Steve W

I do what Don has shown in the pics. I usually put sail ties around the sail and sprit together. If you undo the downhaul, you can pull the whole bundle up the sail track. With a topping lift (I use my mizzen staysail halyard) you can get the whole rig up and out of your way. This is probably the best pic I have although the topping lift is normally pulled higher.

I'm of no help other than to add that having compass that's easy to read is a joy. I use mine mostly to hold course or make sure whoever I'm sailing with is holding course. I know you are younger than me, so make sure you anticipate the days of older eyes. Bigger and closer are better. I added that same Silva compass I had on Wildcat and it was just too small where it was mounted on Skeena. Here is the backlit big font upgrade on the cockpit forward bulkhead. Sadly, it's hard to see exactly where this is. I'll shoot a better pic tonight.

Thanks Alan, 1. I spent a lot of time in Maine in light wind, Adjusting the snotter constantly on various point of sail was tiring. I couldn't see any reason not to change, but I'd rather have your endorsement. 2. That's exactly what I meant. Thanks for the pic. Sharp edge it will be. Video close to done! Also, FWIW, I think it's time to finish your boat and join the fun. Finally, thanks for the great boat. You and Graham and the whole B & B team provided a boat that has brought me a lots of joy.

Some stuff. I spent 8 nights in Maine. I'll have a video soon. Skeena was a beast. Maine is amazing. Two great moments for this group: 1. We went to visit Brooklin Boat Yard and there was a sign "dinghy's only". I sailed close to ask where to anchor and an employee asked if I build Skeena. When I said yes he told me I could stay, but my friends production boats could anchor "over there". Ha! 2. At Southwest Harbor a Hinckley Yacht employee was in the middle of fueling a new power boat with 850 gallons of fuel. I walked up with my 1 gallon can and he pulled the hose out of the new boat and gassed me up and said it was on him. Said he had noticed Skeena coming in and engaged me about the design, build etc. More to come. For now, a couple of questions. 1. The mizzen snottier attaches to a single attachment point. The main is on a bridal. I'd like to switch the mizzen to the bridal setup like the main. Any reason not to? 2. I never filled in the aft part of the C-board trunk after lengthening it. Alan suggested using foam in the instructions. Is the leading edge sharp? Rounded? Tapered? Take Care, Steve

I have a 50' dock on the Erie Canal in Pittsford NY. Plenty of room to tie up if you get out this way. What do you expect the displacement to be? Take Care, Steve

Paul, you will have to ask Alan. My boat didn't have a mizzen tabernacle as designed. During the build I was sailing a Sea Pearl, and while the masts weren't that heavy, they seemed to get heavier each year! Someone asked if there could be a tabernacle for the mizzen (Pete McCrary- "Chessie" maybe) and once I saw the design I added it to Skeena with the plans Alan & Graham supplied. It allows one handed mast raising. As for lowering it, remember that lowering the mast pivot point would make the horizontal masts interfere with the cabin hatch. I've motored down the Erie canal with the masts down and lived on the boat for a few nights before I got to open water to sail. I wouldn't want them any lower, and I'm planning on making an extension to raise the aft part of the masts higher to support my rain fly for those types of excursions. Hope this was helpful and I'm enjoying your build. I'm especially interested in you experience with the electric motor. Take Care, Steve

I just got back from a week in Maine on Skeena. What a boat (full report to come). Anyway, I had made a mod that worked out really well. Here it is: It's a clamp on golf umbrella made for a push or pull golf cart. I added a handle to the front of the mizzen tabernacle to clamp it to. Unbelievable how a little shade can be like magic. We had a few stretches where we motored with no breeze and it was nothing short of amazing. It's tilted a bit here, but the umbrella is very adjustable and stood up to a decent manufactured breeze just fine. I was thinking how handy this would have been when Amos and I were getting scorched last fall heading to the messabout. Link to Umbrella Link to handle

I added the gear shelves to Skeena this past weekend. It took so much time I couldn't help wonder how I was able to ever build Skeena. I didn't have any 6mm Okume, so I overed the pre-cut pieces from B & B. They fit great except the slot for the first bulkhead was off. No biggie, I filled it with Epoxy. Both the shelf bottom and face were a bit short, but I had a few scraps to stretch them. The location Alan sent a diagram might have had them a bit higher, but I leveled the waterline and put them where they seemed right, and I'm pretty happy Of course the Epoxy had crystalized over the winter, I couldn't find all my tools, etc. so the going was slow. I also added a couple of new cleats to the cabin top and created backing plates, so there was a lot going on. I had to sand the paint back and later tonight I'll clean the blush so she'll be ready for paint later this week. Not shown was a little dam I made so if I spill something on the shelves it won't run down the wire cutout. I feel like this shelve will hold the book I'm currently reading and stuff like snacks that I need access too during the day. I may run a 12V socket so charging is close by. We'll see. Garage sailing has me convinced it's a great upgrade. In a week and a half my daughter and I are heading to Maine for a week so I'll have a full report. Update: this mod is a must! So much easier to keep stuff handy both during the ay and sleeping.

I am adding 3/4 hollow back stainless Rub Rails to Skeena. I'm having trouble sourcing 12' long rails (4 required) without enacting a $400 dollar truck shipping charge. I can get 6 foot lengths. Any source for 12 foot or 10 foot pieces? If you used 6' pieces how did that work? Any other advice? Thanks, Steve

When I was finishing up Skeena, I had a lot of trouble finding 3/4 hollow back stainless rub rail. After refinishing the teak rubrails I used, I'm revisiting this again. I made them with profile that would allow me to add 3/4 so it's a matter of sourcing. It's hard to find in 12' lengths (would need 4 lengths) , so if you have a source LMK. If you went with 6' sections (readily available), also LMK how that went. Thanks in advance!

Paul, That hatch is really nice. I like how you can still have the dodger, solar panel and have the IMHO superior sliding hatch. My kids love to hang their feet in the cabin sitting forward on the cabin top and I like to sand up their captive like a tank commander on the lookout while someone else is at the helm. Well done. Take Care, Steve

That does look great. I can't see the pic of the garage top.

Paul, this looks like a great setup. Are you adding Solar charging?

"Common sense prevails" coming from a sailboat builder. I've now heard it all......?

Amos and I just sailed/motored last fall from Chesapeake city to the B & B Messabout , each with our own respective Core Sound 20 Mark III. We both used Suzuki 2.5 hp motors and they worked well. I am a big proponent of electric, but for that trip, we had some long runs under power, and charging would have not been possible. I do like the idea of the E-propulsion motor for the typical use of these boats to get in and out of ramps and harbors where long motoring runs aren't neccesary. As for the Suzuki, I like it but it has no reverse. On a light boat with a lot of windage "Skeena" can get blown around easily. I've had a few close calls pulling into docks in tight quarters when I'm by myself. It takes too long to reverse swinging the engine around. I also have a lot of more motor sailing plans that include the Rideau canal in Canada, and possible a long trip down the Erie canal/Huson river, through NYC to St Michaels MD. I have now purchased a Suzuki 6 hp which is way more power than necessary. Truthfully the 2.5 was plenty and the 4hp would be fine, but the 6 weighs the same as the 4 and I got a great deal on it. It adds about 20 pounds to the stern compared to the 2.5. It has an internal tank and a a remote tank. When motoring long distances, I would carefully fill my tank on the 2.5 with a MSR fuel bottle on the fly. On longer trips like that I'm planning to use the bigger fuel tank which should be nice. I will post soon how thinks go with the bigger Suzuki. I hope this helps.

My son and I took a lot of video from a trip I was invited on last month. Hope you enjoy.

Andy, it makes me happy to see that picture. WildCat was pretty tender (wild) and the name was chosen from my daughter's reading of the Swallows and Amazon's series. I always liked that name for her. She treated my family well and I have many similar pictures. Skeena was the name of our family cat. She was supposed to be Christina but my daughter at 4 had a hard time saying it and she became Skeena. I'm pretty happy with that name. Tim, I bought a stamp at Michaels for 5 bucks and a stamp pad for another 6. Deciding the way cats walk was the hard part. I looked at all kinds of prints on line and finally decided to not let perfection be the enemy of good. The stamp pad is permanent brown ink and it worked great. I did practice on a piece of paper. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Also, getting my current cat Leo to do anything useful would be problematic. He's never getting a boat named after him unless I build something useless. Here he is in front of the heater sleeping.

Glad you all like it. If you go this route, the swing arm needs about 10 minutes with a file to clean up the machining, followed by some paste wax to make it all slide on the dovetails smoothly. The parts are very nice quality and once you do this, it's a great upgrade.

After spending so much time on the boat going to the MASCF and then on Amos and my travel to the Messabout, I got really thinking about a table. Mostly I cook and spend most time in the cockpit, but there were some times after the bugs came out and I was in the cabin I just needed some horizontal space. My friend Doug mentioned an idea of a table mount he's seen on a camper van conversion. I wound up getting a mount on Amazon and here are a few pics. The boat is named after a cat, so I added a little whimsy on the top. It's just a 1/2 piece of maple plywood with a maple edge. The top is big enough for two to eat or play cards. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the mount is through the bulkhead. It came with a backing plate that makes the whole rig rock solid. You can also see the pivot from the table is offset making for many options of table placement. Each of the connections has a built in "wrench" to tighten everything down. It's amazingly sturdy. The best part is that it pops off in two seconds and can be stowed out of the way. I sized the table so it will fit in the locker aft of the bunks, but my guess is that I'll just lay it on the back part of the bunk while sailing. The video shows best: Cabin Table.mp4 Link to part

I came across some video footage on my phone from back at MASCF last October. This was taken by my friend Joe right after the start which is a strange downwind leg. The last clip is right before we put Skeena back in the Slip. I ultimately made a strategic mistake by being in the lead and not knowing which channel marker indicated the next leg of the race. I was in the lead and looked back to wonder why nobody was following. By the time I realized my mistake, I'd lost significant ground. But its a race for fun anyway and Skeena and her new centerboard performed awesome.

These are the ones I bought. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GBY77WV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1 They are pretty stiff. For the application, I was convinced I needed collapsible poles. Truth is that I roll up the tarp with the poles still in the sleeve and store it below in one long package along the starboard bunk.

I'm in the "don't use ripstop for a tent" camp. In an actual tent, you have the luxury of pitching to avoid the wind. Unfortunately, even on a lee shore, you can be in the wind, and that ripstop is going to drive you nuts. I've rigged many boats over the years, but all were different. Imagine what you want and then pattern it with a roll of paper. That's what I did in most cases. I then used the paper as a pattern when cutting the pieces. About the only thing I've done with my CS20 Mark III Skeena is to make this fly. the only reason I am showing this is that the poles across a ridge rope really do a great job of supporting the top.

I remember filing my hole a bit up and down to fit mine. I had the luxury of doing it with just the bottom section before I put the mast together. I don't think a bit of vertical elongation will hurt you much, especially on the inside.

I loved my Sea Pearl (Andy owns it now). It was a better boat for ghosting in light conditions, although my mizzen staysail helps Skeena on a reach. And the SP rowed better. It takes a good amount of sailing to get them dialed in. They like to heel a bit to keep the sails full and weigh distribution is critical. Jarhead at his peak would be having a race in light conditions like this. But I am always rooting for the B & B boats.

Wow! Nice work.