Steve W

OK, so I spent Sunday morning sailing with a bit more breeze than before. I had a friend with some weight to help and never thought I needed to reef, but I decided to practice putting a reef in the main. It went so-so. So please chime in with advice if you have any. I sheeted the mizzen hard. Skeena backed herself quietly. First I raised the rudder and the centerboard like my sea pearl and a it wasn't good. It seemed much better with the centerboard down. The jury is out on having the rudder down. I released the snotter and the halyard, but the main didn't come down very well. I'm not sure why. I just went forward and put the down-haul hook up to the first grommet, which worked fine. I was able to pull the sail down that way. The only trouble was going out on the deck. I opted for not having the rigging complexity of more lines and went for the simple setup. But I was imagining what it might be in real waves. I could poke my head out the hatch. I think maybe I'll rig two additional down-hauls. I've got longer arms and I had not trouble with the aft cleats. For this weeks sail on the Chesapeake I'm going to have to be careful. I will say that the sail shape with this rig is easy to keep. It took way to long and I need to practice.

Great Video. I seemed to have blocked many parts of the build out of my mind. Some could have stayed blocked! I remember doing these. I wasn't as confident with a grinder and used a Shinto Rasp to work that outer bevel. That is how I explain 4 and a half years.......really. If you are sailing at the Messabout that will be amazing.

I have no worries about having a thread within a thread. I'm learning!

"In any kind of blow the boat sails away on you and holding on to the end of the sprit is a real fool's errand. " I haven't sailed Skeena in a situation that required reefing yet. Close, but not quite. I was able to flatten the sail to de-power. But I wonder if the problem you are having here is because your heave to technique might need adjustment. I have been sailing a cat-ketch Sea Pearl for 12 years. One of it's novelties is that you can sheet in the mizzen and it will walk straight backwards while the main flogs itself right on the centerline. It's while doing this you can walk forward to reef the main. But in order to do this you need to pull up the lee-boads and the rudder. Without doing that, if the boat backs up and gets even a little cross ways, you better be ready to un-cleat the mizzen. I believe there has been capsizes caused by not following this protocol. Last fall at the messabout I had the privilege of sailing Pete's boat "Chessie" and I briefly tested the technique and it sure seemed like the same behavior, only easier. A SP is very tender while the CS seemed so docile in comparison. I cam home excited. I'm anxious to get Skeena out in more wind to test, but I'll let you know. My plan all along was to rig the boat like the simpler plan with cleats on the sprit. Put her in "Cat-Ketch Irons" as described above (C-board and rudder up, mizzen sheeted hard) and then tend to the main. It will require me to poke my head out of the fore-hatch or go forward over the cabin roof to move the down-haul hook. Hopefully we'll get some good wind. We've either had too much or none for much of my sails.

Cool! I love "out of the box" thinking. I hope the results achieve you objectives. Please keep us updated.

Todd, as the time gets closer I will tighten up my plans. I'm heading to St Michaels for the MASCF for a whole week. Skeena's first big adventure. Sailing around the Choptank river until Wednesday. If the conditions are right I'll sail around to St Michaels but if not I'll haul and tow. I'm doing the Wye Island trip. A college friend is joining me. If you haven't been to the MASCF you should find time. I'll come home for two weeks and then I'll be back on the road to Vandemere! I may leave the boat somewhere south if I can. We'll see. But when I'm at the messabout I'll probably need crew. I owe Pete a sail as he was gracious to let me helm "Chessie" a lot last year. But he'll probably need crew too! That will be the end of my sailing season probably. It snows not long after that!

Pete, I'm still pretty agile, but I am reminded that once when I was buying a canoe and asked how much it weighed. Salesperson said "62 pounds, but it gets 10 pounds heavier every 10 years". I didn't get the joke back then but I get it now. I hope I'm in as good shape as you when I get your age. I have one line over the stern and the bow strap to undo. I put on my mast fly and push up the main mast. I walk forward holding onto it to steady myself. I step down into the cockpit locker (one foot) and put on the wing nut thingy. I did grind a sort of dome on the end of the bolt to make it self aligning. As I walk back to the stern I pull up the mizzen mast on it's tabernacle. Jay was singing from the Mizzen Tabernacle Choir about it's advantages. He was right. It's pretty great. I used to muscle up the masts on my Sea Pearl and it was OK, but this setup is super easy. I rigged a short line with a couple of snap hooks. One fits on the mizzen snotter eye strap and the other to the main sprit, holding the sprit horizontal. I have a mizzen staysail halyard that I use for the mizzen sprit. I'm guessing by now I'm less than 5 minutes in. I pull the sails out of the cabin (no bags yet!). I marked a Z on the tack of the mizzen to identify it, so next I clip the clew to the sprit and start threading the sail on. Those plastic mast gates are awesome. I tie in the halyard. Repeat for the main and launch. I leave my motor on the boat. I opted to support the boat by the two bunk boards moved into match the longitudinal bulkheads and support the centerboard. I have forgotten to pull the centerboard up on launch so I wrote "centerboard" on my wind indicator. I'll probably forget both someday. Anyway, I'm still trying to improve the process. Paul, that seems clear. I opted for the simplicity of having just one tack hook for the main and mizzen that I move higher to reef. So no problem there. My challenge is that the reefing lines for the aft part of the sprits are tied to the sprit, go up through an alternate clew grommet, back to a small reefing block and forward to a jam cleat. It's 4 lines that need to be removed and stowed. My sprits don't fit below in the cabin so I can't leave the sails on. I've decided to stow the sprits on top of the masts during travel, but in order to remove the sails to stow in the Cabin, I have to remove the four reefing lines. I'm looking for a way to speed that process up and also not have so much clutter on the deck. I did have an "ah-ha!" moment when I realized how nice a sail shape you can get with a reefed sail!

I spent another great day sailing up Conesus lake yesterday. The wind was light, but I wanted to get a chance to test the long shaft Suzuki 2.5 I added. I had bought a short shaft and while the cav plate was below the hull and it performed well, if I went forward the whole transom lifts a bit and the prop loses it's bite. I had a friend who is buying the SS motor and I got a new long shaft model. What a difference. It's quieter and even going forward to the anchor locker the prop stayed in the water. I crashed through some big powerboat wakes without a problem. I wish I had thought about that before I ordered the motor but the next builder will know. My question of the day is what to do with the reefing lines. I have gotten my act down and I have the boat rigged in a short time. I'd say already less than 15 minutes. But the reefing lines need to be threaded and run to the cleats. My question is do you always rig them and if so where do they stay when the boats on the trailer. Anyone have a system worked out?

What are the black guides on the anchor roller made of?

I like how you added that piece of rub rail on the inward side of your anchor roller to prevent wear, I like the cabin lock simplicity and I like your sprit saddles. I'm going to copy all of them tonight. Not sure where to get SS tubing. I might have some aluminum around. As for launching from the cockpit......put a longer piece of light line (3/16") right to the anchor shackle. Bring it back to the cockpit. With the way you have those stops you could angle it off to port easily. Put a cleat on the top deck just like the ones to starboard. When you deploy your anchor, this tether line goes right with it. I've been doing that for years, and other than the fact that that line can get pretty grungy in some cases, it has never seemed to interfere with the anchor. When you retrieve the anchor from forward, just grab the small line to bring aft and re-tether. That is some pretty country up there.

Alan and Graham, Thank you for taking all the time to answer all of these questions. I am very impressed with the sailing characteristics of Skeena. Sunday I sailed up Sodus Bay on Lake Ontario. I told my crew we should get 2/3 of the way upwind to Sodus point and we could motor the rest of the way to catch the Bills/Jets game at 1pm. At 1:04 we walked into the restaurant just in time for kickoff, having made it under sail alone. Amazing performance. I recognize the design challenges. I am comfortable for day sailing and short overnight trips not changing anything when I can watch the weather window. I built the boat mostly stock. I do have some of the things Alan mentions (solar panel, masthead anchor light, anchor roller (yikes!)) that puts weight higher. For longer trips where the weather isn't predictable enough, I'm planning to make some changes. putting hinges and latches on the bunk lockers. I can see all the contents running all over the cabin in a knockdown. Using the WB more. Being careful how I load gear. Adding the mast float. I think it will have to go on my mizzen as my main has a windex and 360 nav/anchor light already. How do I get one? I also think Graham is right in tempering hysteria. I think the being prudent with the mainsheet in hand and reefing properly is still prudent. Steve

A couple of questions. Would you expect similar results with the 20.3 How do I make my masts float? I followed the plans and rivited the track, but I am sure that the mast isn't water tight. Pool noodles? I always thought a square foot of air supported 62 pounds. Am I wrong?

