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Core Sound 20 Mk 3 -- #4 "Chessie" . .


Pete McCrary

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Chessie's electric panel has been fabricated in final form and dry fitted onto Blk 3.

 

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Notice the 6 holes just under the solar panel controller.  The controller is surface mounted -- and 3 pairs of +/- wires must come from behind the electric panel and into the lower side of the controller.  Four of the wires come with the solar panel and are heavy-duty and (with insulation) are 1/4" diameter, with a +/- pair from the solar panel & a +/- pair to the battery.  The installer provides the 3rd pair to the backside of the electric panel (+ to the switch and - to the common strip).

 

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There's easy access to the rear of the panel.  The wiring will enter/exit at the lower corners.  Their flexing (opening / closing) will be mostly a twisting motion.

 

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The switch is easily reached from the cockpit.  The panel is released for access [to its backside] by backing out the bronze OHWS near the top.

 

The next step is to disassemble the panel and remove the electronics so tha the wood parts may be prepared for priming and paint (probably white).  The edge piece near the companionway's frame will be finished bright.  After that, all electrical fixtures and outlets will be mounted and the whole thing wired together.

 

Then I'll tackle construction of "Catnip" and the reboarding ladder.

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Pete, as usual, stellar work. After spending way too much time on Jazz Hands' electrical system, I am reminded of why I like my Sea Pearls flashlight and AA fueled GPS! But someday when we are hunkered down snug in our own cabins, listening to the sounds of the water slapping Okume plywood, safe with the glow of an anchor light that works, it will all be worth it. 

 

Happy New Year!

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  • 1 month later...

My boat work in December & January has been slowed by cold weather, tax returns, and family events, etc, etc.. But all is looking up at this point.  The "Two Paw 7" kit will arrive Monday afternoon.  I'm anxious to get started on it, but one more job on the CS20.3 must come first in order to make space in the shop for the Two Paw.  That's the coaming across "Chessie's" cabin roof and garage to which the leading edge of the Dodger will be attached.  I have all the plans, templates, and materials.  Once that's installed, "Chessie" will be moved out of the garage and transported to the canvas shop.  While the Dodger is being fabricated and installed, I'll get started on "Catnip," our name for the Two Paw 7 (I think its length is actually 6' 6").  I'll start a separate posting for its build.

 

Then Chessie's electrical wiring and boarding ladder will have me ready for my first scheduled spring cruise with the Shallow Water Sailors (Chesapeake's Madison Bay, May 3 to 6).  Non-members are always welcome.

 

Here are a couple of photos of Chessie's "Bunk Box."  It goes at the forward end of the cabin sole to support the bunk cushions that overhang the forward edges of the bunk supports.  There's easy access to it and provides a "secrete" stowage place for valuables (wallet, keys, etc).

 

The box with closed top.

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Top removed showing stowage space.

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That's all, for now.

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Today I actually started on the "Dodger" coaming.  Its shape laid out with carbon paper under the Mylar pattern on 4 mm marking ply.  Looks like I need another piece so as to have a laminated 8 mm coaming.  I'll glue on each laminate separately.  The second laminate will be placed an the aft side [of the 1st] and it should be much easier to glue on.

 

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After cutting these out, I'll mark the coaming's location on the cabin roof and garage.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just finished the coaming for Chessie's "dodger" -- here are a couple of pixs.  Tomorrow Chessie will be towed to the Potomac Canvas Co in Woodbridge, Virginia, to have her dodger installed.  I'll start a separate topic to detail the dodger design and installation.

 

 

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Also, last week the B & B kit for a "Two Paw 7" arrived via freight.  It was a crate about 4" x 24" x 84" weighting about 100 lbs.. The driver, a very helpful young man, carried it up my 150' driveway and placed it on sawhorses in my garage.  I insisted that he accept my $20 expression of gratitude.  At the curb I had a small hand truck -- which was inadequate for the purpose.  Chessie's tender will be named "Catnip," and I'll start her build on another topic.  Catnip was Steve's name suggestion.

