could be lowered and we powered on up the river. The first mile or two is quite straightforward but then the river meanders, narrows and the tree branches in the water and overhanging branches need to be dodged. Twice we had to heel the boat to simultaneously get the hull past an underwater hazard and the mast past a branch. The water here is now heavily stained from the tea trees and this results in fantastic reflections of the vegetation in the water. A mile later and the river again widens and a mile after that was Harry’s hut, our destination. After camp was set up- two tents, 5 chairs, 5 inflatable mattresses, table etc- the children started exploring, finding the first of many goannas (only a medium sized one, about a metre). We went for a short walk to the original Harry’s Hut, a logger’s cabin from 70 years ago and the reason for the eponymous title of the campsite. As the sun was setting we cooked dinner (hotdogs with Chakalaka sauce with a nod to David and my South African heritage) then put the young ones to bed and celebrated the successful day with a couple of glasses of red wine before retiring for the night. One unfortunate thing about experiencing Mother Nature is the alarm clock. Here we have a bird called the Kookaburra, several of which join together in a very loud and long chorus. This typically is at dawn and dusk but these must have been the early birds as they started at 4.20am?. After a breakfast of cheesy scrambled eggs we headed upriver a few miles to explore and stopped at campsite 3- the limit for petrol engines. The river continues on for several miles to campsite 15 for paddlers. We returned for lunch at Harry’s after which the children went swimming and fished the rest of the afternoon. Dinner was a paella (the socarrat, the crust, was perfect) again aided by a couple of glasses of red. Camp was struck early the next day, the boat packed up and we headed back down river to the lake. Sails were raised in only 5 knots of breeze so we had a gentle sail home. It gave Elise a chance to finally get the hang of steering...the track was a bit wobbly for the first 5 minutes but then she maintained a good course for 15 minutes until she tired of the task. So to the ramp, back onto the trailer and a 20 minute drive home. Boy that shower was good! In summary the CS17 is an excellent camp cruiser, able to hold a lot of gear and still perform well despite a rather heavy load. Three adults and two children would be a bit much for open water but on the lake and river it seemed fine. I was impressed but not as much as the grandchildren who decided camping by boat was the “best thing ever”?. Cheers Peter HK
  2. I don't think you can effectively seal the masts so I put a drain hole at the foot to let the water out. That's how I did my topping lifts, though I must say after finding a good height for the boom I haven't used the adjustment much. Cheers Peter HK
  3. I have one of the lifting style brackets. They have some advantages. The motor is kept well aft of the mizzen sheet so does not tend to catch it. The up position is high enough so the prop is out of the water so you don't need to tilt the motor and it can stay on for launching and retrieving. The motor can be set to different depths- in very shallow water the the prop can be set to be just above the keel depth (and still pump water) so if you can float in the water you can motor. Likewise in heavier conditions with bigger waves the prop can be immersed deeper to prevent ventilation as the stern goes up and down with the waves. Cheers Peter HK
  4. Mine hangs over the back a lot more- no need to get the tyres wet never mind the trailer or bearings. Peter HK
  5. At the last CPR training session I went to, the advice on getting the timing of chest compressions correct was to think of an appropriate song with the right tempo. The suggestion was Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust". Sorry- just a little bit of black medical humour Cheers Peter HK
  6. Heaving to in a cat ketch is very simple- ease the main sheet, haul the mizzen in tight and the boat will weather cock into the breeze very nicely. If you centralise the tiller with a tiller tamer then you will achieve your aim of sailing backwards, sometimes at a knot or 2. If you leave the tiller angled to one side then the boat will back and fill a little like a sloop with a back winded jib. Cheers Peter HK
  7. You said you would plug it back up with something- I wouldn't do that as the water will just re-accumulate. Best to have a permanent drain hole. My 2c worth Cheers Peter HK
  8. Here's a link to a video from some years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAwkd45H1uU Cheers Peter HK
  9. I believe here the term "reefing line" refers to the reefing line at the clew- ie the line from the end of the boom through the first reef grommet on the leech of the sail and back to the end of the boom and through a turning block to cleat off along the boom. Cheers Peter HK
  10. Maybe a little late but I added hiking seats to make the coaming less uncomfortable. Also I added another thickness of 1/4 ply to the outside of the coaming so it ended up 1/2 inch thick which allowed a larger radius to make it less sharp on elbows etc. Cheers Peter HK
  11. I suspect the ply is making most of the difference rather than the glass. The amount of glass needed for a 10N would be about 4 sq metres. If using 6 oz (about 200gsm) then the weight of glass is 800gms. As hand layups are usually about a 50:50 resin glass ratio the total weight is 1.6kgs (under 4 lbs). I see on the B and B website that the weight range of a 10N is 80-95 lbs (plus 10lbs for the nesting version). Most of that 15 lbs variation must be in heavier ply and timber rather than glass. Cheers Peter HK
  12. I made aluminium sprits because I happened to have 2 pieces left over from a previous build. Light, strong and able to run reefing lines internally but noisy as anything where they touch the mast. Still planning on some sort of chafing system to reduce the noise but haven't got round to it yet. Cheers Peter HK