Great news!

I've been thinking a lot about everyone in NC and along the southeastern coast. I've been through my share of ice storms and big northern snow storms and even the famous Blizzard of '77 while growing up in Buffalo, NY, but I can't imagine that kind of uncertainty and damage that a hurricane brings. Please stay safe. Meanwhile, my punch list is getting shorter. I admit I sailed with my forward hatch held down by gravity. I stole Graham's clever idea and now she closes nice with a gasket. I used some cherry I had around for the gussets and an old maple 1 1/4" closet rod for the knobs and threaded receiver . I have a bit of sanding but I'm happy with the process. I used a Fostner bit to drill a hole hole big enough to nest the bolt head (knob piece) and the nut (part attached to hatch). I glued in the bolt and the nut with thickened epoxy. They weren't perfectly true to the center so I chucked the knobs in my drill press and used a rasp to get them nice and true and followed with sandpaper. A poor substitute for a lathe, but it worked well. I used a fostner bit to remove the paint off the inside of the hatch to glue in the receiver. Tonight I'll remove, sand and varnish. I have a night time X-country race, but I may get sailing tomorrow or Sunday. All in all it was a fun little project. My goal was to make sure the whole mess didn't extend below the hatch frame. My next step is to make a screen to Velcro to keep the critters out.

Good Luck B & B crew. Thinking about you.

So Graham's estimate of the value of a nice model means they worked for about 10 bucks an hour. Smile everyone and get back to sanding! ?

I wonder what would have happened if the CB hadn't retracted.

I concur what Amos said. I worked hard to get the cav plate below the hull, but I find if there are any waves it revs without the bite it needs. I got lucky as a friend was going to order a short shaft for his boat so I just sold him and ordered a 2.5L. I will say I think the 2.5 is enough, but i don't deal with many tidal currents up here in NY.

Brent, sorry I got your name wrong, the year was 2010 I am pretty sure. I'm going again this year and if the weather is right I'll sail to Wye Island again. It would be great to sail together again. Steve

I get insomnia sometimes. The worst thing to do is look at your phone. But last night I did. I'd posted an edited video of my first sail on Skeena with Helen on FB in a group called "Pocket Yachts and trailer sailors". The post got a lot of responses, but the last one was "Why did you decide to use B and B Yacht Design?" Talk about not sleeping. My mind was racing as to the path that led me to "Skeena". I decided to write it down while fresh in my head. Let's start with my first introduction to B & B. I always watch the Everglades Challenge Spot tracker map during the event. I think a lot of adventure sailors are aware of this race. My wife always says "Watching the Dots again?" It's a goal of mine to enter someday. Obviously the Core Sound series of boats has done really well there. We all know that. Meanwhile, I've had a cat ketch rigged Sea Pearl since 2007 and while I love the boat, it's lack or recover-ability in a knock down makes me uncomfortable in a race like that. I pick my weather window with local sailing trips and in a long race like that you lose that control. That said, I've never swamped her or even come close and I've sailed her in some tough conditions. But I know being sleep deprived makes you do dumb things. So I rooted on the other Sea Pearls in the race (yes there were some epic capsizes) and the Core Sounds because of the rig. In 2010 I went to the MASCF in St Michaels , MD. If you haven't gone, you should. There is a gunk-holing event out to Wye Island and the first year I did it in my Sea Pearl. A Core Sound 20 joined us. I believe the builder was named Brett. He was throwing crab pots while sailing and I remember marveling that that was possible, both that he had the room to store them and the stability. I didn't get a close look at his boat thought. At the actual festival I studied other Core Sounds and decided that they looked like too much work. I did catch the boat building bug and ironically picked a Spindrift 11N as my first build. I thought this was a good "started project" to see if boat building was for me. She turned out to be fun to build (the plans were just the right kind of complete, not paint by number, but everything you need) and speedy to sail and then I was back to thinking about a replacement for Wildcat, my SP21. I'd started doing more adventure sailing. I'd joined a bunch of folks that I met at the MASCF and we sailed around the Chesapeake, 1000 Islands in NY, a trip to Maine and I was also doing a lot of solo trips. I got to thinking how nice a cabin would be, mostly so I'd have dry storage and be able to stay out longer. But the boats I looked at mostly had deep drafts (If it draws more than a foot it was rejected) or had complicated rigs that took a long time to rig (30 minutes or more - rejected) or didn't look easy to single-hand (my experience favored rigs with a mizzen) or were heavy (over 1000# rejected. Towing heavy stuff isn't fun, sucks gas and is scary) or was too big to build in my basement or too high fit in my garage. Boats I considered were the Bolger Chebbaco (no data on how well they sail and no support from current plan supplier), Norwalk island Sharpie (I still think she is pretty, but you could only buy an expensive kit), Welsford "Sweet Pea" and a few others. But nothing was just right. And then one day while I was at work Graham posted a 3-D rendering of what he and Alan had been working on. I was immediately smitten. It checked every box. The right rig, shallow draft, big self bailing cockpit, lots of storage, seaworthy, fast. And while I favor a more traditional look I though she was attractive enough. I especially liked the full width cabin. The rest is chronicled well in this thread, but I couldn't be happier. Now that I've sailed her a bit I'm even more convinced I picked the right design. I had some personal misfortunes (lost my Dad, father in law, and business partner of 27 years) while building that slowed things a lot. And there are a few things that were a bit under developed in the kit (hatch, motor mount) but the support has been excellent both here on the forum and from Graham and Alan. I can't imagine how much more difficult and less fun things would have been without this community. I made plenty of mistakes and there are a few things I'd do different if I did it all over again, but I'll link this to the FB question and consider it answered.

