Maria CS20 104

Had one heck of a problem with getting the mast tube materials to wrap and stay. I got instructions from Carla when we talked today. She told me of the trick to used strips of plastic the length of the pipe on top of the wrapped pipe. Using 6 mil I wrapped the pipe four times and then put strips of 6 mil length wise along the pipe, used 6 strips about 3 inches wide and used blue house project tape to secure the ends well away from the work area. Still had some sag issues but tightened up as best I could doing this alone, not a good idea, get extra hands if possible. I then cut a sheet of fiberglass 26 inch wide by 52 inch long sheet and set up a wet down table and got the sheet completely saturated, all parts completely clear and then the fun began. YUCK! Got it wrapped once, a mess, undid it and re-wrapped, bigger mess, unwrapped, went back the wet down table and let the mess start to get warm, straightened out the plastic strips and then laid on the fiberglass sheet. Much better third time around. I then took 3 inch tape and wrapped diagonally to snug up the sheet. that is when the epoxy began to move through the materials and tape and I could see obvious sag, CRAP. On a stroke of inspiration, I remembered trussing the turkey and a 5 lb. stuffed pork roast, (stuffing was garlic, 2 lbs. blanched spinach, three different cheeses, swiss, munster, and riccotta, sliced onions, a lot of them and some salt and pepper, this is for the back room cooks, Lay out this stuff across a filleted pork roast that is about an inch thick, pound a bit for tenderizing, roll up and wrap with lots of oiled cotton string. Cook for about an hour and a half to inside temp of 180). Back to the string, a had a nice big spool and wrapped the heck out of the fiberglass and it became saturated while wrapping, like the pork, I took the drippings on the plastic below and rubbed into the "tube to push out as many bubbles as possible. (do not use plastic to catch pork drippings, I'd better say or one of you folks will nail me on this point), It looks akin to a long pork sausage and is generally pretty tight in place. I will go out in about and hour or so and when it begins to really set up a bit, I will massage outer bubble and flaws to the surface. I honestly think this is gonna work, it seems to be holding together for the moment. Could be that in the morning I'll go out o to the car port and have a pile of modern art sitting on the floor under a piece of bare pipe. I'll post it on ebay for San Francisco art crowed worst comes to worst. Still Hanging in there Jim

I had not even thought about it and the last thing Wow it looks great as well, I can see using fir for contrasting highlights at those points. I do not want any peel back, I can picture that as a bad bad disease. Yer great, thanks again Graham. Jim

Hey All, I am working on the deck and doing all I can to pre-form to the curve of the deck beams as I do not want any hard fasteners like screws or brads marring the surface. I saved the best of the 11 sheets of 1/4 inch for grain consideration and it is beautiful. I currently, like right now have the starboard side forward deck 4x8 (plus) laying on the deck beams clamped along have a variety of weights pulling it to form around the beams and sides. I plan to cut 1/8" wide of the marks and sand down to meet the sides. Here now is the question, " When gluing down in place with thickened epoxy, I guess is the right approach, What is the best way to secure while the epoxy cures and glues the beast in place? I am thinking some clamps, straps and weights similar to what I am trying to do to form the 4x8 sheet. I will over cut by at least an 1/8th of an inch and sand to the hull size both port and starboard. Prefer your input before I cut the sheets as this is the last step. Should I wet the 1/4" plywood during forming to get a better bend to set in on the sheet? I want to minimize the sanding on the deck surface to minimize the deformation that will show up as a result of uneven sanding. So far, the weighting of the sheet shows that I am really close on the angles of the beams and it all seems to be setting well and firm on the structures in place. No one but me will see the corruption on the bottom (ripples and dents from over sanding etc.) but I really want the deck to be as perfect as I can make it. I will crawl into the forward compartment Sunday (tomorrow){we went to church this afternoon}to see where the plywood sheet sits against the beams, if adjustment are needed we can get that done quite easily. I have used a straight edge and a flexible flat that indicates I am very close all around at the contact points where the forward deck sheet sits. Any input will be highly appreciated and trust me, this request is begged for by those that have gone before on this critical step. The top deck is to be "bright" and the grain is too amazing to be lost under paint, cool swirls and twists with some zebra like stripes in the mix. You guys are the wizards and I need your HELP. Thanks All. Jim