 

http://messing-about.com/forums/forum/8-b-amp-b-yachts-forum/

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Chessie now has her Dodger and is tucked snugly away in her garage just as Virginia gets ready for the last [hopefu;;y] snow on the 2nd day of spring.  Just before Dave (Potomac Canvas Co.) started cutting canvas, I stood under the dry-fitted tubing and decided that the headroom [under to tubing] wouldn't be enough for me to stand in the companionway and comfortably use a hand-held urinal.  So I asked Dave if he could cut me a "zippered" opening in the top that would give me unlimited headroom while standing on the cabin sole.  He wouldn't guarantee it to be waterproof, but we decided that it would resist all but the hardest rain.  And if the companionway hatch is closed, leaking wouldn't matter anyway.

 

And, after final assembly, we discovered another reason to have the opening.  It allows for deployment / stowage of the Dodger while on the water.  I suppose that will be occasionally useful, but for the most part I'll probably sail with the Dodger deployed.  I'll discover if that's the case during this summer's cruising season.

 

Dave originally didn't recommend that the Dodger (even in stowed position) be on the cabin roof while trailering on the highway.  But he made a "dust cover" for me anyway.  And seeing how well it's secured on the cabin roof, he thought highway travel would be OK.  In fact I hit 60 to 70 mph while trailering her home from the canvas shop without any problems.  Here are a few photos:

 

The planned "sky-light":

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The next two photos show the "Boot" -- which we originally called just a "dust cover":

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The black item is simply a piece of pipe insulation slipped over the leading edge as "chafe" protection where the canvas and tubing rest on the dodger's coaming.

 

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Entrance / exit thru the companionway hatch is slightly impeded when Dodger in stowed position..

 

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View from the starboard-side helmsman position.  I'd say the view is not significantly impeded.

 

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Skylight open and rolled up.

 

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View from aft, starboard and port.

 

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View from forward and closeup of attachment hardware.  Once folded and in the "boot" the whole thing can be removed by just lining up the retainers and pulling the pins.  Later, I'll post the weight of the whole thing.

 

NOTICE the wrinkles in the top.  They will be "tensioned" out when Dave sends me the "tensioning" straps which will pull the top "tight" with extra leverage much more so than the little bungee cords on the ear-flaps.  The first straps wouldn't release easily.

 

By-the-way:  The skylight allows one to reach all the turn-buttons while standing on the cabin sole.  Absent that feature, deployment and stowage would have to be made on shore before launch.  With the skylight open -- I can launch with the Dodger in its boot and strapped to the cabin roof for road transport.  Perhaps not deployed at all during a day-sail, or only at anchor (on an overnight cruise).

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  • 2 months later...

Well, it's been two months.  Lots has happened.

 

New stowage for gasoline.  I had a gas-stowage rack inside the port hatch.  I didn't like that because of the potential hazard and the hatch always had a slight gas smell.  So I fabricated two racks to go under the mizzen partner.  They each sit on the mizzen step and two 3/4" feet -- allowing footwell drainage under them.  A shallow arc (1.5" radius) is cut into the inboard edges to fit against the mizzen [stepping] tube -- which keeps them firmly inplace.  I can stow up to 9 one-liter plastic cans.  If I take less cans, I can also keep two one-liter water bottles within easy reach from the helm.

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View from aft.

 

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view from forward.

 

On my way to the early May cruise with the Shallow Water Sailors Chessie and trailer was weighed.  The two numbers represent just the axle and the axle and the tongue.

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That's a tongue weight of 220 lbs.  A bit too much for my Tacoma.  I'll move the boat back a little -- aiming for about 180 lbs.  By-the-way, the 2040 weight was with all cruising equipment.  In another posting I'll give you the trailer-alone weight.

