PadrePoint

“Two tone” can at least be functional.

My family made plans for the September dates (and I couldn’t travel during most of May. Ted

I will likely do this as well to my CS17 (folding or popup cleats.). Curious, how far forward of the transom did you place them? And, I’ve been thinking about making a second companionway hatch cover. Currently it’s a single piece and stowed masts prevent me from lifting it out without also lifting the masts to provide the room. I plan to cut three boards to stack in the hatchway (that will prevent water from seeping in), each being able to be removed while the masts are in the stored position. Always SOMETHING to do, eh?

Maybe Swallows and Amazons been placed in the BANNED BOOKS list. It seems like the currently banned books lists include all kinds of my and my wife’s favorite childhood reading. Maybe books like Animal Farm too closely suggest current politics and we cannot have kids see or hear those words. (I apologize that my sarcasm meter is a little high today.) A DCA Journal from last year had an article about the Journal editor’s wife taking her granddaughters to the lake and island that served as base for the children’s novel. When I bought it for my grandkids I read through it first. The characters’ imagination and conversations are much like my granddaughters’ own. I’m hoping the book will inspire their sailing and boating interests. Rain is forecast for tomorrow so I told the girls that after raising the sails again and having some imaginative pirate play we’ll put things back into trailer mode and return the boat back into the garage.

We got the two grandgirls up here for the Easter weekend; their parents come up Friday night. SOOO…. let’s set up Avocet for the first time this year and do a little “trailer sailing.” They did all the steps needed to set everything up as I showed them the “ropes” and processes. (We’ll try out the reefing system tomorrow for something new.). Upon getting everything ready, they headed into the cabin for a snack. At home the family is currently working through the children’s novel, Swallows and Amazons (1920’s… four siblings sail their boat Swallows on a bunch of sailing and imaginative adventures.) So NOW that setup is done, their imagination is kicking in, and some gentle wind is coming up. Oh no, one just “fell overboard” and needs rescue (yes, we practice the drill when on the water… one gets to spontaneously throw a floaty and alert everyone, “man overboard!”) Back aboard and they are starting to get LOUD with orders and imaginative sailing adventures. How do two little girls make so much noise?? (It’s great.) Temps are dropping a bit so I supplied them with a couple blankets for the cabin bunks. Maybe they will chill at some point in their “sailing time”. I rigged the anchor to “lower” for some downtime. They asked about staying in it overnight… getting to 38 tonight… nah. (But, summer’s comin’!!)

2025 - Goal: a LOT more Boat Time I just got back home from a 300-mile round trip downstate to get Avocet out of its winter storage. (I rent 6 months’ of space from a guy who keeps his garage-building above 40 degrees; my daughter parks her little 13’ Scamp Camper there as well, among maybe 20 other RV’s and boats… nice arrangement for $55/month.) I paused at a rest area for a photo. I note that I have added nothing to this thread for over two years. I can’t believe how I slid along that long; my good intentions produced nothing. I will change that for this year’s sailing season. I might even add a few catch-up posts from the last couple years just to show that I actually did some sailing. And, I must admit that some family and health things took a lot of time and attention, especially this past year. I have devised some goals for this year. In particular, I intend to sail and camp on the lakes that are part of the Wisconsin River. I created a Facebook Group and described my summer’s goal in this post: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16GzGAh95J/?mibextid=wwXIfr I will use all three of my boats to accomplish the goal. The Eagle River Chain of Lakes (which the Wisconsin River runs into and out of) doesn’t seem conducive for a sailboat to explore many of the 28 lakes, but my 15’ ski boat would be a fun alternative for me to tour the lakes (I’ve only driven by a few of the chain’s lakes and I look forward to seeing the chain from the water.) So, after a month-long road trip out west with my wife in June, we plan to be home for July and August. I shall endeavor to accomplish this goal in 2025.

Yeah, there is that. Always gotta think of the big picture…. (and what’s worth it.)

I found a $29 Amazon tent with the door on the “side” that I could aim to the bow. I built a platform to fill the cockpit with an “egg crate” support. Yes, I’m 6’5”. This has worked successfully for me.

Well, Don, I s’pose to bring the mast down, just lift it straight up out of the hole, tip it over a little bit and let it go, it should come down fairly quickly. You really don’t need to make a tabernacle. You might need a new mast among other repairs, but you seem to enjoy boatbuilding.

And, I really appreciate those access ports in the sole of the cockpit. A few cups of water get into the compartments during a season but I’m easily able to sop the water out by reaching in with a rag. I leave the ports open during winter storage.

I will say that an aspect of my purchasing a full kit from B&B was the personal satisfaction of supporting a small business that supports some great people. AND, I found that every CNC cut piece fit correctly. And, I appreciated having the FULL kit with all the parts needed (other than screws and bolts). Having the FULL kit tremendously sped up the building process and it was the finished product I enjoy much more than the building part.

I built the 15’ from full kit. I’m glad I did. I finished the hull itself in three months. I then bought a 17’ mark 3 built by another. I enjoy both for various reasons. The CS17m3 can handle a lot more weather and is a joy to sail and use for overnights. The CS15 handles a lot of weather as well, but not as much (to my comfort/skill level) and I’ve camped aboard (with a tent) a few times… that works ok. I might feel challenged with the 17’ build as the mark 3 has a lot of extra work for the extra nice features… I’m glad I chose to build the 15’; THAT I could do. Interestingly, the open cockpit of the 15’ can manage a lot of people for a couple hours of sailing on a lake. I’ve had six adults and a kid or two in the 15’ and I thought it felt comfortable. It’s great to give people an opportunity to try their hand at sailing it. The CS15 has one reef and a third mast step (to move the mizzen forward as a single sail) for heavier winds; the CS17m3 has two reefs and water ballast. With both reefs in I found 20+ mph wind almost “boring” and let one out. So, again, I’m happy I chose the full kit approach of the Core Sound 15 as my build and enjoy it as much as my CS17, especially for its ease of trailering/setup/launch. I can be backing the rigged boat in 10-15 minutes upon arriving at the launch… it simply takes me longer with the 17’. My family seems to like the 15’ more for a few hours on the water. They say they feel closer and more connected with the water in the 15’ Core Sound. Don’t know if this helps.

I finished building and painting the hull of my Core Sound 15 from a full kit in less than 3 months. (My sails took a while due to COVID supply chain issues.) I paid attention to all the videos of Alan’s as he built the CS15. That was my primary source of information. It’s doable to someone with basic abilities and willingness. (I learned my body doesn’t like epoxy but effective precautions made it possible for me to build another epoxy boat the following year.) I could mention that a ninth grade girl across the street successfully built herself a Spindrift 10 from a B&B kit. I coached but SHE did the work.) My build blog:

I put a second pair of oarlocks into my CS15 such that I can sit on the forward thwart to row. I haven’t done that much, just enough to let me know it was a reasonable thing to do.

https://a.co/d/6hi5JhZ Seems pricy to me.