Thanks Graham, good to hear from the Master himself. I will be adding tubes so I'll go with 3 1/4". I'll be calling Monday for a rudder hardware kit, along with prices on mast material and sails. Ya'll have a GREAT weekend. By the way, we are close, I am fitting the deck sheets so I have an idea where to do the cuts and get the best grain pattern, we saved the best two and a half sheets just for this. I will be posting some pictures of the latest progress as soon as we can figure out how to compress the silly things. You folks are the best. Thanks Again Jim

Another silly question for mast masters.....What is the OD of the mast on the CS-20? I think its 3". I am getten ready to cut the holes in my king plank and need to know the OD so I cut the hole the right size. Thanks Folks Jim

I finally met a guy that has used MoPoxy on a number of wooden boats and fiberglass boats. He told me to mix according to the instructions, refrigerate for the 30 minutes to activate and then thin slightly with MoPoxy thinner to encourage thinning of the coat while laying on and having someone behind me hitting it with a heat gun to tighten the surface as it got tacky and it would cure like glass. I told him I am sticking with the golf ball divot theory where the increased surface area of the orange peel reduces laminar flow, thus increasing the tornadic flow vortex at the micro level and thus turbo boosting the hurricane properties of micro particles that tend to want to stick to the hull at low and moderate speeds of 5 to 8 knots. Now these physical properties seem to have been designed into these boats, by the master of speed. These design properties are allowing simple, inexperienced builders like myself, to take advantage of the superior deigns of his boats. Although the designer does not advertise this unique property and the special result that usually occur as the result of his designs, which compensate for the inadequacies of his rookie builders, it works. We do not want to let the secret out as B&B builders, since the federal government would probably require a special EPA permit for use of these vessels because of the unusual stirring of the surface waters by fast moving light vessels which might disturb the mating patterns of breeding surface plankton and potential emmmmmmbarressment to local dolphin populations, because of there speed, along the Florida gulf cost during certain races. It does appear, although not documented experimentally, that B&B boats do in fact cause some consternation among heavier hulled builders when they outrun them in light to moderate winds. (See Comments by other posters where they outran some heavies and got raving reviews). I do believe that there are other considerations to selecting these boats over others as a builder of a CS 20, the light weight is less affected by solar winds, magnetic variations caused by solar flares and lunar gravitational pull during the harvest moon. Simple physics tells us that with every cause there is an effect and a great God allows those that test the seas on hand crafted boats SHALL enjoy the gift of His winds and waves. Stand by for the next exposition on nuclear power contamination from the reactors of the 1940's and the great Under Toads of the Pacific North West at the mouth of the Columbia River. Blessings to ALL Jim

I am putting fir highlights on the boat and would like to stain with a deep mahogany red. I've done a couple of experiments and the fir takes the stain in the soft grain and pretty much rejects in the high resin content grain. I wipe down with an epoxy thinner to lighten it a bit and the grain jumps out some which I really like. MY PLAN, I think(?) is to stain a hatch cover I laminated 1/8 fir strips to make look like a planked cover and then coat in the epoxy I've been using on my hull. Will an oil based stain react badly with the epoxy or should I use a water based stain? All deck framing is cut glued in and set, spent the last four hours sanding and still have about 8 hours cleanup and light sanding before we fit the deck sheets, mark and then cut to size. Any hints on best ways to do this would be very much appreciated as well as comments on stain and epoxy or varnish. Thanks, Jim

Thanks Peter, appreciate yer reply very much. It is really hot and the epoxy is cooked, will let it harden tonight and sand down the edges and rough stuff in the morning,I'll drill the holes out before I sand down. I have missed a few fillet points that I can fix in the morning on two of the gussets. I actually did four gussets on each side as I have the back deck at seat height. This includes one gusset at the oar lock blocks to prevent rocking of the sides while underway using oars. The side deck runs from forward bulkhead to the transom and with the curved forward deck beams it looks really cool, I can picture the interior shape and neat curves. Tomorrow with the sanding I will cut another slab off of one of my 2x12x16 foot douglas fir beams. during this process I've gone through 1 and 3/4 of these boards, they are a bit brittle but really tight grain, about 20 to 24 rings per inch. As most know I found them in a warehouse where they had been for about 25 years or more according to the owner. They came out of British Columbia in a big order for some monster house down here in Louisiana. It pays to research and look and look and ask and beg for information regarding materials. These boards have been more difficult to cut than oak with their high resin content but they don't twist or buck when cut and stored. Still have one more of these 2x12x16 foot guys and that will be used to build a 12 foot spindrift for the grandkids when they come back from Japan where there Dad and our daughter are stationed, he is in the Navy in Sasabo. Again thanks, prayers and blessings to yours and all B&B folks. Jim

