CS17 mk3 hull #3 "Carlita"

[Rann]

Fascinating reading all the posts from the first all the way through to the end.  I am seriously considering building a 
Core Sound 20 Mark III.  If that comes to pass, it may be the first one in the North West (as best I can tell from the blogs of the first ones built). 

 

Rann, Monroe, OR

[Chick Ludwig]

I like the mizzen position as it relates to room in the cockpit. The Mk 2 had the mast farther forward and didn't leave much room ahead of it for sitting. At first I was concerned about not having room behind the mast for a Bimini, but since it's best to sit forward in the cockpit for balance, I'll just see if one can be used there. The shortest top available is too long to fit behind the mast. Because of a previous boat with Melanoma, I'm wary of too much sun on my poor old skin. Anyway, it will all "work itself out" after a few times out on the water. If I find that i'm sitting aft more, I'll see about having a custom Bimini made for that position.

 

As usual, the Master has come up with a near-perfect compromise in the Mk-3. I love the room in the cabin. It will be great fun working out all of the little details of shelves, drawers under the forward end of the cockpit, etc. that will make summer Breeze a perfect "little-home-on-the-water".

 

Agreed on the cat ketch rig. I had a Cape Cod style cat at one time and would NEVER go back. I LOVE the handling, "parking", self sailing ability, and easy rigging of the cat ketch.

[Designer]

Rann,

 

Fred is building a CS17 mk 3 near Seattle. I would call that the North West.

[frowley]

Rann,

If you're in the Seattle area or nearby, you're completely welcome to visit - just let me know. My email is fredrowley52@gmail.com.

 

Graham, I'm wondering how you felt the forward hatch access to raising and lowering the main, reefing, and anchoring (especially emergency anchoring) worked? Were you already carrying the anchor in the cockpit? 

[Designer]

Fred,

 

I was very happy with my hatch setup. When I anchored in the pass, I tried in vain to pull the anchor from on deck as I had not yet wrapped my mind around working through the hatch and could not do it. The combination of a thin anchor line, pitching waves, a strong wind, poor ergonomics and no anchor cleat. It finally dawned on me to work through the hatch, it worked well.

 

It never leaked a drop.

 

We are now going to make my hatch design the new standard. It is designed so that it can be customized if the builder prefers.

[Chick Ludwig]

I've simulated mast raising and anchoring from my sliding forward hatch. Seems to work well. My anchor will live on the bow sprit. After our "mountain messabout" at the end of this month, I'll have a report on actual conditions.

 

   

 

 

[frowley]

Glad, and not surprised to hear it, Graham. Chick, it looks like your boat's going to get wet real soon. Exciting!

[Designer]

Fred asked me to show him my setup for the masthead light and mast heel plug so I thought that I would share it with everybody.

 

The tricolor light is from Aqua Signal , I stripped it down to save weight and windage. I machined the mast cap out of 1" plastic so that it has a 3/8" base to support the light and a plug 5/8" thick to insert into the mast head. The two lower fasteners of the halyard block are through bolted to the mast and the two upper fasteners are screwed into the mast cap. There is about a 1" gap between the port and starboard LED clusters which allowed me to install the Windex wind indicator on center without blocking the light. The unit appears to be well made, the LED clusters and circuit board are potted in epoxy and apparently water proof.

 

I needed to be able to disconnect the wires whenever I removed the main mast from the tabernacle so I used a Seadog two pin plug. I never trust waterproof deck plugs so I put mine upside down under the foredeck. The plug has one larger pin so that it is impossible to reverse the polarity. I used a scrap of 3/4" ply to mount the plug base. This was not thick enough for the wires so I glued another piece of 1/4" ply to the base with a generous gap for the wires. I put a loop in the wire so that if I had to remove the plug base for service, there would be enough slack to get the plug out where I could undo the wires. I hot melt glued the wires against the hull in a loop so that if water gets to that area, the loop will encourage the water to drip away from the plug. I also coated the plug and wire ends in dielectric grease. To help me plug in the tail pin blind, I installed the pin holes exactly athwartships with the large pin inboard.

 

The first picture is the plug.

 

Second picture shows the installed plug with wire loop taken through the inspection port in the forward bulkhead.

 

Third picture shows what I stripped from the light. 

 

Fourth picture is the installed tricolor light. The main halyard block is underneath. The Windex mount is the black block on top and the Spinnaker halyard is to the left of the Windex block.

[Chick Ludwig]

Where does the wire come out of the mast? Where does it go into the cabin? Guess I'm confused where the picture is taken through the inspection port. Or even where the port is?

[Designer]

Chick,

 

You may recall that I opted to go with fixed ports in the hull and put in a 6" inspection port in the upper starboard corner of bulkhead 1. The picture was taken looking forward through the port into the anchor well. That light triangle in the mid left of the picture is the anchor well opening. The wire comes out of the bottom of the mast. The wire does not need to be unplugged to raise or lower the mast. The solid wood piece that runs diagonally through the picture is the inwale. The hazy panel in the lower part of the picture but inside the white port ring is the sheer strake.

 

The wire goes through bulkhead 1 just under the inwale and runs under the inwale until it reaches bulkhead 2. The wire runs down the forward side of bulkhead 2 against the hull and passed through the shelf. It then runs under the starboard bunk and comes up behind the companionway bulkhead and into my electrical panel.

