Spindrifts seen in the wild

[Lille Ø]

We're currently cruising the Caribbean with our lovely Spindrift 9N. We never saw another one in Europe, but I thought it might be interesting to share some of the Spindrifts we've seen in the wild here. There are always some creative solutions to be inspired by.

 

On the "good rowing dinghy" side, we saw this heavily modified Spindrift 10 in Grenada. I love the oarlocks!

He doesn't have an outboard, and rows everywhere with the 2.7m long oars. And goes fast too!

 

This Spindrift 9N we met on Frigate Island. They sail everywhere, as the dinghy doesn't have oarlocks or an outboard. The sail was a cut-down mainsail from the "big boat" using a batten as a sort of a gaff, and they steered with a sculling oar.

I believe the mast is from a windsurfer.

 

We didn't meet the owner, but this Spindrift in Carriacou had a stayed mast:

 

Any other interesting Spindrift sightings?

[Bryan Rolfe]

Wow, I'm impressed you've seen so many! Kudos to the guys without any oar locks, not sure if they're crazy or just really competent. 

Have you guys been sailing your dinghy very much? When I was in Grenada, I would row my inflatable a mile every morning to shore (I was in Woburn Bay overy by the Hog Island bridge). But sometimes I would need to go over to one of the adjacent bays, which is quite a long trip to row -- but would have been a blast to sail. 

[Aphers]

I haven't taken photos, but in the three years we've been cruising the Caribbean we've seen several other Spindrifts. I'm not sure if I can remember them all.

 

We did meet one guy in Carriacou who has built both a 10 and an 11. The 11 might be the one with the stayed mast in the photo above. It was a big gunter rig, with the sail made from a dumpster find spinnaker.

 

In Grenada we met someone with a 10, and took it for a quick row, then took him for a short sail in our 11. It was interesting to try out the smaller version, the extra foot makes an enormous difference. 

 

Another family who we met in Martinique had an 11N, and were using an 8hp 2 stroke. I actually own the exact same engine myself but never thought of using it on the Spindrift. Maybe I'm just being chicken.

 

We've seen other Spindrifts at dinghy docks but not met their owners. 

 

I'm surprised how few of the ones we've seen were being used under sail. We sail ours almost every day, and we can go days or even weeks without having to get the oars out. I wouldn't like to be without them though!

[Aphers]

1 hour ago, Bryan Rolfe said:

Have you guys been sailing your dinghy very much? When I was in Grenada, I would row my inflatable a mile every morning to sure (I was in Woburn Bay overy by the Hog Island bridge). But sometimes I would need to go over to one of the adjacent bays, which is quite a long trip to row -- but would have been a blast to sail. 

We sailed around that area a lot with our 11N and windsurf rig. 

To get under the Hog bridge, I would remove one of the four sections of the mast, which gave just enough clearance to get through. I always had to row going the other way though, no way I could short tack through there, especially as the sail wouldn't set at all properly with a quarter of the mast missing. 

Trips through to Secret were quite good fun. Le Phare Bleu was a pain because it was so shallow- I don't think I ever managed that under sail alone. 

Trips in and out of Woburn were generally pretty easy under sail. Ah, you're making me feel homesick for the place... even if the water was purple on distillery discharge day...

[Bryan Rolfe]

Yeah the reef passage to Le Phare Bleu would be risky under sail the the daggerboard down. Were you removing sections of the mast on the fly? That's something I haven't figured out how I'll do yet, if it ever becomes necessary. 

I'm not sure we'll make it back to the Caribbean with our Spindrift, but if we go west long enough we might. I am excited to explore the atolls of the south Pacific with one though, I think that could be a lot of fun. 

[Aphers]

14 hours ago, Bryan Rolfe said:

Were you removing sections of the mast on the fly? That's something I haven't figured out how I'll do yet, if it ever becomes necessary.

At first, I picked up a buoy on approach to the bridge, and dropped the whole rig and rowed under. Then the next time I tried re-stepping the mast with the bottom section missing. Gradually I got a bit braver with it and would do it without picking up the buoy, but just drift down towards the bridge. Easier with my son on the helm. It did cross my mind that if the mast had jammed for any reason, things could have got interesting. I generally have an anchor ready to drop so that would have been my backup option. 

 

The way the boat is currently rigged, with a standing lug, all I'd have to do is let off the downhaul and let the yard fall level, and we'd get through.

 

I'm not sure if we're returning to the southern Caribbean though- my wife found it too hot.

[Lille Ø]

20 hours ago, Bryan Rolfe said:

Have you guys been sailing your dinghy very much? When I was in Grenada, I would row my inflatable a mile every morning to shore (I was in Woburn Bay overy by the Hog Island bridge). But sometimes I would need to go over to one of the adjacent bays, which is quite a long trip to row -- but would have been a blast to sail. 

We sailed a lot more in Scotland where the anchorages were better and the winds lighter. But we've sailed some. It is always fun, just a hassle to rig up. Maybe we should try a simplified rig, like Aphers has.

 

Let's see what we end up doing when we're anchored in Curaçao for the next few months.

[Bryan Rolfe]

Yeah I'm wondering if I should add a reef to my sail for the trade winds. Sometimes I forget how it's just constantly blowing 15-20kts there. 

Hope you got to spend some time in Bonaire before Curacao. Both have their advantages, but Bonaire is really hard to beat from the standpoint of how beautiful the water is in comparison. You should also head over to Klein (little) Curacao, makes for a fun little trip. And when it times to depart further west, assuming that's your plan, there are a bunch of nice littel spots along the west coast of Cuarcao to anchour outside of Spanish Water. 

[Aphers]

The main problem with Bonaire is the $35/day anchoring fee. Most people seem to make a fairly brief stop there for that reason, but I've heard that it's amazing.

[Bryan Rolfe]

Is it really $35/day now? I think when I was there it was $10/day, but I honestly don't remember having to pay it. That could be because my boat was only 27ft, and someone had a private mooring that was a little closer to shore that they very kindly let me use (there were no moorings available when I arrived). 

That is kind of one thing I didn't like about Bonaire, is that there were so few moorings and they were basically always all taken, that whenever you wanted to go day sail somewhere else on the island you had to "reserve" your mooring with your dinghy. 

I did enjoy it much more than Curcao though. Curacao is a more useful place to be, as it has the stores and ammenities needed for our boats. But Bonaire is quiet and cute, unless there's a cruise ship on the dock.