Simple questions: I have all the parts and pieces cut, prefitted and aligned, including square and angles, within a 1/16 side to side. Do I need to glass in the gussets after they have been filleted and the epoxy sets? Does not seem necessary but I'd rather do this right. I am thinking about drilling a 3/8ths inch hole in the gussets after the carlins are set glued, screwed and fillet and glue dry. I am thinking that drilling a hole about 1/2 to 3/4 inch below the cleats in the center of the gussets will allow me to run a line fore to aft and have the ability to tie off gear and "stuff" that might be on the seats, or tuck extra flotation devices along the sides behind the lines. Any ideas? Thanks Jim

THANK YOU ALL for the encouragement to move forward, sometimes reading stuff can get a fella behind and too focused on the unimportant. It is imperfect and beautiful and ours. I installed the brass keel strip and it looks so cool, not perfect, just cool. one small misalignment that I'll file the edges on and tomorrow I will sand with 220 and seal with a thin coat of epoxy. Navy folks can't resist bright brass I guess even though it will get marred up on the oyster shoals and gravel, bad habit of mine. Tomorrow after I skin this cat with epoxy on the screws I'll get underneath and clean up the forward and aft sections of the cockpit. I need to glass the underside of the forward seat against the side tanks and paint before I turn. Bought some oil base outside paint for doing the cover coat and will use on the inside of the aft tank as well to ensure water resistant coverage of the interior. Then I will turn. I think I need to let the hull cure a bit more for a few days setting in the sun. Getting hot and bright in Louisiana and I'd like to ensure the paint is hard enough to turn without scaring or cutting up. Thanks again for the advice, no polishing or buffing, but should I wax it up a bit? Jim

Tom, Ray, and ALL. I just fiiiiiiiinished the hull paint. Four coats of marine epoxy, took time to figure out now I'm done I are a real beginner boat painter. I read that I could polish it out with 600 grit wet sand paper. What does this do? Polish the paint? Dull the paint? I do not have a clue. When done, if this is the next biggie to finish the finish.........as it were... do I wax the hull with turtle wax, blue coral, mothers? I am truly curious not crazy. The finish currently has a slight orange peel effect, does not bother me too much, kind of appppppeeling looking. Where I had the material thin enough, not much of the peel effect happened, but this is not in many places. It sure is pretty in antique white. Got the color idea from that gent in the Pacific North West that made the beautiful CS 17 boat with faux interior deck and green trim, solid fir masts and hand made fittings. Man that is a beauty of a boat. If I should just move forward and wax it up the next step, I think, will be to install the brass keel plate per my last post. I have a bit of time on my hands but Mom says I gottsa git this dun! She is right we are at three years since we pulled the hull in and were amazzzzzzed at the result. Took a year off to work in Maine, beautiful place, far far far away. Still need rudder hardware to put it together but that is a side project along with the center board which if you recall, both are 80% complete. But I bet a lot of boats get to 80% complete and then rot..........this will not happen here, I have a group of young folks watching 15 to 26 and they expect progress....and they press. I think Mom paid them off. We have 30 or more local kids, young adults and older adults (45 plus) following progress and checking in, My 88 year old mother in law is my greatest fan and critic, but great encourager. My favorite "Meaness" as I call her, with agreement from my beautiful wife of 29 plus years. Son Pat graduates from University, two weeks from now a computer scientist and will work for HP starting in early June. Mom and I went to Japan to see our grand boys (4 and 2), saw our daughter and son in law too, he is in the Navy there, I did an few off the cuff Nuclear training courses for some Navy folks as I were a Navy Nuke and have Nuke and EE degree..what a pain, wish the media would speak English and the truth about once a month but first they need to be educated and willing to learn, maybe we ought to require each of the talking heads to build a boat, by themselves, get some experience in patience and persistence and they might learn to investigate and really report. Graham and Carly, my best to your and yours, especially one submariner to another............ Blessings to ALL Jim

