Steve W

Nice pic! I like that mizzen sheeting. It seems like it would have less chance of fouling the motor. Any thoughts on that?

I would put this in the not likely category. The cleat that runs across the top is pretty thick and the sides are plywood. I can tell you that on my 20 the board sits below the slot. I may have a picture somewhere.

That method Graham shows is to get a variable waterline, which might be best for our light boats, whereas the video is to get a straight one. An alternative is to put the waterline a bit higher than normal. I think a waterline that is too low (right at or below the waterline) looks bad. I haven't done anything on Skeena but I'll be watching.......

Looks great!

Not cheap, but here it is: https://www.amazon.com/Garelick-Manufacturing-19700-Compact-Transom/dp/B007IDAZWK/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=Garelick%2FEEz-In&qid=1584631511&sr=8-13 It's made for a normal transom sloped opposite of our CS 3's so my son 3-D printed an adapter, while I know Amos (I think) made a wooden one. What Harmonica?

Joe, I didn't want to put this in the EC 2020 thread, but it is timely. I think if you sail with someone else you are generally at a major advantage. But........a situation years ago was swimming away from a Catalina 22 with a weak swimmer and having her get in trouble with waves and a bit of a current. Another guy and girl I was with had the same issue. By the time I got the female to the boat I could barely get aboard and had to just have her hold on while I motored to my friend and his girlfriend. He was so weak (NYS Cross country champ BTW) he couldn't get up the steps without my help. I had recovered enough to pull both females aboard and all three spent the next half an hour throwing up. I am convinced that dumb luck and a good ladder saved 3 or 4 people from drowning. Bottom line is that that was 35 years ago. I'm not getting stronger, reluctantly the opposite! Take Care, Steve

There is some talk on the Everglades challenge 2020 page about boarding ladders. One of the things I learned years ago in a very scary incident was that even a very fit person has trouble re-boarding a boat with high free-board when wet and fatigued. I added a ladder I saw at the messabout that I'm not sure who's boat it was, but I couldn't be happier with it. Here it is: 2020-03-17 17.07.57.mp4 I had a chance to swim a few times and it was easy to hold the top of the transom and deploy the ladder with one hand. As the ladder locks out at a nice angle I could easily use my legs to climb up. In any case, a good ladder is essential. I had a god-awful rope ladder on my Sea Pearl and it would swing under the boat and I usually just hoisted myself up, but I'm not sure in an emergency I could. Stay safe everybody.

When I was on Skeena on the Chesapeake last fall, there was a couple of times I locked the tiller and adjusted the sails so it just sailed itself. I became conscious of the reality that if I tripped or slid overboard I would be in trouble. I thought of all the things I could do to make myself safer. Any option I thought of was a compromise and made me feel uneasy. My first thought when seeing the track was that man overboard was a possibility. Like all of us I think of another builder as family, and while I didn't know Sailorman, when I saw his boat on the beach I was proud for him. My condolences to his family and friends.

Making me feel bad for putting three coats of goop, installing a port and calling it a day.

I had a similar situation with someone painting the interior of a fiberglass boat. While it was no fun, I used CitriStrip stripper I bought at Lowes and a scrub brush to remove the paint. It softened the paint and didn't touch the fiberglass. I'd give it a try and make sure it doesn't hurt the epoxy, but I'm guessing it will work..

There was some questions about electrical systems. I'm not sure mine is totally complete. I may add a pump for the ballast, and that would indeed add to the needed capacity, but so far so good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRdDjnZ5T8c

It looks really great. I noticed on the Spindrift page the two Suzy J vids aren't linked right. I will say that Google puts a high premium on mobile (phone) friendly content and your new site is so much better. Nice job! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsGBPCLJ3OM