I think you should just epoxy it back in place. You probably won't do that again, but a laminated checklist taped under one of the aft locker tops isn't the worst thing. Especially when you get older like me!

Great read. Thank you for that.

Don, I'm on the fence about bringing the Suzy J. It's a 13 hour drive and I want to have Graham and/or Alan give me advice about my mizzen staysail while I'm there. But I'd really like to explore other rig options. We bought a camper and I want to have this boat as an all around row/sail/electric motor. In retrospect I wish I have built a 9 or 10, but Suzanne and I can still put her on the roof.

So spent some time working on my trailer last week and Friday I got a late start and launched Skeena again at Conesus lake. My daughter Helen joined my again. We launched around 7 and by the time we got in the water the sun was behind the trees. There was still a bit of breeze so we hoisted sail and had a short night sail. We had packed quickly and the cabin was a mess by the time we anchored. I have bought a Rocna anchor and a roller for the bow, but I hadn't got it mounted, so I borrowed my Bruce from the Sea Pearl and we put it down in the dark. The wind forecast was for light winds from the North. Here is a pic right as I anchored. Helen is a Senior at SUNY Geneseo. She is on track to go to Law School and is a blessing. We drank a couple of glasses or Riesling and solved most of the worlds problems before calling it a night. I slept like a baby and I made coffee for us in the morning. We sailed a bit in an increasing breeze. Here's Helen with a report on sleeping aboard: https://youtu.be/vsTjcq4cUSQ We then we met my wife Suzanne at a Restaurant called the Hook & Spoon and had lunch. After a nice lunch we went sailing. Suzanne was dropping Helen off to college so it was a short sail. I can honestly say Suzanne only tolerated my Sea Pearl due to its tender nature. She really liked the stability of Skeena. I didn't have the water ballast in........ After I dropped the two of them off my friend Andy met me. The wind had died so we played guitar a bit and then the wind really freshened. We sailed and sang and it was an amazing day. We had dinner at another restaurant and by the time he left it was at least 10 pm. I kept the obat at a dock and had another great sleep. This morning I woke up early and started making a "mods" list that has 22 items on it. The wind shifted 180 and so I had to motor all the way to the launch. I was reminded of my friend Doug who says there is no good reason for a wind indicator as it always points from where you want to go. But it was good to have a few hours to take stock and decide what was next. I also filled the ballast tank and it doesn't leak! I have made the decision that I'm going to sell Wild Cat, my Sea Pearl 21. I've owned her for 12 years and sailed her all over in all kinds of conditions. But this Mark 3 is so luxurious compared to her it's time to let someone else have fun. Graham and Alan.......thanks for designing such a great boat.

I used Interlux Perfection. Medeterainiean White and Platinum Grey. I wish the gray was a little darker. FWIW, the paint isn't for ametuers. Very thin and shows every imperfection. I used Kirby on my S11N and it was so much thicker it shows brush marks but hides flaws. I wound up painting the strakes 3 times and I'm still not happy. Amos said painting was "humbling". I agree.