 

On Memorial Day weekend we had a mini cruise to the Hartge Yach Haven (Galesville, MD on the West River).  That's where I learned to sail at age 15 while washing dishes ($5 a week and all the sailing that I wanted between meals) at the YMCA Camp Letts.  My son Jim and daughter-in-law Patricia joined Annie and me for the Sunday sail and potluck dinner.  Photos show Jim on Chessie's bunk and the cabin's sitting head-room.

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On Monday am (Memorial Day) I had to motor from the Yacht Haven to the ramp at Back Yard Boats in Shady Side, about 4 nm.  The sails were in their bags and stowed the night before on the port side of the cockpit.  But we had lots of rain during the night, and because it was quite windy and I didn't have a good way to secure them in the cockpit, while motoring to the ramp, I decided to stow them in the cabin where they would need to be placed when trailering.  What a wet mess in the cabin when Chessie was finally parked in the driveway.  Next time I will transport (water or highway) the sails on the cockpit port-side seats -- like shown in the next photo:

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The sail bags will be firmly held to the seat with a line (hard to see because the line is red like the sail bags.  The line loops under the mizzen partner and temporarily clamped to the coaming.  For hold downs I will drill two holes next to the openings in the coaming.  Their locations will be where the clamps are in the photos below.

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The forward tie down hole.  image.thumb.jpeg.4b8d1faa8bc3071dedf3c66ce77d19ff.jpeg

The aft hole location.  3/4" holes just at the end of the clamps.

 

The 3.5 Tohatsu ran just fine for each cruise.  But on her next outing she wouldn't start!  Turned out to be bad gas.  The stabilizer label says it's good for two years.  But the Tohatsu dealer told me not to trust it for more than a month or so.  I'll follow his advice.

 

 

 

 

 

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Lookin' good, Pete. I like the sail bags strapped on the cockpit seats. I carried mine in the cabin. I was lucky to never had to stash them in there wet. Chessie will appreciate not having to carry that stinky old gas in her locker. I regularly use gas with stabilizer in it that is over a year old. But, I always use non-ethanol gas and run all of the gas out of the motor before stowing it. Before starting doing these things, i regularly had trouble with the carb getting plugged up. These four-strokes seem to have smaller gas jets that plug easily.

 

Just a thought on your tongue weight. The recommended weight is 10%-15% of the total towing weight. Much less that that could cause "fish-tailing" which you DEFFINATELY don't want. Especially with a light tow vehicle.

 

I'm looking forward to a tour and sail at the B&B messabout!

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  • 5 weeks later...

Tohatsu 3.5 performance:

 

I've finally got rid of the "bad gas" that was giving me fits.  I've always been careful about using a gas stabilizer and draining the carb' after each use.  But don't believe the manufacture's label stating that their product will protect gas "up to two years."  I was using gas treated the previous season.  My OBM mechanic warned me not to trust it for more than about 2 months.

 

This past Tuesday Chessie was taken to the Potomac and launched as a motor boat [mast stowed as for highway trailering].  CB down about a 3rd and an empty ballast tank with just me aboard.  Weather hot with calm to light and variable wind.  The OBM started up on the 3rd pull without any problems.  And the one restart just needed one pull.

 

The test cruise was for 1 hr 23 min (1.38 hrs).  Gas consumption was 1.55 liters.  That's 1.12 liters/hr.  The OBM was run between 3600 and 4200 rpm which pushed the boat from 4.5 to 6 knots (GPS speed over the bottom)..  I think that's close to her hull speed.  BTW, max rpm was 5400.  That's close to its advertised performance of 4500 rpm for 3.5 hp.  At wide-open her speed was maybe almost 6.5 knots.  But the data is unreliable because the Potomac has a current and tide which makes it hard to know the boat's speed thru the water.

