CS Yacht Owners Associations

Dear CSOA Members:

We keep our CS33 at the Trident Yacht Club near Gananoque, Ontario, Canada, smack in the middle of the Thousand Islands at the east end of lake Ontario. It is nature's paradise with scenery, clear water (I can see eight feet down when moored at my slip) , excellent winds and sunny weather. If you want to experience paradise this far north, come and see us, and be sure to stop in and spend a few days at Trident Yacht Club, the friendliest club in the Great Lakes.

Maurice Marwood, CS33 "Bonnie Skye" call sign: CFH5808.

Maurice Marwood

memarwood@netaxis.qc.ca

My wife and I are buying a CS36 which we plane to sail from Duluth to Kingston this summer. We will leave Duluth on July 1 and plan to arrive in Kinston during the second week of August. Any pointers you can give us on where to stay in the Kingston area, where in the area we might be able to leave our boat for winter storage and what's fun to do cruising the thousand islands would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Fritz Franzen, Ames, Ia.

You would enjoy a day or two in Kingston at the Confederation Basin Marina. It is very nice but busy and active. Many other smaller, less active marinas in the area with good depth for your boat. Confederation Basin is within walking distance of downtown which is worth a walk around. There is an information kiosk right at the harbour. Fort Henry is there from the days of the war of 1812.

Kingston is within an hour or two's sailing of the heart of the Thousand Islands, and about two hours from our club at Trident and Ganonoque. You will love it at that time of the year. Plan to spend a day or two at Kingston, a day or two at our club or at Gananoque, and a day or two anchoring out amonst the islends, depending on your preferences. There are many quiet, peacful anchorages if that is what you prefer. Get a local map in Kingston, or any good provincial map store and they will identify many choices. If you get to a good Chandlery buy the "Port's Book" for the area. It will tell you all that you need to know. Just be sure to respect the bouys because the waters are unpredictable, yet beautiful. The "Port's Book" alerts you about what to watch for, where to anchor, how to get there, what to see, where to eat, etc.

There is a good marina for winter storage at Iroquois Marina, a small place about one days sail/motor down river from Gananoque. We have kept our boat there for the last three years and have been satisfied. When you get to Kingston, ask around and you will get losts of free advice on the subject. It is an interesting down river trip, and up river trip in the spring. Some of us take two days and stop for an over night at Brockville, especially coming up river against the current and the wind in the spring. A good time to plan for launch and going up river to the Thousand Islands is the first weekend in May; it may be warm or cold depending on the year, but tolerable either way.

One can spend many years in the Thousand Islands and still not do it all or see it all and sail it all or anchor it all, etc. Hope to see you next summer. If you have any more questions, please e-mail. A CS36 is a perfect boat for the region.

OK LIST-SERVE DO YOUR STUFF, ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE PRO OR CON CONCERNING REPAIR OF BOTTOM BLISTERS??

I have many small blisters on bottom of my CS33 and have come to realize it is quite common. The boat has been out of the water for one year and bottom has been sandblasted, gelcoat is still intact and some blisters opened and some did not. Have started sanding the gelcoat and many of the bumps sand away to a smooth surface. QUESTIONS:

1) Has anyone had blisters return after smoothing and epoxy sealing? Whatever open blisters there are I will fill before coating.

2) What brand of coatings have been used? I am aware of four products: West System Epoxy, VC Coal Tar Epoxy, Interlux 1000-2000-3000, and Barrier System Resins.

Best Winds,

Anton & Shirley

CS33 "Kokopelli"

I'm not and expert on this subject. I just have a small amount of experience and some hearsay "knowledge". Same for my '85 CS30 with recent bottom job. There were about 15-20 detectable blisters, none larger than 0.5 inch. Shop that did the bottom said it was not at all bad, compared to most boats they see. I've heard that some blisters will flatten out as the boat dries, but can then return when the boat is put back into the water. I understand it is best to try to open all suspected blisters with the corner of a putty knife. My boat's previous owner had the bottom epoxied with Interlux 2000 at the last bottom job, which was in Oct 1994. There were a few small blisters repaired at that time. I don't know if the blisters I saw at the bottom job just completed were new or returns, but evidently blisters can happen after a barrier coat is applied. We repeated what had been done before, for lack of a better plan:

sand off ALL old VC17

grind out any blisters

wash down with acid (don't know what they used)

fill blisters with (I think) VC Watertight

four coats of Interlux 2000 epoxy barrier coat

two coats of VC17 paint, three at the waterline

Note: Interlux 1000 is the thing when the old gelcoat has been peeled all the way down to the underlying layup. The 2000 is for application over the gelcoat. That is why any ground out blisters were filled with something besides 2000.

I think Interlux must now own, or at least distribute, VC. I saw VC products info on the Interlux website, looked like it was an in house product. I think the URL is www.interlux.com

One thing that I wonder about is the drying out. Several folks say to let the boat stay out of the water until the hull shows a certain level with a moisture meter before applying the epoxy barrier. We didn't see any blister that appeared to go far into the layup, plus we wanted to go sailing, so we just had the boat out for about ten days while they did the bottom. Time will tell, but that is typical for this area. This is warm fresh water where the boats are in all year long.

Just another data point: we also had the hull and deck polished, buffed and waxed along with the bottom job. Total cost, including 8.25% tax was about $1970 US. I think the polish/buff/wax added about $300 to that total; but I don't remember exactly, and I don't have the paperwork here with me.

