Samantha Ritchie

We just finished the Salish 100 here in Puget Sound. We sailed with about 65 boats (all 22 feet or less) from Olympia to Port Townsend in our Core Sound 17 Mark 3. Then we turned around and sailed back again to Olympia. It was great fun. B and B Yacht Design was well represented, with our boat and Clementine, a Bellhaven design.

I believe you built a beautiful OB 26 called Rosie, which I have read about. Nice job! We enjoyed building the CS17, but want to get going on this Great Loop idea before we get the infirmities of old age.

We are interested in purchasing a used Outer Banks 24 and are wondering if there are any out there for sale. We built a Core Sound 17 Mark 3 and love it, so we'd like to stay with a B and B design. We want to do the Great Loop in an Outer Banks. Any thoughts? Samantha

Thanks, Frank! I don't know what I was doing wrong, but I could not get it to download properly.

Core Sound 17 Mark 3 story.docx [Edit by Frank to include content] The CS 17 Mk 3 Good Morning We started building our Core Sound 17 Mark 3 in January 2022 and finished it in July 2024. I knew nothing about boat building when we started, but can now make a decent fillet, know a machine screw from a tapping screw, and can tip and roll with the best of them. Dave, my husband, was a reasonably patient teacher, and taught me many things-including that when I think a surface is smooth, it always needs more sanding. In the final analysis, all the hours in the shop were worth it. Our boat is beautiful. I am quite proud of our boat, named Good Morning. We had her christening and launch in mid-July, then shortly thereafter sailed her in the Salish 100 from Olympia up to Port Townsend, Washington, a distance of about 100 miles. Then we turned around and sailed her home. Since her launch, we have sailed about 350-400 miles, and she has performed admirably. We generally take our 70 pound dog JoJo with us on our outings, and there is enough room in the cabin for all of us to get a good night's sleep. (In our previous boat, a beloved Scamp, nobody slept much when Jojo came along.) We live on Henderson Inlet in the south of Puget Sound. The boat is moored at our little dock, and she sits in the mud when the water recedes with the 16 foot daily tide swings. That hasn't seemed to bother her. The bottom paint has stopped growth of barnacles, and she seems to be handling the time in the water well. We have not had much experience towing her, although we hope to do so in the future so we can explore other bodies of water. We have changed a few things. We increased the length of the main sprit and we put two openings in the combings for more easy storage. For the main, we have an uphaul line attached to the tack, which lifts the bottom of the sail up to the sprit. There is also a topping lift attached to the back of the main sprit, which keeps the sprit from falling onto the deck when the sail is lowered. There's a line on the mizzen mast that can be looped over the back of the main sprit to lift the sprit to the height we want. For the mizzen, we move the halyard to the back of the mizzen sprit and use it to lift the mizzen sail up out of the way. With this setup, when we are done sailing, we can have the sails lifted out of the way, but ready to go the next time we want to head out. I know many people with a Core Sound 17 mostly go for day sails, but we tend to go out for overnight or multi-day cruises. Since we are used to the 12 foot Scamp, the space on the CS17 seems plenty roomy to us. When at the dock, the boat looks like this: Our motor is an EP Carry, a small electric motor that isn't very powerful, but is very reliable. We have a solar panel that can charge it, or we can plug in at the dock. We try to use it as little as possible. Although boats with gas motors can go a lot faster and farther, we like the fact that this motor always starts, is relatively quiet, doesn't pollute, and is kind of like having a rower on board. One more innovation: our dinghy. With a dog on board, it's important to be able to get the pup to shore. We have an inflatable canoe, made more stable by adding a little outrigger, which consists of a yellow roller. When towed, the dinghy doesn't slow the boat down much, and Jojo can jump into or out of the dinghy without turning the whole thing over. Granted, we have only used it in calm weather, but so far, so good. Thus far, out boat has seen us through days with LOTS of wind, including an unanticipated thunder and lightning storm, with 40 mile an hour gusts. We've also had days with very little wind. During those times, we sometimes read aloud to each other. The current book is Flotsam and Jetsam by Robb White. I encourage you to read it. One great line from that book: "The important thing ain't comfort, it's joy." I am very grateful to Graham for designing this wonderful boat, and to Alan for helping us as questions came up with the build. i am also grateful to the people we met when we went to a B and B Messing About in 2022. Thanks, Padre Point , who gave us a sail on Avocet, and thanks to the owner of Blue Duck. What a great boat!

Padre Point, I always liked those yellow accents on Avocet! Thanks for your reply, and for yours, Paul. We have thought about the ePropulsion.

We just finished building our Core Sound 17 Mark 3, named Good Morning. We have been using an electric motor, made by EP Carry, on our Scamp, but are thinking about getting something bigger for the new boat. Has anyone had experience with the Suzuki 2.5 or the Torqeedo on the Core Sound 17? Any advice would be appreciated. Samantha

Thank you all for the replies! That was VERY helpful. We have the lines now for the bottom paint, and can add the lines for the boot stripe. We want to put bottom paint on for two reasons: first, where we live, at the base of Puget Sound, barnacles attach very quickly to the bottom of boats. Second, we hope to do some lengthy cruises in this boat. (We have been cruising in a Scamp, so the CS17 will be spacious.) I'm going to look into that Devoe's Devthane 379. Mark, your boat is beautiful.

