Core Sound 20 Hull #102

[wkisting]

Yep, the staysail is a treat when I can get her flying right. This was my first really successful attempt at setting it... on the fourth time I've tried flying it. But now I see why everyone says it "pulls like a mule." It sure does. My speed increased 1.5 knots with the staysail up, from 3.5 to 5 knots.

[MickG]

Wes: I sent you a PM a few days ago concerning your "Tiller Tamer". I am assuming that either I sent it incorrectly or you never received it. My question concerned the length of the tiller. Mine is 49 in long as spec'd on the plans. If I place the screw eye 3 inches forward of the comming, I only have aprox 10 left before the jam cleat would be in the way of getting a grip on the tiller. Your tiller must be longer???. If so, how long?? Also, do you think your system would work with the distance between the jam cleat and the screw eye considerably shorter?  BTW, the workmanship on your boat is outstanding. Thanks for any help that you can give me. Mick

#91

[wkisting]

Hi Mick,

Yes, sorry... I had a catastrophic computer meltdown, so I have not been online until today (I bought a new computer... the old one is dead). [Edit to add: Hopefully, I can recover the old hard drive, or I will have lost ALL of my boat-building pics for our CS20. At least I still have the shrunk down images on my website, though, so if all else fails, it's not a complete loss.]

My tiller is indeed longer. The tip of the handle ends approximately 65 inches forward of the BACK of the rudder housing. That measurement is in a straight line, though my handle is actually slightly longer than that because it is curved (not straight) and because it also overhangs the back of the rudder housing by about 6" (purely for stylistic/aesthetic flair, not for any functional purpose).

I do think you could get away with less space between the eyescrew and the cleat. I think the location of the eyescrew 3" forward of the coaming is ideal, but you could shrink the distance from there to the cleat by a considerable amount. All you need is enough room to tension the bungee a little to provide force/friction on the rope... but it doesn't take much. I bet 10" would be plenty, since mine has much more adjustment than needed, and I could've made the bungee loop smaller, too, to save even more room.

[MickG]

Wes: Thanks for the reply. I assume that you made the tiller longer to enable you to sit furthur foreword without using the "hiking stick" or tiller extention as some call it. I am sorry to hear of your computer crash. I did put your  Building Log in my computer as a "favorite" and if it would be of any use to you, I could try and send it to you. Let me know. Thanks again. By the way, where abouts do you live? I believe that you mentioned ,GA, but where abouts/  Mick

[wkisting]

Hi Mick,

Thanks for the offer, but I've got the web files saved already. I just hope I can recover the original, high-resolution pictures off the old hard drive. I have a student who works for Best Buy's "Geek Squad" and he thinks he can manage to recover it, so I'm going to have him help once HP ships my computer back to me. (Originally, HP offered to recover my data, but then, after having it for two weeks, they called and said they cannot recover any personal data due to a law that protects privacy... so now they're sending it back. Wish they had just told me that up front so I didn't waste my time shipping it.)

I made the tiller longer for the reason you noted: to enable me to sit a little further forward than usual, with my hand comfortably on the tiller. Basically, I sat on the boat, took some measurements as to where I wanted my hand to rest in a relaxed position, and built the tiller to suit those measurements. The fit is great. But I did also add a tiller extension handle to facilitate steering when I sit up on the side deck.

I live in Augusta, GA... in a suburb on the North edge of the city called Evans. There's only one stoplight and 10 miles of highway between our house and a 72,000 acre lake. It's a sweet deal for my wife and I. This is our first house, bought last July, and we're loving it. But we especially like the convenient drive to the lake, since we try to get our CoreSound out as often as possible. We've used it quite a bit already, and it's such a treat to be able to sail in December/January! (We moved down from Iowa in August 2007, so we still can't believe how neat it is to have 50- to 70-degree weather in the middle of winter!)

[John Burritt]

Wes-

Side question - Where were you in Iowa?  I grew up in Waterloo.

[wkisting]

Hi John,

I was born and raised in Dubuque, IA (well, just over on the Illinois side -- in East Dubuque, IL -- for the first 9 years of life). I lived in Dubuque until I was 18. As an undergraduate in college I moved to Milwaukee (Marquette University) for 4 years, then for graduate school I returned to the University of Iowa in Iowa City. I have a very good friend who lives in Waterloo still, and who worked for the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier for a number of years. Now he works for John Deere.

Nice to run across a fellow Iowan on the forum.    I really love Iowa and miss the spectacle of rolling, sunlit hillsides. But as a kayaker, I used to have to drive quite a ways to the Great Lakes or the Virginia coast. Now we live just a hop, skip, and jump from a huge lake, the Atlantic Ocean, and the mountains... which makes Augusta, GA a much better fit for our outdoor-oriented lifestyle. The sailing is much better here, too, since the lakes around us in Iowa were very small and shared with heavy powerboat traffic.

[John Burritt]

Wes

The world is getting smaller.  My dad was managing editor at the Courier in the early 40's.  Most of my boating as  kid was on the lakes in western Ontario, with a bit in the Cedar River.

