Steve W

So here is what I did for years on my Sea Pearl, never losing an expensive brass oarlock. Take a piece of light chord, tie it to that tiny hole. Take the other end and make a loop big enough to slip over the oarlock. That's it. If they pull out they just hang themselves. No way you can lose them. And you can just pull the oarlock off and let it hang down on the chord when not in use.

Ha! People ask me all the time how many hours it took to build Skeena. My answer is always "should I include the thinking hours?"

Jay, this is looking amazing. I am planning to finally bring Skeena to the Messabout this year. Hope the MF is there!

I tried to paint the interior neatly and leave the deck beams exposed. It just didn't work and I painted the interior with good quality paint, all one color. Looks awesome and touch up is not stressful. Decided to not let perfection be the enemy of good......

I can only compare the Suzuki 2.5 and the Honda 2, which is now 2.3. Both pushed my CS 20.3 just fine. I loved the Honda until I got the Suzuki. It's a lot quieter and has a real F-N shift and not that centrifugal clutch the Honda had. They both weigh about the same and are real good on gas. I've thought about having a bigger motor to run tides, but light weight is key. I do like the sound of the this: https://www.epropulsion.com/spirit-evo/ I have had Skeena plenty times over 4 knots and the fact it could charge itself looks promising.

Flashback building horror! I made a beautiful thwart out of Spanish Cedar, carefully measuring. Wen I beveled the slots to match the slope on the sides I did it on the wrong side. That screwed up piece taunted me until it became trim for the companion way on Skeena. BTW, she looks great!

This exciting to see. Will you bring the MF (ha!) to the Messabout? I am planning on finally bringing Skeena.

I've watched this video many times. I hope to do the EC next year if all goes well this summer and there is a lot to ponder in what you provided. I've found my CS20.3 quite weatherly, but it's light weight can be a liability in a steep chop. I also think she already presents a big profile with the raised deck, so others beat me to it with the suggestion the dodger isn't your friend going to weather. I do have question.....did you ever row the boat and if so, how did that go? Take Care, Steve

I learned from a serial boat builder (yeah, you!) about these and they are a go to tool in my shop.

Love the Flying Cradle. Nice work!

It's hard to believe that dead horse of a tracking map they have been beating for years is the best they can do. Times out on every refresh. Anyone have an update?

I'm watching EC dots on my screen and missing the important stuff. How Exciting. Welcome to the World Henry! Congratulations Alan and Taylor and the entire B & B family.

That tamer is the one I have on Skeena. It's really great.

Pete, I've played this over in my mind bunch of times. I tell my kids all the time "Stupid Hurts" and this was one of those time my own stupidity hurt. I failed at so many things that day. Flipping a switch to fill the ballast tank as the first "reef" is so obvious and yet it never crossed my mind. I think the tenderness of my Sea Pearl had tricked me. The CS is so stable I just wasn't feeling the obvious and also, the mizzen carries far more sail area/leverage than the SP. I am sure if I had the water in things would have been far different. As for righting, Teddy and I weigh about #325 together. We had a another small kid at one point that probably weighted 50# tops as we had her righting. The water ballast in the boat is more than this and though we had more leverage out on the C-board, at the time the boat is on her feet, you don't have the drag of the rigging in the water. Water ballast is just a convenient substitute for ballast that makes towing easy and offers the possibility of better light air performance. I hate that anyone would think the design is suspect. I see the B & B folks moved the C-board forward , which is a good idea. I don't have any weather helm with both sails up fully. I plan to make the mizzen sheet release a bit easier by changing to a pivoting block. I couldn't release the mizzen when we were going over because of the side pull. But again, I shouldn't have had to. If there is a lesson here for all......put the water in first.

