Spindrift 10N Update, Sanding Galore!

[Steve Day]

My little Spindrift continues toward a launching, but there sure is a lot of sanding happening on her. :evil: I've put a lot of hours into the sanding and it is beginning to pay off.

I have also been varnishing some of the parts and making good progress there. The rudder assembly and centerboard are complete!

I'm hoping to get primer on the inside of the boat sometime this week or next. Hoping to launch in May.

Here are a couple of shots of the rudder and the interior or the boat with filler applied. Also one of the whole boat on the horses. The white spots are dust showing up in the flash (sorry about that).

Steve

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[mustangermatt]

Wow! Your rudder and dagger board are absolutely beautiful!

[Garry]

Hi Steve,

Good to see your progress. Your rudder and daggerboard look great! The other pics look good too (even though it takes a certain perspective to appreciate them. ;-).

My progress has been slow. On my last day off I got the boom cut down and shaped. I used a nice pine 2x4. It had a number of small tight knots but only two needed a slight bit of fill so it should work fine. I think I'll finish it clear so I can see any stains if there are any leaks at the fittings.

I built my rudder and daggerboard by laminating plywood so they will be painted. Larry at Raka Epoxy recommended just going with a good acrylic latex enamel house paint and mentioned Glidden Gripper as a good primer. I thik I'll try it. It will be easy to refinish or touch up if needed later. With the bangs at dinghy docks, loading on deck, and beachings, it will need touching up frequently anyway.

Have you done you fiberglass collars on your mast yet? How did it go? Got any tips on that or anything else to watch out for as I get closer to finishing?

I was thinking of launching with just the two coats of epoxy to see how everything works and make any changes needed. But then I would have to re-mount all the hardware, so its probably best to be p-a-t-i-e-n-t. Its hard though.

With the hatches that I'm using, I had to eliminate the aft corner blocks. With the transom stiffener, the wrap-around gunwale rail, and the filetted seat panels, I can't see any problem with this.

I ordered my sail with reef points because I love to sail in a stiff breeze. It might also help us get home when conditions unexpectedly get rough. This means the sail pocket will not be closed at the top. It will have a grommet to attach a halyard which will run down through the pocket on the forward side. Graham said the halyard can be run in a groove at the top. It will need some kind of keeper so the halyard doesn't jump out at the wrong moment.

I guess I'll get back to work. Things are going pretty well in the field so things are a little slow for me right now. I'll try to post some pics tomorrow.

Fair winds and fun days,

Garry

[Steve Day]

Guys,

Thanks for the compliments on the rudder and dagger board. I tried to use contrasting woods to show off the laminated look and it worked.

Garry, I used a piece of pine for my boom. Went to the trouble of putting epoxy bushings into the wood to ensure that water wouldn't get in. It might not have been as clear as yours. Anyway, it was a little greener than I thought and took a little "wow" at one end as I was getting the epoxy coating on it. I went ahead and finished it clear in varnish, but I'm looking for a better piece of wood for the boom this afternoon. :oops:

I did the fiberglass collars on the mast a few weeks ago. I roughed up the aluminum with 50 grit sandpaper, measured the length of the cloth to achieve the desired thickness and started to wind it on with the epoxy. They came out pretty good. I had to add a turn to one layup and had to sand all of them a bit to smooth them up and to get a good fit. All of them fit very well now. I was fortunate to have a metal lathe in the shop, so I chucked the sections up and turned them by hand to put the bushings on. It helped make things even, but it wasn't essential.

The mast system is pretty cool, and I really like the concept of storing the sections inside each other. I also have the gooseneck fitting in place and glass tape epoxied on the mast to hold it in place.

I'll try to get a couple of pictures for you, but that will be from the house - maybe this evening.

Keep on keepin' on,

Steve

[Steve Day]

Garry,

Here are the pictures I promised. They are of the bushings and the mast plug.

More to come on another post.

Steve

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[Steve Day]

One more picture of the gooseneck.

Steve

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[Garry]

Hi, Steve. I need the encouragement of seeing your progress. Mine has almost come to a stop for now.

I'm wondering about your mast bushings. I'm thinking that they should be stepped and I couldn't see the step in your photos. Maybe its not coming through clearly. I recall that the plans call for the upper bushing to have 3" tape for the bushing with a 1-1/2" collar as a stop.

Thanks,

Garry

[Steve Day]

Garry,

The reason you don't see the steps is that they were not there when the photos were taken. :oops: I really have completed them, just didn't take pictures after I finished.

I'll try to get a couple of them tonight and post them. I'll be gone Friday and Saturday on the Spring Camporee with the Boy Scout Troop. Might get back to the boat on Sunday.

Steve

[Garry]

Thanks, Steve. I appreciate the info and photos.

It seems that there are certain steps that I have a "block" against. Like shaping the boom and making the mast bushings. I guess they are something that I've never done before and I'm afraid I will screw it up. Once I get into it, like I did with the boom, it's not so bad and shaping the boom was actually fun.

Your breaking the ground for me makes it easier for me to get into it.

How snug of a fit did you get on your mast bushings? I was thinking of trying to layup the bushing and stop collar at one time but it makes more sense to do them separately. Did you use the mast sections as guides when laying up the stop collars or did you just mark a straight line to go by?

I miss working on my baby. The first few weeks of the outage I had lots of energy. But lately I go home eat a little, crash, wake up at the alarm, and barely make it into work on time. Only a few more weeks to go!

[Steve Day]

Garry,

Outages are like that. They take the stuffings out of a person, and.... we aren't getting any younger, are we?

I put lines on the boom sections where the bushings were supposed to be and worked with the lines. It wasn't very hard, just be careful as you wrap the tape to keep the edge reasonably near the line. The bushings fit snug, but not tight. I used calipers to measure the outside diameter of the bushings and sanded lightly to get the final fit after laying them up slightly oversize.

Here are some pictures of the bushings.

Steve

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[Garry]

Coool! I like the way they nest together. I guess we are into nesting :wink:

[Garry]

Coool! I like the way they nest together. I guess we are into nesting :wink: