Spindrift 9N #1579 build

[Lille Ø]

This morning a 39kt wind was pushing all of the ice in the bay into our marina and making a lot of noise.

 

Since it was raining, we started the day inside by planing the gunwales.

 

Luckily the rain ended, and we were able to move the boat outside for sanding. First time this was possible, as the boat wouldn't fit out through the door in one piece.

We rounded the gunwales and shaped the bow curvature. While we had the router out, we also opened the hole for the daggerboard.

Back inside we added fiberglass tape to the outer seams of the nesting bulkheads. The boat is looking so much more together now with the gunwales in correct shape!

I'll try to secure us a mast tonight. Fingers crossed.

[Bryan Rolfe]

Still blown away by how quickly you guys are making progress on this project, and doing it all in a room of a sailing club to boot. 

[Lille Ø]

This was a long day!

We built the thwart and installed the thwart supports into the hull.

We also epoxy painted and glued the bow seat.

We installed bronze screws into the breast hook and quarter knees, and drilled holes that can be used for lifting the boat, or for the traveler.

Then we sanded the insides.

Since we decided to glass the bottom also on the inside, next job was to cut the glass.

Then we glassed and epoxy painted the insides and gunwales. I suspect we're doing a bit too thick coats, as we don't have a lot of epoxy left from the 12kg batch.

 

In the other news, seems like the Europe dinghy rig shall be ours! And there is also a sail that may or may not be salvageable.

[Captain Tim]

I looked up the Europe dinghy out of curiosity, I didn't know the boat. It seems to me the boom is very low.

I even thought a Laser radial would make for a low boom. Your thoughts?

[Don Silsbe]

Adding all that fiberglass will swallow up extra liters of epoxy, that is certain!

[Lille Ø]

5 hours ago, Captain Tim said:

I looked up the Europe dinghy out of curiosity, I didn't know the boat. It seems to me the boom is very low.

I even thought a Laser radial would make for a low boom. Your thoughts?

Yep, we’ll have to move the boom attachment higher. I think we’ll also have to shorten the boom a bit.

 

Originally we wanted an Ilca 4 (the smallest Laser) rig, but nobody seems to have those lying around.

[Lille Ø]

This morning we sanded the outsides of the hulls in preparation for glassing.

In the evening we cleaned the hull with acetone and cut the glass for the outside hulls (five pieces in total)

Then it was "just" a question of applying the glass and the three coats of epoxy.

Now we've slightly exceeded our epoxy budget. We've used about 13kg of the stuff. Luckily there isn't that much left to glue and/or paint.

 

This weekend we're on a celestial navigation course, so there won't be a lot of progress on the dinghy.

 

[Don Silsbe]

You’re doing a dine job.  Is that Birch plywood?  It doesn’t look like Okoume or Meranti.

[Lille Ø]

8 hours ago, Don Silsbe said:

You’re doing a dine job.  Is that Birch plywood?  It doesn’t look like Okoume or Meranti.

Thanks! It is okoume

[Lille Ø]

School day today, so as mentioned not a lot of progress on the boat. But at least some sun sights.

 

In the evening we cut and glued the keel plank.

Now all the parts are on!

[Bryan Rolfe]

Looking great! Word of caution while doing epoxy work with the hulls re-mated: I added a fill coat and in the process accidentally glued the two hulls together in one small spot. In trying to cut the epoxy away, I managed to cut into some of the glass on the nesting bulkhead faces, which wasn't a big deal, but was a headache.

[Aphers]

1 hour ago, Bryan Rolfe said:

Looking great! Word of caution while doing epoxy work with the hulls re-mated: I added a fill coat and in the process accidentally glued the two hulls together in one small spot. In trying to cut the epoxy away, I managed to cut into some of the glass on the nesting bulkhead faces, which wasn't a big deal, but was a headache.

My method was to use thin but stiff plastic (I used laminated sheets of paper) inserted in to the gap between the two halves, and sticking out by an inch or so.

Where the two halves meet there is a slight radius and it looks better if this is filled, so the plastic gives you an edge to work to. I used microfibres and was a little generous, over filling slightly. After it had cured, I removed the plastic and then carefully sanded the filled area to ensure that it was a perfect match both sides. I was really pleased with how this turned out, with a really good crisp edge and almost invisible join line.

[Hirilonde]

I left the corners at the mating bulkheads round.  As a tender, my Spindrift was going to be banged around a bit, and sharp corners damage easily. And sharp corners damage me easily 

[Aphers]

6 hours ago, Hirilonde said:

I left the corners at the mating bulkheads round.  As a tender, my Spindrift was going to be banged around a bit, and sharp corners damage easily. And sharp corners damage me easily 

Depends on how much of the time the boat spends disassembled. Ours goes on deck for long passages only.

[Lille Ø]

Today we woke up to a thin layer of ice in the bay. No matter, we pushed through to make it to the course.

At least on the way back we were rewarded with a quite pleasant sunset sail.

 

Once back in the marina, today's job list was pretty simple: cut the keel in two.

We also drilled the towing hole in the bow (we did the reinforcement with fiberglass).

Then we epoxied that and the daggerboard trunk cover.

Tomorrow we get to start sanding and fairing!

[Bryan Rolfe]

You're officially ahead of me now, good job! I haven't decided whether I want to drill a hole in the bow, or use an eye-bolt, but I think you made a good choice to prevent damage from it bumping into things.

[Lille Ø]

Today's main job was getting the hull fair. Lots and lots of sanding!

 

As always, the boat would've benefited from another round of fairing and sanding, but as we need to give the workshop back next week, we have to move on.

So, primer:

Now we are running a strict schedule to follow the overcoating times. Next rounds at 9pm and 1am.

 

Boat looks pretty good also in battleship grey (not the final color):

[Lille Ø]

20 hours ago, Bryan Rolfe said:

You're officially ahead of me now, good job! I haven't decided whether I want to drill a hole in the bow, or use an eye-bolt, but I think you made a good choice to prevent damage from it bumping into things.

Our plan is to splice dyneema strops in all the four holes, sort of like a soft pad eye.

[Bryan Rolfe]

Wow, she looks great with the primer on. What primer are you using? 

I think in a way you should count your time constraints as as blessing. Without time constraints, you can spend so much time sanding and fairing every little imperfection out of the boat -- and ultimately no one is going to notice these but you. 

[Lille Ø]

5 minutes ago, Bryan Rolfe said:

Wow, she looks great with the primer on. What primer are you using? 

The primer is InterProtect. Now followed by Perfection Undercoat: