Jump to content

Steve W

Members
  • Posts

    1,329
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    113

Everything posted by Steve W

  1. I realized I'd never come back to show what I did for my trailer. My objective was to get as small and light a trailer as I could that would support Skeena safely and also allow her to fit in my garage with the door closed. After having hauled her to the Chesapeake once (8 hours) , Maine once (9.5 hours) and many local trips, I'm very happy with the rig. Keep in mind I sail locally in fresh water. Also, while an aluminum trailer is what I really wanted, they have been being stolen fro scrap and I leave mine for long periods. Probably overblown and there is the cheapness I inherited. I bought this trailer: Model JB1812. https://www.continentaltrailers.com/galvanized-bassboat_jonboat.htm I had a similar trailer for a Sea Pearl and I really liked it. I did jettison the bunk boards and put some 6" PT wide carpeted bunks, carefully positioning them so the centerboard slot is centered on the port one. This allows me to let the CB lay on the bunk. I cleat it loose in case the boat shifts but it hasn't happened. Also, before I put the carpet on, I glued some 3/8" closed cell foam to make the bunks gently cradle Skeena. From the front: The rollers are rally just there to keep the boat centered and don't have any weight on them. I did have a bit of trouble getting her centered when I retrieved off a gravel beach, so I added these guides. Because they are near the back where the boat is narrower, They are set a bit wide, but they get the job done. I trailer with the rudder on locally, but I put her in the truck bed for long trips. The motor rides right there. I have a nice lock on it. The strap is off as it blocks access to the seat lockers. Also notice I stole Graham's sprit cradle idea. It's brilliant. Anyway, every trailer is a compromise, but I can just barely get the boat into my 24' deep garage and close it. Yeah! Take Care, Steve
  2. Unfortunately the 20's widest spot is midships. So on Skeena's trailer I have set as shown. The good news is I have it in my head how far the gap should be to keep them distanced.
  3. Love to hear your assessment of the Scamp. I have a friend that wants to build a boat and I'm trying to talk him into building a CS15 (his garage is small) instead.
  4. Looks good. I'd be sure to cut the washers and ends of the bolts off. The boat will find any sharp thing. ? I'll be curious to see how getting the boat centered works when retrieving when you can't get the boat along a dock. A few of my favorite ramps are just gravel slopes as they eliminates the impatient jerks and as such are little used. With all the wind-age on a 20' boat it's hard to keep her aligned on retrieval without wading in. I did add some bunk guides to the back of the trailer to get Skeena centered, but I dunk my trailer (I'm in fresh water 95% of the time) and can't always see if it's centered when I'm not in super clear water. I'll be curious to see how getting the boat centered works. Once I get towards retirement salt water will be calling and if the goal is not to get the trailer in the water this looks like a good investment. Take Care, Steve
  5. I used White Oak for the keel strip on Suzy J, my Spindrift 11N. I haven't used her heavily, but she has been beached enough the epoxy and paint coating has been compromised. White Oak, being closed cell has held up. The closed cell properties can make gluing reliably difficult they say, but I've not experienced this. As a precaution, I took a cheap harbor freight saw blade and knocked a tooth out to make a really rough cut on the glued edge. I did not use any fasteners but I did glue it down while the cloth was not fully cured. I did the exact same thing on Skeena, my Core Sound 20.3. The only thing different is I had to put a screw in the front and back to hold it down as I found straps didn't seem to work well while gluing. I shallow V cut the strip on the glued side with the same crappy blade I used on the Suzy J. The Epoxy on the hull cloth was definitely cured a few days, but the bond seems excellent. I piled cinder blocks along it on plastic to hold it down between the screws. Because of the weight of the boat and it being on a trailer, I did radius the top to match hollow-back and I used short screws and 4200 to bed it. It has held up really well, although I decided to use wide bunk boards that support the longitudinal bulkheads (and the released centerboard) while trailering, so it doesn't get as much torture as originally planned with keel support. I hope this helps you make a decision. They are all compromises. Take Care, Steve
  6. Congratulations on your build. It looks great and I really liked the video with all your crew. Sailkote, which is a dry lubricant does a great job on the sail tracks.
  7. Love the color scheme! More pics please!
  8. Mark.....what came to mind was "Go big or go home!" That is an epic gash/repair!
  9. I wrapped mine and at the green stage measured with calipers. I added an extra wrap or two until I was just a bit over. The I took my orbital sander and brought it into a nice snug fit by laying the tube on a flat bench and rolling while I sanded. Very easy and it came out really nice.