Pete, there was just a crack in the top, and it remained above the water line, so the cockpit drained itself. Unfortunately she was upside down long enough for a lot of water to get in the cabin. My hatch drop boards are tight, but the gaps between the hatch boards let quite a bit of water in. Basically it was about even with the seat tops. The bummer was that I only had hinges on the bunk hatches so all my stuff fell out and was everywhere and soaked. I was able to bail into the cockpit and it ran out the drains. Nothing in the cockpit lockers got wet. The Aft locker of course was full and had to be pumped dry. Did I mention how dumb this whole event was? I can't wait for spring!

Don, the weight of the lead tip and my sharp trailing edge make for a hell of a guillotine. I like your idea, but worry that something like that would just create a different problem in an inaccessible area. on my boat, I think the best solution is to just use the water ballast. I had a perfect storm that day. pop-up storms, a stalled boat in the middle of a insane "puff" a hard sheet-ed jib, and no easy way to release. Dumb stuff happens, but I have no good reason not to have had the water in. I was super lucky to not have greater damage. This boat is a great design. I have some footage where I'm double reefed on both sails and she's well behaved, with the water.

That's awesome!

I just put round hatches in all three of Suzy J's buoyancy tanks. Thieves are pretty lazy and I'm not sure anyone is going to take a chance on looking in there on the hope they find something valuable. Also, the N series don't have a as much buoyancy as the regular ones and I'd hate to compromise it. I always put my keys and wallet and phone in the tank. I haven't capsized the 11N yet. Go figure.

Ironically I just got the mail. I was surprised to find this letter, hat, sticker and copy of the magazine from WB What is really neat is that the had has embroidered the issue Skeena was in. Well done WB! I hope some builders see this and decide to build a CS20.3 or any other B & B boats. Take Care, Steve

Some of you mentioned you saw Skeena in WoodenBoat magazine. I have been a subscriber for many years and always go to the Launchings section first. I think all us builders have a certain kinship. To get in the launchings section, you have to submit a picture and fill out a form. Link is here: WoodenBoat Launchings So I think my mailman reads my magazine before he delivers it as I got mine long after I bought a copy at the grocery store. Here's the content: They linked it on their website: https://www.woodenboat.com/boat-launchings/skeena

Pete, I agree with everything you posted here. I have had a few reasons to go up on the cabin roof and I aim to make them go away. On launch, the two lower cringles are used. If I put a reef in, it would be desirable to put the first unused hook into the third cringle t to be ready to reef a third time and hook back up easily if un-reefing. I can't quite reach this without going out on the cabin roof. Another reason is anchoring. I put an anchor roller forward which I like. But I have sailed up to anchor and not been able to drop anchor without lowering sail first. In theory this is fine, but in an emergency it isn't. I'd like to be able to reach the anchor cleat without going forward. I have thought of alternate ways to do this, but I haven't thought of anything that wouldn't contribute to more rigging time, which to me is another enemy. For the record, I have fallen overboard on other boats, but luckily it's always been from goofing around. Now that I'm a bit older I'm getting more concerned. I plan on doing quite a bit of single handing.

Pete, I totally agree and I like your suggestion. I am still disappointed in myself for capsizing, but I've done dumber things before and I'm filing that in the "live and learn" category. Since that incident back in June I added a better way to reef and worked to get more weight low. I am currently toying with rebuilding the hatch. I really can't tie reefs in the mainsail without climbing on the cabin top and I don't think that is a good place to be. When I added my hatch I bedded it in a latex house caulk so I could remove it if I didn't like it. I'm thinking of a sliding hatch like the one Graham had posted, but instead of making it three slides, I'd make it two, with the garage in the spot my forward hatch is now. Slid forward, I could easily reach the reef ties and leaning forward I could reach the mast. About the only thing that I would give up is the superior ventilation provided by the hatch tipped up. I'm only at the thinking stage. I just got back from Nordic skiing a few miles. Spring seems a long way off.

Can you just take the sheets out of the blocks at night and tie to the mast?

I've had that same setup on quite a number of boats. It's superior and also inexpensive. The nice part is there is no instruction required if you ask somebody to steer and you can nudge the tiller with your feet, shin or whatever to make course corrections.