Axel

Jeff, many of your requirements match mine. I think the whole story goes back to Dovekie, and then Bolger Birdwatcher which was developed to meet home builder's needs. A bigger Bolger design (Whalewatcher) seems to work better for people with back problems, but it will be too big for you. The late Bolger designed Birdwatcher 2 to implement a small motor and another two decades of owners input. Some Michalak boats are designed with the same ideas in mind. I haven't found the ideal design, but mostly because my sense of aesthetics does not meet may of these designs. But they work, and I think it might be a good idea to look Birdwatcher / Whalewatcher up in "Boats with an open mind" and ask Bolger's wife for some fax information of Birdwatcher 2. This information stimulated my thoughts and helped to make them more precise, which is the opposite of dreaming. Yours, Axel (Switzerland)

Nothing feels overbuilt, everything is functional. The rig is highly effective, but needs comparatively more hardware from the sailing store (in this case: from B& than traditional rigs with four-sided sails. In the small boat, the sailing clutter takes amazingly much room. I did not find a proper way to sleep in the boat yet.

To be able to drift in light winds, I enlarged the luff of the sail, which was a good decision. A lacing system, however, would have been more appropriate for my cruising dinghy.

Dear all, this is just to summarize and comment on my building and testing phase, which ended this summer. The Lake of Constance is a mostly calm lake, the climate being continental. It forms parts of the borderline of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. I had the desire to cruise the lake for years, but even a dry storage place near the shore is a very expensive option, not to speak about a marina berth. So, I decided that a sailing/rowing dinghy which could be taken over the shoulder and being assembled and rigged in knee-deep water would have the best cost/fun ratio. The boat had to be an excellent drifter as well as a good rowboat. Camping-cruising should be easily possible. These requirements pointed towards a one-off. The idea of a nesting dinghy intrigued me, so I looked for plans. I found two very good designs: Danny Greene

Dear Mark, enjoyed your pictures. I had the same problem and drilled a small hole into the mast; just above the wooden foot, facing aft. It works great and does not seem to affect the strength of the mast. Happy sailing, Axel

When buildung my Spindrift 11N, I did not bother with access ports in my three flotation compartments. I did seal the inside of them carefully with two coats of epoxy. However, this is a garage boat, and condensation is not assumed to play a major part. I will add some 4" round access ports with o-rings in the next few years for air exchange during storage, and they will be added on the vertical sides, not on the deck. My Spindrift has a decked center section, in the way Garry built it. My big access ports are round, o-ringed, screwed and bedded onto the decks with Sikaflex or similar. One of that section is perfectly dry (the second one has holes for the centerbord retaining elastic rope), and I am very pleased with them. Dry luggage storage makes the difference between contentment and misery when camp-cruising. However, all this adds some weight, and I remember that Garry told me that the same can be achieved with watertight bags. Axel (Switzerland)

Dear forum members, I am debugging my Spindrift 11N in Switzerland (there are no bugs in the design, by the way, they are only in my boat, and it's the fault of the builder). The boat has some Garry's marvellous ideas built in, which are working fine. It's a tough little boat, used as a daycruiser and for solo camp cruising on the Lake of Constance. Your forum has been a great help. I found answers for lots of my questions. However, I am hesitating presenting photos until I have tested out any feature and modification in detail to be sure that it really works as intended. Sorry for the really silly question, but at the moment I am breaking 2" closed bronze oar locks. They look tortured, having an small angle of about 2-3