Peter HK

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

Don't worry, your iPhone also picks up GLONASS Cheers Peter HK

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

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

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

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

That's how I did mine. It's generally stronger to laminate a couple of pieces together. Cheers Peter HK

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

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

Hi Dubs I'll just point out that scarfing plywood is not the same as joining plywood see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarf_joint Butt joints with plywood or fibreglass can be done but are not pretty Scarfing as per the above article is elegant and strong Your option 3 will require glassing as well. There is also finger jointing in its variations but not so easy without accurate cutting equipment. A scarf is a lovely technique to learn. Cheers Peter HK

Here's a link to a capsize test I did years ago- you might find it interesting. http://messing-about.com/forums/topic/6604-capsize-test/?hl=%2Bcapsize+%2Btest Cheers Peter HK

Try this old thread http://messing-about.com/forums/topic/4341-a-case-for-a-nice-flush-elliptical-foredeck-hatch-on-cs-17/?hl=%2Belliptical+%2Bhatch Cheers Peter HK

I'm in the group that doesn't remove the rudder for trailing. Why add another job when it's not necessary? I do secure the rudder with more than the uphaul. I use the tiller tamer to stop it waving side to side. Cheers Peter HK

A few years ago I saw a real world experiment with sprit booms. My brother had built a Bolger Gypsy which had the standard rig with a sprit boom. He entered a weekend regatta and another Gypsy was in the fleet. The only difference in the other boat was that the sprit boom was set on the other side so in theory one boat should have been better on one tack and the other boat better on the other tack. Both skippers were very experienced. No one could detect any difference in performance between the boats on the different tacks over a few races. I think the effect of the sprit on the "bad" tack is very small. Cheers Peter HK

This is how I rigged my uphaul- that was before kits. You can see the yellow line attached to the rudder, run up through an eye and cleated on the side of the tiller HTH Cheers Peter HK

It's the change in temperature that is the problem. Air expands when heated, so if you coat with epoxy when it's cold and then the temp rises the gas that is in the wood will expand, forming bubbles. Tips include epoxy coating in the evening when the temp is dropping or warming the wood first (heater/lie it in the sun). Cheers Peter HK

Not sure about the thickness of the ply for that deck piece but laminating say 2 sheets of 4mm ply in place instead of a piece of 8mm should hold the curve. Cheers Peter HK

For using the halyard as a "running backstay", I fitted a couple of horn cleats under the coaming in what I felt was a good position to balance the pull of the staysail halyard at the mast top. Fairly quick and easy to use and nothing's caught on them so far. You can just see one in this photo. I also put a horn cleat on the mizzen mast to hold the halyard when not in use. I made the halyard just long enough to allow me to hook the snap shackle over the lower horn of the cleat and cleat off the tail with a couple of turns around the cleat. Cheers Peter HK

I have once, 25 years ago, blown up a battery in a cruising boat due to ignition of hydrogen. I had been charging it at the dock with a 240V battery charger (pumping in about 8-10 amps at the start but regulated so down to an amp or 2 at the end) for about 30 mins. The battery was in a not very well ventilated compartment. There was a fairly loose connection to one of the terminals which probably sparked and ignited the Hydrogen. There was quite a loud bang and a big puff of smoke. When we opened the compartment the top of the battery had literally been blown off but luckily the sides were intact and the acid was pretty well contained. I've been very careful with batteries and battery compartments since then. Cheers Peter HK

I also used the thicker wall section on my CS17 as I could not get the wall thickness specified in the 2006 era plans. From memory I think the specs now suggest the thicker section (some discussion on this forum in the past). Mast bend on mine is quite even. I doubt it will be a problem especially for the bigger Belhaven. Cheers Peter HK

Are you sure there is no measurement on your plans? My CS 17 plans from 2006 had a page marked "mast and sail plan" with the snotter position marked- see here Maybe missing a sheet of the plans? Even if there is no actual measurement recorded you should have something on your plans you can scale it off. I also would recommend leaving the slides and using sail track. If you don't want to use it at this time just tie the head to the mast top and roll it like you would with a sleeve. You then have the option of halyard later and you don't have to spend the money adding sleeves Cheers Peter HK

Hi Steve I see you have a spindrift 11. For my 2c worth the easiest option is likely to be a new battened sail with a lot of roach. Possibly the most boring and reliable option. Depending on your mast you might be able to convert to a lug of some sort (standing or balanced come to mind). These can carry a lot of area and maintaining the COE where it needs to be would be quite easy. The quadrilateral sails have a lot of power off the breeze but are not so good to windward. I have a Welford golden bay dinghy with a standing lug and sprit boom and it sails quite nicely. I thought about adding a mizzen on the GB dinghy, mounted at the transom with a boomkin but in the end felt that there would be too much clutter for a small boat. Likewise a sloop might be too many things to worry about but it's certainly possible especially with a roller furling and self tacking jib. I'd probably go with option one. Cheers Peter HK

With all due respect to everyone and their opinions and beliefs, this is a forum about boats. Could I very politely suggest that religious discussions occur somewhere else? Cheers Peter HK

To avoid too many lines running aft from the mainmast on my CS17 I put the topping lift adjustment on the boom. There is a fixed line from mast top which attaches with a snaphook to a line from the end of the boom which, after going through a turning block, cleats along the boom. There's plenty of adjustment after fiddling a bit with the length to get it right (and also to make it at an easy-to-reach height when rigging the boat for launch). Might be worth thinking about. Cheers Peter HK

Hi Trev To post photos you need to press "more reply options" at the bottom right corner of the "reply to this topic" section at the bottom of the last post. This takes you to the page on which you can type your reply but also has a "choose files" option at the bottom. Press this and you should be able to select photos from your computer to add into the post. Many photos are very large files so you might want to reduce them to a comfortable size. I use EZ thumbnails for this. Cheers Peter HK