[Chick Ludwig]

Thanks. I'd forgotten about the inspection port in Blkd #1. Do you think that the anchor road could "snag" the wire that is exposed where it comes out of the bottom of the mast? How did you route it where it runs up to where it plugs in? (Guess I must have my "dummy hat" on.)

[frowley]

Thanks Graham. I haven't had a chance to study this yet - but it looks great. Thanks for posting this.

[Action Tiger]

Talk about dummy hats, Chick, it simply never occurred to me to use a plug. I have had a few boats a masthead light would have been nice on, but I never thought to put a plug in the wire, so suffered with clip on lights barely above the water.

I hope it's one of those, "why didn't I think of that?", rather than that I'm just plain dumb, although, my signature would seem to indicate the latter...

That is a very slick masthead setup.

[Sandy Dancer]

Graham, On the CS17 Mark 1 would you recommend drilling a hole in the mast base just above the fore deck and installing the sea dog plug into the fore deck?

Jeff

[Designer]

Jeff,

 

I try to avoid drilling holes in the mast near where it exits the deck as that is where the mast has the highest load.

 

For a CS17 mk1 I think that I might consider going with a Navilight tricolor masthead light. They run on 3 AAA batteries. It would save you all of the wiring and having a battery in the boat, I have seen them as low as $50.00.

[Steve W]

Just out of curiosity, why have a masthead light at all? I am fairly certain after reading the regulations they are not required, but maybe my comprehension isn't good. I was thinking of lights like page 28 figure 5 and adding a forward light like page 27 figure 1 when motoring.

 

Is the extra visibility of the elevated light the reason? Or do other countries (Caribbean?) require something different?

[Pete McCrary]

If you want (or an EMERGENCY REQUIRES you) to sail at night, you need three lights: red, green, and white (port, stbd, and aft-facing). It's just a question of how to power them and where to place them. I'd say "top of the mast" is most convenient -- provided you have a central power source (say a 70 to 90 amp-hour 12 volt battery). The central power and a wire up the mast eliminates the need for clamp-on lights and their stowage / deployment and also dealing with dry-cell batteries.

If you want to use your outboard engine at night (either by itself OR while also sailing) you must (IN ADDITION to the red-green and aft-facing white light) have a white light facing forward approximately 6' above the deck. That light is often called the "masthead" light (a misnomer). If you also anchor at night you need a third white light that can be seen from a complete 360 degrees. That one is often on the top of the mast and is sometimes called a "masthead" light (not a misnomer). However, if you have a 3-way light at the masthead, then it [the anchor light] needs a separate circuit and more wires up the mast and a more complicated connector. The anchor light can be any all-directional lamp hoisted to any convenient elevation. It needs to be bright enough to be seen from 2 miles.

[Designer]

Steve,

 

You are technically correct. As I do a lot of single handing, I cannot always keep a perfect watch, I want to be seen. From a distance at night my boat looks pretty big. It is satisfying to flick on that masthead light as it is getting dark and know that it is working perfectly. All of the temporary lights that I have displayed are like glorified flashlights, they work okay at first but after they age, it is a lottery whether they are going to work or if I am going to have to fiddle with it in wet dark difficult conditions.

 

Randy Smythe while sailing his 22' trimaran a few EC's ago was stopped by the Coast Guard for exceeding 7 knots while displaying an all around white light.

[Hirilonde]

If you want to use your outboard engine at night (either by itself OR while also sailing) you must (IN ADDITION to the red-green and aft-facing white light) have a white light facing forward approximately 6' above the deck. That light is often called the "masthead" light (a misnomer). If you also anchor at night you need a third white light that can be seen from a complete 360 degrees. That one is often on the top of the mast and is sometimes called a "masthead" light (not a misnomer). However, if you have a 3-way light at the masthead, then it [the anchor light] needs a separate circuit and more wires up the mast and a more complicated connector. The anchor light can be any all-directional lamp hoisted to any convenient elevation. It needs to be bright enough to be seen from 2 miles.

 

Well, it really isn't a misnomer, the term mashead goes back to the days of splice masts.  The masthead is the top of the lower mast.  Most auxiliary sailboats have the masthead light about 2/3 of the way up which is approximately how far lower masts went.  It's like "where do you fly the US flag on the luff of a sail?"  The answer is the end of the gaff, which almost no one has.  So app. 2/3 of the way up the luff was adopted.  Modern construction and designs in wood have made terms awkward to use some times.  And then nuts like me like to study their origins.

[Action Tiger]

My buddy and I are discussing a small cruise in a small boat in Mexico. Being lug rigged, there's a nice yard from which to fly the ensign, but being freestanding, she has no spreaders. Where do I fly the quarantine flag?

I love the traditions, even if I got a plywood boat. Well, boats. And cloth boats.

Oh, yeah, lights. Never had a motor, but all my bigger sailboats always had three hard mounted lights. You never know, and the old flashlight on the sail stuff? Hard pass. I'm with Graham on the clip on lights, too. Soft pass, there. I've never had a masthead light because the masts of my boats have always been freestanding, but then I was never smart enough to think of a plug. And I do use solid wooden masts, so the wire is a little tricky. I'll just laminate the next one with two sets of wires in it...