Just finished the fourth coat of the MoPoxy marine epoxy stuff, looks great. Went to 1/4 nap mohair rollers and the stuff flows on with few roller marks, thinned a bit and kept in a cold metal bowl. Man this stuff off-gasses the solvent fast and sets up. By enclosing the car port with plastic I kept all bugs from the landing deck with the last two coats few hairs from the roller but they will polish out. My keel is a bit higher and longer than spec and a full inch wide. I will be mounting a brass keel plate when all drys and sets for a few days. The brass is 3/16ths by 1 inch wide and runs the full 17 feet of the keel. I will have to drill out the attachment points but the brass I pre-drilled to off set from the keel screws at about every 7 inches. Plan is to drill holes for the screws, fill with oil based paint and install the screws. Once dry I'll go back and put a coat of epoxy over the screws. Any recommendations for this next step are greatly appreciated. Once done we turn her over paint the interior and build the deck. The hull is an antique white and the deck will be bright. My son wants to do the seats in red to complement the mahogany stained deck. I am afraid the red will fade but I am game. Found good mahogany for the thwart seat and a few internal trim additions. Rub rails will be bright tight grained douglas fir stained in mahogany to tie into the deck. We move forward and THANKS ALL for the input and encouragement. Blessings to ALL Jim

Thanks Peter........but..........I tried to sand and it is not going anywhere. As for bright, I have so many filled imperfections it needs paint although it will always look homemade, of which wife Karen and I are very proud. Bumps and bruises and marks from our grandson with his plastic hammer add to the history and effort. I will work to preserve the "Merick Marks" (grandson)and add him to the builder plaque. The thinner I have is made for this paint MoPoxY, note on the can: "For Brushing 75 35", for what it is worth. I figured it would be fine to roll with small high density roller. I really think it's the heat for as fast as it sets and is difficult to blend from one set to the next and even within one roller loading. Ticks me off because I promised Karen I'd get this done and it would be a breeze. Using these rollers has been a blessing with the B&B epoxy mix. Maybe I drop the hardener some but I think that is a bad idea as the chemical mix is not something one should mess with to ensure proper curing of the paint. Sanding with 120 grit cut the sandpaper effect and gives me a little hope that I do not have to strip it down. YUCK. Just take a little more time and thinner coats I guess. Do appreciate your input and I am no perfectionist which is obvious to at least me. Keep the faith and God Bless all. Jim

I have finally completed four coats of finely sanded epoxy and have started to paint the hull. What a mess. I got the proper mix I am sure, it is MoPoxY and I have used it before successfully, 2 part epoxy marine paint. This time when I went to paint it seems to cook off as I coat and thining is just thinning and a light coat is just a see through mess with pieces of my high density rollers peeling off and sticking to the boat like sandpaper. Tried to wipe as it set. Opps.....I am now trying to figure out what to do next. It's about 84 in the garage but most of the boat is cool to the touch. Do I need a lighter touch? Stick with light coats, HELP? I really want to get this done this weekend and early in the week but need your input and advice. Thnx, Jim

On a good track, how long will it take for you to do the basic hull up? Jim

Peter, thanks for the encouragement, never thought about runs that way but you are right, seem the more I sand the more I have to deal with runs, never thought about them filling in, I like your conclusion regarding fill in and move forward. Might have saved me a lot of work and bucks as I built this beast. As CHEY CHASE says, LOOKING GOOD....................... So excited to be so near yet so far. Will try two coats tomorrow and worry about sanding at the end of the application. Again thanks so much, you give even more to work with on the application than you realize Jim A

Just finished coating entire bottom with epoxy, no thinned stuffed, again THANKS Peter. Used white micro rollers, high density but very flexible and worked the epoxy on the bias, up and down, on the bias and then with the grain along the length, see some run I think around the keel, but nowhere else. Looks good but sure shows the imperfections of my unskilled sanding hand, at least she is sealed. Now for three more coats. With these rollers it only took about 2 cups of epoxy to cover the entire hull although it means rolling up down bias on bias sideways around bias and lengthways the work was worth the effort, like I said, no runs and it looks like minimal to no sanding will be necessary of I do second coat within the next 18 hours or so......??? Comments? I do see where I will have a lot of final fill with mico balloons and fir out as best possible. So COOL. Not a bad use on the amount of epoxy, expected so much more from previous work and lack of experience. Just Letting Ya Know Jim