John

[MickG]

Wes:

Many years ago I spent June, July, and August at Ft Gordon, just outside Agusta. I remember that it never cooled off during that period. The temp would "drop down" to 94 sometime in the early morning hours.And, of course, NO air conditoning. At that time, just North of Augusta, that was a large lake called Clark Hill Dam Reservoir. I believe that it has been re-named, but it is probably the lake that you sail on.  Mick

[wkisting]

Ah, yes, I've kayaked a good portion of the Cedar River (if you mean the one in Iowa... not Ontario  ). There are some very pretty sections. I'm always surprised how many folks drown on that river each year, but I suppose the currents are unpredictable at rainy times.

Mick, that's definitely Augusta you're talking about. 94 is "cooling off" when the days are 107 for a week or two in a row.    Clarks Hill Lake is what the Georgians call it, but you're correct that the South Carolinians re-named it (without consulting Georgia) to Strom Thurmond Lake. Now, people in the area grudgingly refer to it by both names, but there is a marked preference for "Clarks Hill" or "Thurmond Lake" depending on whether you're on the Georgia or South Carolina side of the border, respectively.

[Joel B]

I was looking at the thread of Wes's build and Charlie was replying about the plywood cutouts and showed a copy of the planning sheets.  Are those drawings done by hand or are they available in an electronic format that could be imported into autocad?  I have access to a plotter and it seems that it would save some time to printout full size patterns.

Re: Core Sound 20 Hull #102

[Joel B]

Thanks Ray

It seemed like a bigger deal.  I was debating the 17 vs 20 but I have decided to go with the 20

Joel

[Joel B]

In my mind I was thinking like 15 or 20%.  But when you are going to put that much time, effort and money on a project I would rather spend a little extra now than wish i had later on.

On the other hand I must be nuts because there are a lot of sailboats for sale right now that would cost less than to build one.  I think I'll make an appointment with my shrink.

Joel

[Ken_Potts]

  No!  Your shrink might talk you out of building it.  Talk to us instead.  We're here to help...

  Don't worry - You're as well adjusted as the rest of us...  ;D

[Joel B]

In reality I've never considred buying used.  Its the romance of building my own boat and sailing away in it.  Where's Wes?  I need a good Shakesperian quote here. "We are such stuff As dreams are made on; and our little life Is rounded with a sleep." Wasn't he shipwrecked in that one?

[Hirilonde]

  Don't worry - You're as well adjusted as the rest of us... 

Now there is an encouraging statement if I ever heard one!!! 

Even if you put away all of the logical answers to the build new or buy used question there is still the "I built this for me and by myself" that can never be replaced or duplicated by anything else.  And if you have help, we instead of me is quite nice too.

[wkisting]

"We are such stuff As dreams are made on; and our little life Is rounded with a sleep."

Ha! Yes, he was shipwrecked in that one... that's from The Tempest, which, ironically, I just started teaching to my students yesterday. Here's something you might appreciate: In the Norton edition of Shakespeare's complete works, there's a moment at the beginning of the Tempest, during the impending shipwreck, when one of the men on the ship pleads: "Stand fast, good Fate .... Make the rope of his destiny our cable, for our own doth little advantage." The scholarly editor glosses the word "cable" in a footnote that reads: "Anchor cable (an anchor is actually useless in a storm)."

Apparently, the scholar is not a sailor. I've heard lots of folks swear by the importance of a good anchor to ride out a storm--though I can't say I've ever tried it myself. 

Sorry I've been absent from the forum for so long. I'm still overwhelmed with work during the school year, but looking forward to a break later this summer when I have about two months off in July and August. We haven't managed to get the boat out this year, but I'm planning to do so very soon. I also have to make and attach rub rails this year, and possibly make a set of oars, too, if I have time.

One more Tempest quote for the boat-building crowd, this time from the character Miranda as she witnesses the shipwreck:

If by your art, my dearest father, you have

Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.

The sky, it seems, would pour down stinking pitch,

But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheek,

Dashes the fire out. O, I have suffered

With those that I saw suffer! A brave vessel,

Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her,

Dashed all to pieces! O, the cry did knock

Against my very heart! Poor souls, they perished.

Had I been any god of power, I would

Have sunk the sea within the earth, or ere

It should the good ship so have swallowed and

The fraughting souls within her.

[Joe Anderson]

Do not dismiss the Bard so quickly!

In his day not even Ken would have a motor, making it very dangerous to be near shore when a storm was brewing.

No NOAA either to tell you which way the wind would be blowing.

I don't know how many fathoms of anchor line they carried but I know it was not Nylon.

[Ken_Potts]

In his day not even Ken would have a motor

But I'm in engineering - Are you SURE I wouldn't have had a motor?  ;D

Nah, you're right - I'm not that good...

[wkisting]

People in Shakespeare's day had motors; they just called them galley slaves and they ran on beef, cheese, or bread.