Spindrift 10N #1089

[Paul356]

Terrific.  Congratulations.

[ricknriver]

Congratulations! Beautiful work. Really like the balance between paint and brightwork.  Happy safe sailing.  R

[Starboard]

Although I launched my Spindrift back in October, there were still a few more tasks to finish up. As you all know, life got in the way for a couple of months.

 

I never got around to installing the brass keel strip- one of the brass screws snapped in half when I was doing my dry fitting, and it took a while to find reverse-thread drill bits so I could extract it. Another layer of epoxy and newly drilled holes, and this is what I ended up with:

 

 

We'll see how long that shine lasts. It's the same stock I used for the mast collar, and it still looks good so far.

 

I'm lucky that I get to store the boat indoors. Although it's nesting it still takes up a fair amount of floor space in an over-crowded garage. Here's my solution:

 

 

It's pretty easy hoisting it up and down. I wouldn't mind better quality blocks with bearings, but it will do for now. I'm using a cam cleat from my J/24 on the wall to help hold the line while raising and lowering it, though I still have a proper horn cleat for added security.

 

I picked up another little project for the Spindrift. While I have a nice little Nissan 3.5 outboard I saw this on Craigslist and I couldn't resist. It's a little 1.3hp Neptune outboard built in Muncie, Indiana in 1939. There's not a single bit of plastic on it- almost all metal. Copper pipes, bronze downtubes, it's heavy duty. I love that the float in the carburetor is a cork. This is the 'before' photo. It's significantly improved since then, but I'll wait until I get a few more replacement parts in before I post the 'after' photo.