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A few cs20 issues


JeffM

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My recent cruising has left me with a few questions to share.

While anchored in a well-protected harbor, the boat slewed from side to side almost constantly. The motion was very noticeable. We had a boom tent up, and the cb and rudder were both fully up. What's the best way to lessen this motion?

What experience have you had going to windward with the mizzen in the reefing step? I noticed that the big distance the sheets had to go from sprit to thwart required a lot of tension to trim the sail in much. I haven't gotten around to trying the main in the reefing step yet.

I have no motor, so use the oars in some close-quarters and upwind landing situations. I'm finding the boat to be a beast to row, but I also have no other experience rowing. Any pointers?

Finally, has anyone come up with a workable way to avoid making a public spectacle when using the head? It's especially hard when the crew are not all very good friends!

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Jeff,

Question #1...raise the mizzen and sheet it in hard. That will keep you pointed to wind.

#3...Make sure to leave the centerboard down. It will keep you from loosing steerage going to wind. I recently made a fool of myself coming into the beach with the motor. Front end got caught in the wind and I lost control. Boat handles much better with the centerboard down when control is critical at low speeds!!! My bow eye made a nice inprint on a Newport 16 topsides. Fortunately it was a friend and he was selling the boat. Didn't even put a scratch on the bow of my boat. Probably about a 4 kt broadside collision. OOOOOOOOPS!

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Joe, at anchor I'm thinking of leaving a little cb and rudder down. I can't see leaving the mizzen up flapping in the breeze. Also, I move the mizzen to make room for the tent. I hear you on rowing, though: I keep some cb down to steer around. I had the hardest time simply getting the boat moving.

Isearle, that's good advice for my all-boy crew, but I'm pretty sure Beatrice won't buy it.

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Jeff,

I find rowing my CS 20 to be easy when there is no wind and difficult when there is wind, unless that is the way I want to go. Most of our sailing is on a reservoir that does not allow motors. We have rowed across the lake a few times when the wind died.

We rowed away from the dock recently at Deer Harbor on Orcas Island in the San Jauns and an onlooker commented the boat moves easily. There was no wind and I did not try to accelerate to my usual 2 mph too fast. My center board was stuck solid so we had the board up and did not even have the masts up. When the CB is a little stuck in Colorado, a bit more moisture on a trip to ND then WA tightened it right up. I left the lower section of the mizzen in to have something easy to grab when getting in and out of the boat. Worked pretty good. We looked a little funny.

I find I need to be patient when I am rowing to a dock or my trailer and there is a contrary wind.

I don't do a whole lot better with the motor in those situations. I managed to run into the bare metal corner of a dock in North Dakota hard. It poked a hole in my boat right below the gunwhale. Just a small hole.

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Terry, what have you got for oars, and what length are they? One of my problems may have been that my homemade oars were too floppy--made of ply blades screwed into extendable paint roller poles. (The idea was to have oars short enough to stow easily, then extend them to 10 feet or so for use.) These flexed a lot with every stroke. I finally broke one when the protruding blade caught between the oarlock and a jetty as I hit. I need to decide what to replace them with. Eventually I might have to spring for a motor, but that will mean I have to register the boat (not a requirement for unpowered boats in Mass.) Anyway, I figure I'll learn how to handle the boat better if starting the "iron jenny" isn't an option.

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Jeff,

I bought 9' spoon blade spruce oars from a guy in Canada. I think it was Island Oars. They work good. I made some things to hang them under the side deck so they are out of the way but are handy when I need them.

I chose 9' because that is the longest he could Fed Ex in a tube.

Before I bought the 9' oars, I tried the 6 or 6 1/2 ' oars I use on my S10. OK for very short distances .. like 25 feet or so. I might take a shot at making some 10 footers.

Regarding a motor. I have a 5 hp 4 stroke Tohatsu. It weighs in at almost 60 lbs but it works real well. We went 53 miles on less than three gallons on gas recently. It has taken three seasons to get the 10 hour break in period done.

Terry

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In response to your head question.

Here is a site that has a product which may work to help privacy. It is called a PUP. Not sure if it would work on the boat but should work on shore.

I am planning to try their WAG system which some other sailors here are using.

Their products are available at REI.com and other sellars at lower prices.

http://www.thepett.ca/

Dale

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Without a tent my boat normally lies at anchor very nicely so it may be that you have to much windage forward.

I have mooring cleats on the forward quarter each side in addition to the bow cleat. I normally use the bow cleat for anchoring, but if you have a cleat off center (like my quarter cleats) perhaps that would put your windage off to one side where it would stay put.

As for rowing, I have rowed my 17 pretty far in a day with tides behind me on a flat calm day. I rowed from Mitchel bay on San Juan Island south around to Cattle Pass and then back up to Friday Harbor, about 18 miles in 10 hours. Rowing in even a slight chop or a fresh breeze will reduce my range to a small fraction of that (1-2 miles).

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Seriously,any wind rode boat [more boat above water than below ]will

sheer about at anchor, and most centerboarders are the very devil to control at speeds before flow is established over thefoils .Grahame has come up with an elegant solution on the Bellhaven by having a short stub keel parallel to th partially exposed centreboard. This will allow control at low speed. Someone on this forum has already suggested leaving the centreboard partially down to give the same effect. Fiddling about with the distribution of sail area in relationship to immersed centeboard will give you basic stabilit as long as you are moving forward, i.e. more sail area aft will tend to make the boat luff (bow to wind).

Good luck!

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For privacy, Cabelas or Bass Proo Shops have several little privacy tents for around $45 and up. They fold in to little discs when not needed and pop into shape when you need then

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=58747&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

This is a mid-price on they have another for $29 and on for $99.

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Thanks for all the experiences, ideas and links! I may try making some cheap (but solid) oars about 10' long, and find out how much of my problem was technique, and how much was my flimsy oars.

I sometimes need to have a tent up at anchor, so I'll try leaving some board and rudder down to steady the motion.

As far as all the privacy ideas, the shelters look good for shore, but I'll need to work something else out afloat. (Duckworks also has a good-looking one.)

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