Joe Anderson

Looks like you are off to a good start labeling the parts is a good idea. Building from a kit has a lot of advantages, but it does have one disadvantage. It is possible or rather inevitable that small errors will creep into your build. No matter how careful you are. If you are building from scratch it doesn't matter much. When it comes time to cut out your seat top you measure your boat and cut the seat tops out. If one side is a little wider than the other no one will know. When building from a kit it can be more of a problem because the seat tops are already precisely cut out. You can still

I don't care for the heat of June, July, August. Plus there are fewer bugs and fewer people in the off season, but those are personal preferences. October and November are good. Water temperature is warm, but the days start to become significantly shorter. Watch out for hurricanes. April and May are good. Water temperature especially early April is a significant safety concern. Lots of daylight hours. I like to have a plan B or a way to adapt my destinations and schedule to the particular weather that is occurring on my trip dates.

I think a trolling motor is a legitimate alternative, to the more sophisticated electric motors. I don't have any experience with trolling motors but I did a little research and it seemed to me you had to pay considerably more than a hundred to get a reliable motor that was designed to operate in a salt water environment. Anyway you can go really cheap or spend a $500 hundred or more for a trolling motor. You still need to source your battery if you go with a AGM battery you are talking about a significant amount of weight and some more cash. I am not saying which way is better, there are adv

Don, Sounds like a great adventure. I have over the years done a number of trips along the coast north of Cape Lookout, including one multiday kayak trip form Harkers Island to Back Bay, which is near Virginia Beach. Usually I have sought out undeveloped areas. Practicing with your chosen equipment at a drive in campground is a great idea. Invest in a good quality tent, it is essential for it to keep you dry and keep out the bugs. You do not want jamming zippers or leaky seams. Sleeping on the boat has its advantages but if you can not make your sleeping arrangement free o

Super! Let us know if you have any questions. Joe

Thanks for the detailed write up. Lots of lessons we can all learn from. I have a list of things that must be done before getting underway though it is tempting when the weather is nice or I am in a hurry to skip or forget some of them. I suspect you know but I have found that if I miss a tack it helps to loosen the mizzen a little. That makes it easier to use the main to push the bow out of the wind. Also if the mizzen is out a little the boat accelerates more quickly. Then if you want to be close hauled you can snug up the mizzen as you pick up speed. I often use

Randy, I am interested in hearing about your experience with the EP carry. Their web site does not seem to carry a lot of info. From what I can gather the Torqeedo and the Epropulsion both have a similar design and about 3 times the battery capacity. The Torqeedo gives you some data such as estimated range, speed, and power consumption. Some of that is not all that useful and the display can be difficult to read. It does beep at you when you reach 30% battery capacity and I think it may cut out at 20%. The EP Carry's light weight is definitely a plus in some situations. Does

During my recent test of my Torqeedo 1103 at the lake there was a significant amount of flotsam. One piece struck the motor shaft, tilting the motor up and cavitating the prop and I think striking the prop before floating off. I stopped the motor checked for damage and then continued on. On closer examination at home I saw a line across one blade that I thought was a stress fracture. That made me start to wonder if a side mounted motor was at greater risk of striking floating debris than a transom mounted motor. Upon closer examination I noticed that the mark on the prop blade could be wipe

That is a cool trick. I will make a note of it and be on the look out for a place to use it. When I was deciding to build a Spindrift I spent a while debating whether to build the S10 or the S12. I almost went with the 12 because of the extra room making sailing with a passenger more practical. I have found that if you are moving from sailing a larger boat sailing the Spindrift takes some adjusting. Whether you face forward or aft during a tack, how you switch the tiller and sheet in your hand and the placement of the mainsheet all needed to be coordinated. Not so m

I think you may be on to something Steve. I have had various sail rigs on my canoe and kayaks. You are right you can get lured into more complexity for less and less gain if you are not careful. Keep the boat light and simple. I know the Watertribers use small sails on their canoes and kayaks if you want to purchase something. I think they have a class for sails 1 square meter or less, but you could also make the rig yourself. I used to know this fellow that swore by an umbrella as a downwind sail on his kayak. I have always thought a small kayak type rudder was a good addition. Alan had a r

Pete Just curious why you decided to move your mainsheet cleat.

John Looks like your build is coming along well. Have made some modifications to the stock design. Perhaps some with your plan for coastal cruising in mind. I wonder if you could walk us through a few of the highlights. Am I seeing a foiled daggerboard slot? Are you going with the third step method for reefing? Also that looks like a large raised rear deck. Forgive me if I am mistakenly seeing things in the photos. Also I am only casually familiar with the CS17 but I admire the boat and think it fills a wonderful size niche not too small, not too big, just about right.

I was interested to hear your story Ken. How our goals and ideals change. I do not want to push too hard but I am thinking that if you are advising someone who is new to sailing that it would be reasonable to present rowing as an option for an auxiliary in a small boat rigged for sailing such as a Spindrift. I think many people would be happy to row a kilometer or so. Some people like my wife Sally, bless her heart, seem to enjoy rowing. Here is a clip of her dragging us up Rabbit Key Pass against the tide. Rowing Rabbit Key Pass The Spirit Plus and the Tor

Just to be clear I am talking about the situation where you have a small boat rigged and intended primarily for sailing and you want to choose an auxiliary. My opinion is that oars do not necessarily take a back seat to a motor either electric or IC. And that the smaller the sailboat the more the advantage goes to the oars. By the way I am glad that Mr Finnegan is holding the line because I have begun to do some serious research.

There has been and there will always be a debate among sailors about whether a motor is a necessary piece of equipment or an abomination, but on a Spindrift 10 set up for sailing, Really? When I was building my EC22 I was gifted a small two stroke by my neighbor who was upgrading to a 4 stroke Honda after the banger had balked at starting a couple of times. Part way through the build for a variety of reasons but in part Graham's example I abandoned the idea of hanging a motor on the transom. Ironically by the time I launched SKORPA Graham and a good bit of the BandB community (