 

According to the GPS, we traveled 12.6 nm and were underway for 2.48 hours.  That's about a 5 knot average.  That calculates to about 5.6 nm/liter (~ 21 nm/gal).  Chessie's standard gas load is 10 liters (including the gas in the engine) -- giving her a range of 56 nm.  Plenty for a typical Chesapeake cruise of a few days to a week.

 

I had vinel curtains fabricated to shade the gas cans stowed under the mizzen's partner.  They also shade two one-liter bottles of water.  Looking aft:image.thumb.jpeg.38c71193dd6fd035a23f587e3f0aa164.jpeg

 

Looking forward:

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Here's a view of the 3/4" deck plate covering most of the forward footwell.  A space is left so that a foot may be placed on the sole -- and easier access to the bailers in the ballast tank.  This large deck plate provides a sturdier place to stand when stepping the mizzen mast.

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In the next posting I'll show another use for the deck plate.

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The new deck plate is made of 3/4" marine ply.  I was concerned about the strength of the pine board to support all of my weight plus the mizzen mast.

 

Here is a photo in its stowed position.  With a cushion placed just aft of the companionway -- it's a very comfortable seat for crew looking forward.  The battery cover is a convenient foot rest.

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It's also used to support one or two "feet" on the beach chairs that I carry aboard:

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And I've been considering how I could use one of these chairs while at the helm:

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It won't be a deck plate.  I think I'll fashion just a 1 x 4 that will span the footwell.  It'll have an edge to keep the chair's "foot" on the board -- and it'll be able to slide fore and aft over the footwell.  The chair with the umbrella weighs just 7.5 lbs -- and the other one 6.6 lbs.. Easy to move about and stow in one of the aft lockers.  They are very useful on shore or the dock.  I gotta have some sit-down comfort with back support -- and a little shade.

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  • 1 month later...

BUILDERS !!:. Learn from my mistakes . . .

Chessie has always had some leak problems (rain water into the aft hatches and the bilge aft of the ballast tank), of which most have been discovered and repaired.  However, the aft bilge persistently collected rain water.  At first I suspected leakage around the access hatch thru the sole just aft of the mizzen step.  But it was too much rain water for the amount of rain recorded.

 

This morning (after just 0.5" rain) I did a "leak inspection" which revealed more than 5.2 lbs of water!  While cleaning up the water left on the sole surface (collecting at the aft end between the drain holes), I saw air bubbles at the intersection of Blk 6 and the cockpit sole.  The collected water was rapidly leaking into the aft bilge.

 

I don't believe the building instructions [that I had] at the time covered this phase of construction, but I recall that I glued down the sole over a thick bead of thickened epoxy and then applied a fillet around the entire edge of the sole.  I DID NOT APPLY a 3" fiberglass tape over the fillet.  I should have.  Where there is stress (foot traffic, slight boat flexing) -- a fillet alone just won't do.

 

Here are my notes on the inspection:

 

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Presently, I'll make repairs by clearing out the old fillet and applying a 3" tape around the edges of cockpit sole aft of the mizzen.  Over the winter I'll finish the job all around the sole.

 

On second thought maybe I won't do any repair work until after the sailing season so that I can put Chessie in her garage and, with a little heat applied, throughly dry the leaking areas that presently must be fairly soaked with rainwater.

 

Alternative suggestions for temporary and/or permanent repair would be welcom.

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Pete, thank you for sharing this. Based on previous conversations I glopped a lot of thickened epoxy on the sole supports. I also made the inspection holes in the fore and aft stringers bigger. I was really tempted to cut the sole in two to be sure I got a good seal but I didn't. I used my cell phone to inspect the squeeze out and a gloved hand to wipe it clean.

 

I posted a question about weather I should put a layer of glass on the sole. Graham didn't answer me in this forum but in a phone conversation he encouraged me to. I ran the glass up the side about an inch and cut it off neat in the green state. I think it will solve the issue you have, but your note is a good one for others on this build. Check my thread. Today I primed her. I remember you having yours done. I wish I had!

 

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