I'll keep washing down with bleach and mild light scrubbing, really appreciate your response. Did not realize that micro holes could occur but I guess it makes sense as the material sets up it gathers and moves as the chemical reaction takes place at the micro level. I do not mind the staining as it will all be painted with an ivory color paint and green bottom coat. I am so close to get the boat turned over and moving into the car port to build the deck and thwart. On those issues I will be very careful as I want the deck bright (with a mahogany redish stain to set off the beautiful grain). Thanks again. Next are the masts and finishing the rudder and centerboard. Jim

went out to pull cover off of the boat and wipe down to prep for epoxy. Found mold small spotty black soot like..... I wiped with mild bleach but didn't do much. Will it hurt to epoxy over the slight mold, or should I continue to bleach with mild solution? Weather is coolish 73 with winds blowing crap and dust after I wipe down. Is it okay to thin the epoxy with epoxy thinner, the way I have with the marine paint? It helped obviously with the painting. I plan on four or five thinned coats and then doing two or three coats of marine grade epoxy paint. Ideas Input begged for... Jim

Need rudder hardwear and mast materials, found mast materials but need to know length, seen lots of comments and am thinking 24 feet each for better sail clearance. Other hardwear will come in a few months websites to purchase? Need input and advice so I can do the rudder and the centerboard in the house inside the sunroom. Karen said I could build and glass both in the house as long as all epoxy stays on the project and gets nowhere else. Hull is preped for final epoxy coats and marine paint as soon as the weather cooperates. It sits in the drive waiting for warm and dry cause K took over the car port, kicked us both out. All tapping glass and keel installed, will be working on drilling brass keel plate 1x3/16 pieces paid about $90 with shipping. Any tips on installing, should I seal with calking, set in calking and screw down, ideas? K going to Japan and I'll resume control of garage to build the deck, I hope to launch in June.............. Input Appreciated Thanks, Jim A

Yes, I followed the plan as exactly as written and layed out, double tape inside and single outside. Even taped in the fir plates I installed to beef up the transom.

I am back in Louisiana from the faR NORTH OF mADAWASKA mAINE, WORKING AT THE WORLDS LARGEST PLYWOOD MILL, BUILDERS material 1/4" to 1 1/4 inch soft souther pine. I started back on the CS 20 about five weeks ago got all fiberglass tape on the bottom, Cut out the centerboard trunk, sanded and taped and cut a blank for the keel. Last weekend sanded down the centerboard, its made of walnut and hickory, heavy but may need to weight it at some future point. Scored the keel and set into thickened epoxy and screwed down with 30 2" bronze screws. Looks COOL. Will sand out residue and tape in today along with filling the set holes for the screws in prep for a brass cover that I ordered Wednesday. The brass is 1" x 3/16ths thick and comes in 2 8' lengths. Keel is just under 16 feet. Any recommendations for setting the brass strip will be appreciated. Oh yeah, I'll be working on the rudder, all pieces are cutout and shaped ready to out together except I don't have any of the fasteners, pinnel etc. got to figure out where to get those. I am ready to buy mast materials but misplaced instructions. How long are the masts and what material specs do I need? I can order right away and build in my sunroom, 35 foot long room by 14 foot, big play area and we've got no kids to upset or get into anything. I am thinking of adding fiberglass to the transom outside corners to add extra strength for installing motor. Most of the transom on the interior is back by 1" x 5 fir with these plates running to the top of the transom from the base at the hull up to a 1 x 7 fir plate across the top cut to the curve of the transom. This is all well set and fiberglassed in and the rear seat is a bench that covers the entire back where the deck is in the original design. The seat has a series of fir stringers framed in and is strong enough for my wife and I to stand on with no sag. The aft bench seat ties into the transom via a beam I set about mid height into the transom from one side to the other (port to starboard sides) and this beam is built up so the top of the seat sets onto the beam where it was epoxied down and fiberglassed into place. The reason I covered this in so much detail is the whole thing is very solid box and I don't know if i really need to fiberglass outside corners of the transom with more tape or cloth to prevent tear out over time. Any ideas? One way or the other, I hope to get two full coats of epoxy on the bottom on Sunday when it warms up. Glad to be back at work and progressing on the Marriah. Jim