AmosSwogger

Glad to hear the motor worked well. I have the same motor and it always impresses me. I've had to use it against a strong headwind up a narrow channel where I didn't have room to tack and it had enough power (but it only weighs 29llbs empty).

Seven passengers is impressive. I love the big cockpits on Core Sounds.

I'm participating in the OBX 130 event starting July 19th. I've never sailed my Core Sound in the Core Sound; so I'm going to remedy that this year. Don Silsbe will be joining me as well. Basically the event sails from campsite to campsite all in the Core Sound vicinity. The campsites are remote and primitive. You can sleep on your boat or on the beach. 13 small boats have signed up so far. This is an informal event with no fees and a loose schedule (it is not a race). It departs from Cedar Island in NC. The details are on Facebook; just search for "OBX 130". If you're not on Facebook (kudos to you if so) let me know and I'll get you all the details. Who wants to join us?

That's a great idea. Simple, cheap, and innovative.

Got the ballast pump installed (still have some cosmetic work left). It works great; tested it in the driveway by filling up the ballast tank with a hose and then discharging it into the centerboard trunk using the pump. It even creates a whirlpool in the ballast tank when sucking out the water. Thank you Paul and Alan for the idea. Made a cover for the switch to keep rain off it and prevent it from being bumped. The switch and the valves can be reached without leaving the helm (except taking the ballast tank hatch off to let air in/out). For anyone considering this, this was a fairly difficult mod (just because of the tight space and access when installing the pipes through the ballast tank and centerboard well). If you are building new and think you might ever do this mod, do it before you seal up the ballast tank and install the cockpit seats. Like I stated earlier, if you don't want the complication, this is absolutely not necessary, the Anderson bailers work very well, they are just a little slow. I've been using this crimp/heat seal kit for all my electrical work; recommended. Bad pic, there are two valves, one is just hard to see. This is the suction/discharge inside the ballast tank.

Yep, Bluefish are an aggressive fish, easy to catch, caught several trolling. They aren't the best tasting fish fried, but smoked is a different story. I also caught my anchor line fishing, but it didn't taste good no matter how I cooked it.

Nice work Paul; fun to see the evolution/ improvement of the 20.3 design over the years. I will say that the simple dual Anderson bailer setup has worked pretty well; been using them to fill/empty for a long time now, it's just slow to empty the tank in light wind. For anyone considering this; this isn't a necessary mod, just a fun one.

Excellent. Thank you. Good find on that reversible pump. I'll put up some pics and details once I get started for anyone else retrofitting an already built boat.

Paul, is this how you routed the hoses/pipes for your reversible ballast pump? In the immortal words of Jay, I'm going to R&D (research and duplicate) your setup. Want to make sure before I start drilling holes. Drawing not to scale (no valves or strainers drawn in); just want to make sure I have the rough layout correct.

Looking great. You've got the hardest parts of the build behind you. Smooth sailing from here. Soon you'll be attaching hardware and rigging.

Don is coming on foot? That's a long walk. With about 374 boats in his fleet, I'm surprised he's not bringing one.

Looks like a great event. Going to try to make it (someone please call my boss and tell him sailing is more important than work). I've always wanted to sail on a Great Lake.

I have pushed my 20.3 up narrow channels against strong headwinds with a 2.5 HP 4 stroke Suzuki. Works well for my boat. No reverse though. I have also used the motor to push through squalls successfully. Great motor, very lightweight for a 4 stroke.

It's on Spotify as well, just search for "Nanocruising".

Looks like your experimentation paid off, nice work.