  10. Looking this over makes me feel o inadequate. When i fractured a panel I just injected glue into it, and clamped it under plastic with a lot of weight. Luckily it was still flat. I marked it and after assembly I laid some glass on the inside. I'm guessing none of this was an otion for you that far along. It's these challenges that are the most memorable when it's all over.
  11. Mark, that looks sweet. I somehow bumped my keel and it's about 3/16" out of straight. I was so sad about that mistake, but she sails just fine! You are making fine progress now!
  12. I'm not sure about a fish finder, but I put my transducer inside the boat. Here's how I did it: https://messing-about.com/forums/topic/9419-core-sound-20-mark-iii-3-skeena/?do=findComment&comment=106509
  13. Wow. Buiding in the basement had some lows: epoxy chrystalizing, dust, noise, and the eventual difficult extraction. But year round 58 was so nice. Working on it outside at 90 sucks, but 99? Ouch.
  14. Mark, I used a piece of white oak , which is very rot resistant closed pore wood. Its fault has been said that it doesn't glue well. I have a old cheap table saw blade I banged a tooth or two off so it leaves a rough finish. I glued the strip down after a radius was added to accept 3/4 stainless hollow back rub rail, which I glued/ screwed on. 19 sails in with no irssues. Hope this helps.
  15. Thanks. I took my course out of Liberty Landing Marina. We were tacking with all the boat traffic.....excursion boats, ferries, cargo, pleasure boats. I was kind of having an mental overload when my instructor said "relax, I heard if you can make it here you can make it anywhere......"
  16. That is awesome. I took my charter certification out of New York and spent a week sailing those water. I'd planned to take Skeena there this fall. where did you launch?
  17. One thing I did was to put a 2 x 6 tied tight to the rear d rings. With a hole in its middle and the bow eye supported i could flip the boat easily by myself.
  18. These post bring back memories, which are getting better with time. There are some people (Chick, I'm talking about you) who love to build. And others, like me that just want a boat that I couldn't get unless I built it myself and liked, but didn't love the building process. Now I'm at that point where I go sailing and am amazed I finished and it sails so well.. I hope you are more like Chick. I'm looking forward to that sailing day for you. I like that you painted the aft storage. I didn't, and it's kind of dark in there.
  19. Pete, I like what you did, but I've had a hard time feeling comfortable leaving the cockpit and going below to pop up and work the sail when sailing solo. I feel pretty helpless leaving the tiller, halyards and sheets for even a second. Also, my hatch contains a solar panel on it's lid and I made the exact same dogs Graham did on Carlita and I'm uncomfortable leaving the hatch un-dogged at the time I'm needing a reef or two. By the time I go forward, make a change, re-dog it just doesn't feel right. I'm hopeful this change will accomplish what I want from the cockpit for the most part. I'm close to having the second reef point rigged (maybe tomorrow) to test. I can reach the first two reef ties from the companionway. Also, in a pinch it's easy to drop the sail.
  20. One advantage your slide open hatch design has is the ability to pop out of it. I tried and think it's not really practical for my hinged hatch. I keep it dogged and by the time I could go below and pop out I might jibe or worse. I do think adding a downhaul will make it easy to add the first reef from the cockpit. I dropped sail to add it before, but it was slow. I did pause to reef the mizzen. Tying the first two sail ties was easy and safe standing on the cabin step.
  21. I just got back from a 4 day 3 night trip on Skeena. I love this boat so much. Everything just worked out great. I've tweaked a few things to the way I like them, but the design is just awesome. I do plan on adding a second down-haul forward. I ordered the parts from B & B. Sunday morning the wind piped up to where I needed to reef the main and I wasn't comfortable going out on the Cabin top to move the down-haul hook up to reef. I dropped the sail to accomplish this but I think I would be fine lowering the sail by releasing the halyard and pulling down on the 2nd down-haul. Pointing up I can easily reach the reef cleats and I'd easily have the first reef in. Once I added the Mizzen reef I would then go forward to move the original down-haul up to the 3rd reef spot in case a 2nd reef became necessary. None of this has been necessary because up to this point I almost always had crew. I am also going to add some kind of a tent from the mizzen mast forward over the companionway. The UV index for all four days was off the charts and it was warm in the cabin. I used an umbrella to stay out of the sun a few times, but I really need to rig something. Any suggestions would be welcomed. I'm heading to Maine 2 weeks from now and I need to scramble on this. My dermatologist told me so ?. Pics and a video soon. Steve
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.