Spindrift Seats & CB Plug

[Steve Day]

Such are the joys of fine tuning a boat!

I went out on the local pond today and found that my seats were not perfect. As you know, any boat design is a series of compromises. I want to retain the ability to nest the boat, so I have to be careful how I set up the supports for the "side seats" I put in. As it turns out there is enough seat hanging over the edge of the support to necessitate the addition of a bolt to hold the seat in position. I found this out while test sailing the boat today. :shock: :oops: Nothing was hurt, but I am glad I was in the middle of the lake where no one saw the problem.

On another note, I have the design of the plug for the CB trunk finished and am working on the varnish now. There are a couple of photos of the plug and one of the boat on the pond this afternoon.

Ain't boats FUN!!??

Steve

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[Garry]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for leading the way.

I have also thought about some way to keep the seat from tilting since mine will be much wider than the supports.

Another option to consider is having a cleat on the inside of the hull just above the seat. This cleat could have a lip that extends down (maybe an 1/8" inch) into a mating groove in the top of the seat. The seat could be angled under the cleat and then dropped into position.

This would keep the seat in place unless the boat is flipped. However, the bolt would keep it in place even then.

I'm glad you are enjoying your Spindrift. I am looking forward to getting mine out sometime later this summer. I will be spending the next few weeks on Rosita and wish I had it ready now. But I have plenty to keep me busy on Rosita.

See you out there someday,

Garry

[Garry]

Hi Steve,

You must be out enjoying your boats. I took three weeks to spend on Rosita and now I'm finally getting back to finishing my Spindrift.

The mating joint edges were rounded over before taping which leaves a groove across the bottom to drag through the water. Did you fair this joint at all after they were taped?

I am building the corners out with thickened epoxy but its a more tedious process than I hoped. I stood the stern section on end on the garage floor with a paste of thickened epoxy in place. The floor was protected with plastic the first time which wrinkled and left high and low spots. The second and third fills went better when I used plastic packing tape on the floor. I finally got a flat face.

Next step is to put the two halves together with packing tape on the stern face and pack epoxy onto the forward section. This will get a good mating face. Then I will sand the rough edges down to the hull line to get a smooth fair joint.

[Steve Day]

Garry,

I just rounded the edges of the joint and panted. Actually, it looks pretty good. Several of the pictures show the line. I find that when people walk up to the boat, they don't even see the line. They are totally amazed when I separate the sections to load it on the pickup.

I can't imagine that the drag loss would be enough to warrant the extra headache of making the joint fair (on my boat). You will have a pretty cool looking boat, but watch those sharp edges when you are handling the halves. I would imagine that you could put dings into the edges quite easily.

BTW, I have not been on the big boat since Memorial Day, but she is working and has been on several charters since then. Ended up with an unexpected haul due to having to get a survey for my new insurance carrier. Bottom had no bottom paint on it and ended up having to apply new bottom paint, too. Expensive and unexpected. :shock: :shock:

I have been sailing on a few of the local lakes here in Nebraska. A lot of fun when I get out with other sailboats. Sailed with a 'C' scow a couple of weeks ago. We even got to sail each other's boat - what a hoot!

Going to sail with a friend of mine who has a Butterfly. Pretty cool boat, not much longer than the dinghy.

Got the seat in the stern sheets almost done. Will try to get pics this weekend. :wink:

Steve

[Garry]

Hi Steve,

I finally took the time to get some more work done. I decided to stay home instead of visiting with Charlie down at Hilton Head this weekend. Fortunately they had very little wind there and Rosita is fine.

I worked on the center seat and the side seats. I like a fore and aft seat. The daggerboard and dummy piece fit with the top piece flush with the seat.

Here is a pic with the major pieces dry-fitted. I fitted side seats as you recommended. The forward corners are notched around a vertical cleat to keep them from sliding out. There is a cleat on the hull to keep them from tilting up.

I am ready to start coating the stern section. I'm thinking that I would like to dry-fit all the hardware and give the boat a trial before I apply the finish coatings in case I want to make any changes.

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[Guest]

Nice work, Garry. You are almost there, I see the light at the end of the tunnel, just about five to six hours more.

[Steve Day]

Nice work Garry! She is looking really nice.

I was wondering if Charley had given you guys any trouble as it passed up the coast. It sure gave southwest Florida a pasting! Reminds me of Andrew over in Homestead.

Up until about 11 years ago, I lived in Florida my whole life. I cannot remember a hit on the west coast like Charley did. My memory works pretty good back until the early 50's, but I sure don't remember anything hitting the west coast without hitting either the Keys or south Florida first.

I like your large ports to the floatation compartments. That should allow you to store quite a bit of stuff in there. I went with 5" round access ports and I can get anything I need in there with little difficulty. The center seat/floatation just forward of the joint looks good, too. That 2 extra feet of length makes a difference.

Keep going, the end is near!

Steve

[Garry]

Well I almost forgot to fit the stern seat fitted between the aft flotation chambers. While I was fitting that, I came up with an idea to store several pieces in the bottom of the forward section so they would stay in place even when turned upside down.

Here's a shot of the two pieces nested together with the rudder, center seat, and stern seat stacked in the forward section. They are held in place with a piece ov PVC tubing flexed into position.

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[Steve Day]

Cool!

Not sure how I am going to store all of that stuff when the boat is on Day's Dream. It's not relly a problem when I'm using the pickup, or just storing the stuff in the 'T' hangar.

Guess I should think about that, huh?

Steve

[Garry]

Hey, Steve, I like your boat names: Day's Dream and Dinghy Dreams.

BTW, my Spindrift is the S11N, only one foot longer than yours.

Boy, it would be cool to come across you out in the Caribbean someday. I will remember you boat's name.

Yahoo!