Core Sound 17 Mark 3 - Good Morning

[Samantha Ritchie]

Core Sound 17 Mark 3 story.docx

 

[Edit by Frank to include content]

The CS 17 Mk 3 Good Morning
We started building our Core Sound 17 Mark 3 in January 2022 and finished it in July 2024.  I knew nothing about boat building when we started, but can now make a decent fillet, know a machine screw from a tapping screw, and can tip and roll with the best of them.  Dave, my husband, was a reasonably patient teacher, and taught me many things-including that when I think a surface is smooth, it always needs more sanding.  In the final analysis, all the hours in the shop were worth it.  Our boat is beautiful.  I am quite proud of our boat, named Good Morning. 

 

 

 

We had her christening and launch in mid-July, then shortly thereafter sailed her in the Salish 100 from Olympia up to Port Townsend, Washington, a distance of about 100 miles.  Then we turned around and sailed her home.  Since her launch, we have sailed about 350-400 miles, and she has performed admirably.   We generally take our 70 pound dog JoJo with us on our outings, and there is enough room in the cabin for all of us to get a good night's sleep.  (In our previous boat, a beloved Scamp, nobody slept much when Jojo came along.)

We live on Henderson Inlet in the south of Puget Sound.  The boat is moored at our little dock, and she sits in the mud when the water recedes with the 16 foot daily tide swings.  That hasn't seemed to bother her.  The bottom paint has stopped growth of barnacles, and she seems to be handling the time in the water well.  We have not had much experience towing her, although we hope to do so in the future so we can explore other bodies of water. 

We have changed a few things.  We increased the length of the main sprit and we put two openings in the combings for more easy storage.     For the main, we have an uphaul line attached to the tack, which lifts the bottom of the sail up to the sprit.  There is also a topping lift attached to the back of the main sprit, which keeps the sprit from falling onto the deck when the sail is lowered.  There's a line on the mizzen mast that can be looped over the back of the main sprit to lift the sprit to the height we want. 

For the mizzen, we move the halyard to the back of the mizzen sprit and use it to lift the mizzen sail up out of the way.  With this setup, when we are done sailing, we can have the sails lifted out of the way, but ready to go the next time we want to head out.  I know many people with a Core Sound 17 mostly go for day sails, but we tend to go out for overnight or multi-day cruises.  Since we are used to the 12 foot Scamp, the space on the CS17 seems plenty roomy  to us. 

 

When at the dock, the boat looks like this:

 

 

 

Our motor is an EP Carry, a small electric motor that isn't very powerful, but is very reliable.  We have a solar panel that can charge it, or we can plug in at the dock.  We try to use it as little as possible.  Although boats with gas motors can go a lot faster and farther, we like the fact that this motor always starts, is relatively quiet, doesn't pollute, and is kind of like having a rower on board. 

One more innovation: our dinghy.  With a dog on board, it's important to be able to get the pup to shore.  We have an inflatable canoe, made more stable by adding a little outrigger, which consists of a yellow roller.  When towed, the dinghy doesn't slow the boat down much, and Jojo can jump into or out of the dinghy without turning the whole thing over.  Granted, we have only used it in calm weather, but so far, so good.

 

 

Thus far, out boat has seen us through days with LOTS of wind, including an unanticipated thunder and lightning storm, with 40 mile an hour gusts.  We've also had days with very little wind. During those times, we sometimes read aloud to each other.  The current book is Flotsam and Jetsam by Robb White.  I encourage you to read it.  One great line from that book:  "The important thing ain't comfort, it's joy."

I am very grateful to Graham for designing this wonderful boat, and to Alan for helping us as questions came up with the build.  i am also grateful to the people we met when we went to a B and B Messing About in 2022.  Thanks, Padre Point , who gave us a sail on Avocet, and thanks to the owner of Blue Duck.

What a great boat!

[Don Silsbe]

I usually upload my videos to YouTube, and then copy the link here.  

[Frank Hagan]

I put the content in the first post. @Samantha Ritchie - if that's not OK just let me know and I'll remove the extra content.

 

[Samantha Ritchie]

Thanks, Frank!  I don't know what I was doing wrong, but I could not get it to download properly.

 

 

 

 

[Frank Hagan]

10 hours ago, Samantha Ritchie said:

Thanks, Frank!  I don't know what I was doing wrong, but I could not get it to download properly.

 

No problem! Thanks for the post. It's a fine looking CS17!

 

The software used to try and post the contents of Word docs, but doesn't any more. Instead, the software put it as a downloadable file, but depending on people's browser and computer, it will either open in a Word window (if they have Word and have enabled opening the files) or save it to your downloads folder. But it doesn't prompt you to download it, so people miss that it DID download!

 

You can also copy/paste from Word into the editor when posting, but the images sometimes have to be added manually.

[Nick C]

Great looking boat, Samantha!

 

I remember sailing Blue Duck at the messabout with you and Dave. And JoJo -- he was good crew!