Cheers,

Charlie

CS30 "Sprite"

Because the bottom was clean I did not feel the need to do a spring haul-out in '95. That fall I had a sailor/diver friend scrub clean the bottom. He reported lots of blisters forward of the keel and a few elsewhere. I called him every name and said he wouldn't know a blister if he saw one, etc. After I calmed down about 4 months later, an appointment was made at the yard to inspect. There were certainly lots of blisters!! It was determined they were dry, no moisture whatsoever. The yard talked with the epoxy manufacturer and felt the these blisters were in the epoxy only and caused in the application process - the epoxy was applied by roller in relatively cold weather. Now this yard applies S 1 by sprayer only. I suspect the yard knows the real cause behind the second case of blistering. Of course, this was covered by warranty "as long as I'm here". They told me that he had done about 130 blister repair jobs with about 6 boats returned for more repair.

The real moral to the story is that in spite of what you may think "there is life before and after blisters". That life is just to be spent on a sailboat.

Regards,

Dick Duffley

Maurice Marwood memarwood@netaxis.qc.ca

Regards,

Fraser Farmer

CS36 "Green-Sleeves"

Blandford, Nova Scotia

As I may have mentioned at the CSOA meeting in Vancouver, we had a horrible case of blisters when we purchased our CS36. She had spent several years in the tropics which seems to bring out the worst in gel coat!. Our answer was a drastic one, we had the gel coat peeled down to the laminate from just above the waterline to the keel waited 4 months for the proper moisture readings and then rebuilt the bottom with West Epoxy with micro balloons; fairing between each layer (3) and finishing with a glaze coat to get the last flat spots. The final process was the 20ml of West with a barrier coat additive, applied in 6 coats, tipping out the epoxy after each roll. Sand and two coats of ACP50 Black bottom paint and NO blisters after 4 years back in the water. My husband and I did the bottom ourselves after the boatyard said West would be 'too hard to do'. Bull feathers! We had the bare hull surveyed before painting it and passed with flying colors.

There is life after blisters. Happy sailing.

Mary Ellen Spinar

Wind Dancer CS36

http://www.osmocure.com

Here's more grist for the mill. Two months ago I purchased a 2 bladed MAXPROP from PYI in Edmonds, Wash for our 1991 CS34 (displacement of about 11,000 lbs). The boat has a 20hp Yanmar diesel with a 1 inch drive shaft. Previously I have used a 2 bladed 16 * 12 fixed Martek and a 16 * 11 folding Martek prop.

The installation was relatively easy. The removal of the fixed prop was done without a puller as it was off 6 months earlier. The taper and thread on the end of the shaft is the same for all of these props. However, the maxprop envelopes the end of the shaft and I had to cut about an inch off the end of the shaft and also drill a small hole through the shaft for a cotter pin. Both of these mods are easy because the shaft is fairly soft. Anyone with a hacksaw and a good drill can do this themselves.

The maxprop is excellent for backing up - better than the fixed prop (the folding prop was awful). It also works well in forward. I set it for 11.5 inches of pitch but may change it to a slightly coarser pitch. Currently, at 2450 rpm (a sweet spot) boat speed is 6.2 knots when the bottom is clean.

Cheers,

Maarten W. Prinsze

Fraser Farmer, in an email this morning told me of the web page at closereach.com and of this list. I am impressed, what a useful resource.

To introduce myself, my wife Karen and I are one third owners of a 1982 CS 36 "Misty Gray" which we keep at Schooner Cove Marina not far from our home in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island.

Yesterday after our New Year's day sail, I fell on the life line and snapped off a stanchion. Fraser has found me a source of a new one for which I am grateful.

There is one item about the CS36 rig that I am interested to know a solution for. Our boat has a 153 genoa and a 110 jib. Both work on the Hood Seafurl II furler. We find that the top third of the 110 luffs and, if there is enough wind, thunders loudly. Placing the sheet leads forward to the end of the track isn't enough, they would need to go a couple of feet further forward. Once in a while when no one is looking we run the sheets through the docking cleats which are nearly far enough forward.

One owner here suggested that we get the sail recut. He said that worked for him. I think he had a higher clew put in. I suppose that might work but my hunch is that it wouldn't really solve the problem. Have others had/solved this problem? I have it figured that the real solution is to add some track and a car further forward of the existing track but I am reluctant to add a toe stubber and spoil the nice job CS did with recessing the existing track by adding another that would not be recessed ahead of it.

Cheers!

Ken Walker

This may be too simplistic, but I get pretty good control of the upper sail area by adjusting the leech line. My 1984 CS36 (Solitaire) may have a track that goes further forward than yours but I doubt it. I can't say there is never any luffing, after tightening the leech line, but it is markedly reduced. My sails may be somewhat stretched after years of use, but my sailmaker--doncha just love that, like I could actually OWN a sailmaker;-) she's actually Hood's sailmaker--says the sails are remarkably well preserved.

My sailing consultant--also not exactly mine--suggested cutting the bottom of the Jib just to give better visibility to windward. So, if you start cutting, take care of the foot as well.

Good Sailing.

John Lambdin; Solitaire __/)_

Happy New Year All ..Mike .."Blue Heron"

Greetings and Happy New Year from the Wilson Yacht Club on Lake Ontario, As a new subsriber, I just wanted to throw a question out there about a Quanta 28. Given that the boat is a "kissing cousin" to a CS, are there any other Quanta owners out there? Designed by Ray Wall, built in British Columbia - we're seeking more information about her. Sails like a dream.

Lisa Stephens

All,

I'd be interested in finding out what kind of teak oil is good for the interior of a CS30. Unfortunately, the previous owner is not available for me to ask. It looks great, I want to keep it that way.

Cheers,

Charlie

People..... Nice work !!

I found this site very interesting. I've Always Liked CS Boats (O.K., O.K. I currently own a Northern 29 but ...) . Anyway the Current CANADIAN YACHTING magazine has a very complimentary article written by Pat Sturgeon (spelling ?) reviewing the CS36 Merlin.