  13. The mix ratio varied with date of manufacture I remember the pall of smoke from the 10:1 ratio British Seagull Outboard Motors_ Engine-Fuel Mixture Ratios.html Cheers Peter HK
  14. If this were a sheltered part of the boat and unlikely to ever suffer trauma then just coating and painting the end grain would probably be OK. I have to say though that those edges on the top of the console look like a prime target for someone to drop something on them and being an edge the waterproof seal could easily be broken. I'd think about taping the edges at least on the exposed parts as the fibreglass would be much more resistant to damage. My 2c worth Cheers Peter HK
  15. Where I sail (East coast of Australia) the breeze is often a light westerly in the morning (the land breeze) and in summer particularly builds to an easterly sea breeze of 15-20 knots routinely in the afternoon (often 25 knots). The thought of not being able to reef on the water is unimaginable. That said, if you live in an area of light/predictable conditions then effective reefing may not have the same significance. Even with laced sails and reef points you can reduce sail (although a sprit boom/snotter attachment makes it a challenge as you have to drop the lacings below this obstruction). Even if you drop the sail and roll in a reef and reset you can still sail in heavy conditions though it may take some time and effort. If the breeze is strong you can reef before launching and still go sailing. I have been impressed with the Core Sound's ability to sail under mizzen alone with the centreboard raked aft and I often use it to depower before coming into the ramp. The manoeuvrability is quite impressive. I doubt that would be the same in wild conditions with significant wave action. The concept of shifting the mizzen mast into a new position on the water in rough conditions to me seems flawed. It's OK if you do it before launching. As you can see I would strongly recommend the ability to reef easily but that is based on my experience in my conditions where a change from light to strong breeze is the routine. If your conditions are easier then your decision needs to be on that basis. My 2c worth (though as others have said earlier your decision may cost you more than that) Cheers Peter HK
  16. You haven't said whether these sails are lace on, sleeve luff or sailtrack although you did allude to the possibility they were lace on. Also you don't mention whether you want the ability to reef easily on the water. If you do then sailtrack is the only real alternative and if you don't have track on the mast you have to factor that in. So what I am saying is if you want the best reefing system then a new set of sails with sailtrack on the mast is the best option (and I have 2 reefs in each sail). If you are happy to reef before launching based on the expected conditions then adding reef points to your current sails, if lace on, is probably a good option. If sleeve luff you have to have that altered too. My choice was sailtrack with 2 reefs in each sail and permanently set reefing lines on my CS17 but that was based on many tens of thousands of offshore miles and memories of reefing in gale force winds in the middle of the night so it's probably overkill Cheers Peter HK
  17. Some photos from my capsize test years ago showing how high the boat floats and how little water is left when righted. Cheers Peter HK
  18. Don't worry, your iPhone also picks up GLONASS Cheers Peter HK
  19. On my CS 17 (number 165 also bought in 2006) I added a 3/4 inch doubler of Douglas fir between the deck beam and bottom where the outboard would go and glassed it. The aft seat is glued to this later on and makes the whole thing really rigid. I wouldn't add the extra weight of making the whole transom thicker as the side without the motor doesn't need it. Here's a photo. Cheers Peter HK
  20. You can try lower tyre pressures- on a lightly loaded trailer like this you don't need much pressure. It can soften the ride quite a bit. I use a standard box trailer to transport a small dinghy but also use it for heavier loads so I just adjust the pressures accordingly. Cheers Peter HK
  21. I have to repeat the advice I was given about a good paint job and boats- no one ever sees the bottom, it's the topsides that are important. i wouldn't worry about a careful match in an area nobody other than the boat builder ever sees Cheers Peter HK
  22. Ah, I see. No doubt the new B and B recommended method of completing the finishing touches and will be recommended for all in future plans It's always good to see the silver lining. Cheers Peter HK
  23. That's how I did mine. It's generally stronger to laminate a couple of pieces together. Cheers Peter HK
  24. I think you are now starting to realize that the real reason we build wooden boats is to justify buying more tools As I said earlier, learning to scarf is very satisfying as you've just found out. I find a power plane is even faster and, if you don't have a vacuum attached to it, makes even more mess. I can do 90% of a scarf in a couple of minutes with the power plane and then finish neatly with a hand plane or sander. The lines in the ply provide a great guide. Cheers Peter HK
  25. Hi Davo Here's a link to an old thread of mine about reefing my CS17. http://messing-about.com/forums/topic/7063-reefing-cs17/?hl=reefing#entry61999 Luff sleeves make reefing problematic and I've never seen what I would call an effective system of reefing with luff sleeves with a sprit boom. Rolling the sail destroys sail shape and the snotter attachment means dropping the sail is very difficult. I can't imagine shifting the mast on the water in any condition where it was critical. FWIW my opinion is that sail tracks are essential for an effective and efficient reefing system. My 2c worth Cheers Peter HK
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