I haven't had a ton of experience with my set-up, but so far so good. I have a 50 watt flexible solar panel with a controller in the cabin. I put a single one of these AGM wheelchair batteries https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/SLAA12=35C?storecode=820&locationofinterest=9051644&locationphysical=9005566&utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=ecommpla&gclid=CjwKCAiA-P7xBRAvEiwAow-VaT-3KRWS2cA4VUk-vUibuc_OMGWJMYZNIvRXX1mPFMwbWNxm9C62xRoCaq8QAvD_BwE in the after center compartment of the berths. My electrical needs are phone, tablet, charging AA batteries, switched depth sounder, LED cabin lights and LED nav lights. This year I am adding a small bilge pump to drain/fill the water ballast, but I still think I'll be OK. My backup plan is to add another battery if necessary. I am tall and wanted to be able to stand on the floor without a battery in the way, otherwise I would go bigger on the battery.

I don't know if you saw this, but that's a 2HP Honda and my boys were pretty light back then. I've since tried it with a 4HP and it was quite zippy. https://youtu.be/OsGBPCLJ3OM Alan, If you read this, somehow the links on the B & B page are broken of the Suzy J. I'm not sure how that happened.....

Pete, I like this. I really like the stability of these boats and another season sounds great. I'd also love to see your manual. I know from your build posts what a detail oriented person you are so I'm sure it's good.

Time flies gentlemen. Here is Teddy, the cute kid sailing the Spindrift 11N in the link in my signature, who turns 18 next week, this past August sailing Skeena.

Alan, I get a kick when I watch it of how boat trim just wasn't going to deter him from perching out on that tiny seat and the smile when he's at the helm. Ted's a senior in HS now, but this video captures all the good sailing has brought our family. We built the 11N together with the kids doing as much as they could at their young ages. And since Teddy has become an accomplished techy with his own 3-D printer (he's getting a much better one for his 18th birthday the 26th) and the NYS Champ in Nordic Skiing (yes, bragging a bit). This adventure of boat building has been fantastic. I can't thank the folks at B & B and all on this board who have enriched our life.

FWIW, I decided that since those lockers never see the sun, I checked coating them off my list. I don't regret it. I did give then a coat of clear epoxy but that's it. What I do regret not coating is the storage aft of the bunks. I wish I had coated that. It's pretty dark back there and coating now will suck. Your work looks nice!

I realized my Video wasn't linked. Now fixed.

I'm in upstate ny near Rochester. My 11N is available to see. Also there is a lot of video in my signature. Great boat , especially for your situation.

Looking great Mark.

Thanks Mark. I have a lot of plans to sail this year. I've been running a business for many years and I think I can take Fridays off this summer if all goes right. And I want to do the EC in 2021. Lot's of excitement. I hope everyone has as much fun as I'm planning!

Merry Christmas all. Glad to have the forum back!

Keep these updates coming Jay, it's a bit quiet around here! We need Chick to build another B & B boat! BTW....I once traced a perfect headliner replacement for a vintage car I was helping someone restore and cut it out reversed, wasting the only piece we had. Besides, making your 5th should be much quicker than the previous ones so there is that.

Skeena is still in my garage, but I need to get it to the barn before the snow gets deep, so I buttoned it up good last night and hopefully move it soon. A couple of pics for you all. I wired in a couple of LED lights to light the abyss that are those two storage spots aft of the bunk. I wished I'd have thought to paint these areas before gluing down the bunk tops like Alan did, but at least we have light on both sides now so I can actually find stuff. The folding step with the recessed cup-holders for my Yeti mugs is a total win. The biggest reason is that I can stand with my head out the cabin roof and put my pants on or use the P bottle when it is folded up. I know if you put a battery there this isn't possible, but I have used a AGM battery under the front bunk hatches and capacity seems ample with my 50 Watt solar panel. I put a drawer under the companionway. I found I didn't have enough storage I could easily reach. The GPS, harmonica, horn, cabin lock, etc. After all the talk about non-righting and stuff stored to high I weighed my options and decided to build it light and put it there anyway. It's handy as heck from my garage sailing test. I also added a 12V port in the cockpit. I did find when running my Samsung Galaxy 10" tablet for navigation having the GPS on significantly draws on the battery and now I can plug it in.