We decided to put System 3 Pennant Primer on first, which is all done and looks pretty good. I think we are gong to go with Seahawk AF33 for bottom paint, and Pettit EZPoxy for top coat. The big quandary right now is how to figure out where to put the waterline, and therefore where to stop the bottom paint. We have looked at the plans, and see the line drawn on there. Our upside down boat is not particularly level right now, so we are not sure how to proceed. Any suggestions?

Thanks to all for your help!

Padre Point and Don, The boat looks fantastic! I especially like the companion way storage units. Our boat is never going to be as beautiful, but your work gives me something to aim for!

We are at the point where we need to figure out the right paint for our Core Sound 17 Mark 3, which we started building a year ago. The hull is fiberglassed and sanded, and we need to bite the bullet and purchase paint. We will be sailing her mainly in Puget Sound. We have read about bottom paints and primers and talked to people at West Marine and at Duckworks, but the topic seems pretty confusing. So... what would you suggest for primer, bottom paint, and top side paint? We know we don't want high gloss, and we hope not to have to repaint too often. We would be grateful for any suggestions.

We have done the Salish 100 three times on our 12 foot Scamp. This year, if our Core Sound 17 Mark 3 is completed in time, we will sail her instead. If I can answer any questions about the Salish 100, please let me know.

We are trying to figure out a good way to attach the round hatch for the aft locker (lazrette) on the CS17 M3, Any suggestions?

Thanks, Mark and Graham. I think we are going to go with a hand pump instead of the Venturi bailers. It's nice to know that the folks at the inspection stations were able to see what they needed to see. We are dry fitting pieces into the boat, and will need to cut the centerboard slot, which seems intimidating. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks, Padre Point. I'll try that the next time I send photos. We are not ready to start the ballast tank yet, but wonder if anybody has any experience with regulations for invasive species like zebra muscles. Is it possible to inspect the tank well enough to prove you don't have any hitchhikers? Has anybody had difficulties with inspection stations? We hope to trailer this boat to lots of interesting places.

I am trying to post photos, but they come up sideways, and I don't see a way to flip them right side up. They are right side up on my Mac desktop.

Things are coming along slowly. We unfolded the boat about a week ago, and are putting in the transom today. Thanks for the heads up about Fisheries Supply, Mark. That sounds like an outing in the works. We have already been to Duckworks several times. B270F675-37AB-4218-8196-2CC4AF260EC1.heic F580A284-B87C-4803-938B-B5A286317408.heic

We are almost done putting together the bulkheads, and the next step is working on the bunk hatches. I read a thread from 2019 about piano hinges vs other possibilities, including carbon fiber hinges. Any updates on that? And any good sources for stainless steal piano hinges appropriate for the bunk hatches? I like the idea of the cotton ball test-- thanks for posting that!

Today we organized all the pieces, and started actually constructing the first part of the boat, working on the transom and the bulkheads before starting on the hull. Enjoyed learning how to round corners with the router. There is so much to learn!

Thanks, Padre Point. I enjoyed reading the blog about the pink boat built by Weezer with your guidance.

Thank you all for your comments. We are flo coating pretty much the way it is described in The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction. We put down a thin film of Silvertip Fast Epoxy, wait about an hour, then use the notched squeegee to put on a coat that self-levels quite well. The flo coat is meant to take the place of three thinner coats. All the pieces we have done thus far are for the interior of the boat, and it sounds like we should be particularly careful about preparing any edges that need to be bonded/filleted. It also sounds like we should do the hull in the more traditional three coat way. We have limited space in the shop, so plan to do the piece-work described in the plans while we still have a big surface to work on, before starting the hull. Thus far, I have learned the following: 1. Even if the shipper loses my boat kit for three weeks (which did in fact happen), I should not lose my cool. They did eventually find it. Alan helped encourage them to look! 2. There is an art to epoxying, and it is learnable. 3. Particularly in this time of Covid, it's really fun to have a big, interesting project. Samantha

After much anticipation, I got my Core Sound 17 Mark 3 kit in early January. We decided to epoxy all of the pieces --except for the finger joint ones-- before actually starting the build. Our thinking is that it is much easier to flo-coat epoxy on flat surfaces now rather than trying to do all that epoxying later. I have never built a boat before, but my husband has, and he is my instructor in this endeavor. I know we will have to sand before actually starting construction, but I am worried that the secondary bonding of dried epoxy won't be as strong as chemical bonding. I'd appreciate any comments! Samantha

Hi, Mark. Your boat looks wonderful. I enjoyed reading about the build. I think what I need to do now is find a completed boat, preferably both a CS17 MK3 and a CS20 Mk3 that I can go out in. I have never sailed any Core Sound boat, but I really like the looks of them and the cat ketch design. We have a lot of fun in our Scamp, but for multiday trips, it really is too small, especially with the dog. I know the CS17 isn't very big, but I think it will feel palatial compared to the 12 foot Scamp. Samantha

Thank you so much, Mark! I will talk to my husband and perhaps we can come to Spokane to see your boat. What were the reasons you decided to build the 20 instead of the 17? Is there a lot more room in the cabin? And how was the build? Sam