Extensive rebuild Crowther Spindrift 37 - "Performance" Cruising Cat

Hello all,

Sender is our new to us project cat. We got her for cheap and are currently throwing a pretty significant amount of time and money at her. Much more time, thankfully. The previous owner had started a thread, to which I will link here, there are some great older photos of the boat there:

Crowther spindrift 40 https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/crowther-spindrift-40.56163/

Im horrible at keeping things like this up to date but Im going to give it my best. I realize what a resource all of your knowledge is and considering we're almost 100% DIY, I want to take advantage of that.

The Short Version:
When we bought the boat it was anchored in Richardson Bay, bit of a precarious situation, so we started begging the boat yard. State of the boat when we got it was, eh. It had very sloppy "band-aid" fiberglass repairs all over it. You know the ones, they hold in more water than they kept out in the first place.. We started picking away at sealing up any possibly exposed core on the decks in preparation for rain. Couple months in got a call from the boat yard and that where we are now. In the 2 months we've had in the yard, we've completely gutted the boat, taken the hulls down to glass (significant water intrusion), stripped the underside of the bridgedeck to core, cut out and scarfed new core over many a square feet and built some new "walk-throughs" that will allow passage from the cabin to the hulls. In the end, everything other than the topside will be getting fresh fiberglass.

Any and all comments, suggestions, advice welcomed. Lets see if I can figure out how to post pictures..


https://photos.app.goo.gl/xNrkNdxmTDDtpHgm9


https://photos.app.goo.gl/1qTUHQpMGcSxa8zX6


https://photos.app.goo.gl/Aoy3YXNN3obX7cXL9


https://photos.app.goo.gl/wVwFBAkRfgYAQws77


https://photos.app.goo.gl/R9kNTxPb1XiioYc66

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hAtbNuDxtfpjfCJdA

Last picture is of a rotating aluminum mast, currently on a 38' trimaran (trash), that we are looking at purchasing. Any thoughts on this? Our current rig is an incredibly stout extrusion with, i kid you not, 13 stays.. I would kill for a diamond rig with 3 stays. The dimensions are relatively similar, big difference is going from mast head to a 5/6 or so fractional. Ive talked to one engineer, but waiting to talk further until were actually able to negotiate for the spar

Currently, we are nearing completion on prepping the underside of the bridgedeck for new glass. The plan is 1 layer of 17oz biaxial, 1 layer of 10oz cloth over that, peel ply, then a quick sand, skim coat of fairing compound, quick fairing, done. Probably throw in an extra little something for the ribs. This surface is relatively stout, you can walk around on it right now with no FRP with pretty minimal deflection.

We are planning on glassing the cabin floor (topside of bridgedeck) as well, which wasnt done before. With this and some structure for our settee that will also add some stiffness, were optimstic this will double the stiffness of the floor, maybe more. A good portion of the old glass underneath just tore right off without much effort.

Anybody here with any familiarity or experience with these boats? I have a good amount of sailing/racing, rigging/boatbuilding experience, but very new to the multihull world (other than some racing). Definitely a bit of a learning curve to the loads on these boats.

 

So you have a great boat to work over. I have one on the great lakes. Bought it cheap in Detroit in 1999. Many of the issues your coming up against I have dealt with too. Maybe your much farther along the way since your last edit in Dec 18. Load is always an issue with these boats and mine is overweight. Design load was like 9800 lbs. When I purchased mine is was over 16,000 lbs. I have not helped that much. The original design of my boat was 37 ft. Shortly after being built it was lengthened to 42.5 ft. My sterns are still at the waterline at best when at rest . I do have a set of plans in PDF from what were on the boat when I bought it. Improvements I have made are repair of the lower bridge deck just as you have. Mine was from the baby stay chain plate that leaked. Added blisters on the side of the house for better access into the hulls. Changed all exterior hatches from flush leaking covers to over a lip covers. Moved the steering station to the center of the cockpit on a box for better view. Added a Bimini top and windshield off an old bow rider boat so the center can still open for air. Changed the rudders from high aspect bottom feelers to short long units that are about even with the bottom of the hulls so I can beach the boat when I want. Redid some floors and lots of small deck fixes. She sails not as fast as she did when I bought her but not enough difference for me. I am not a racer. Let me know if your really in need of the plans. She has been a great boat for me. Turns heads where ever I go. After sailing her for 20 years I have decided my boat life is really the boats and I just get to go along for the ride. One other thing as you can see in the second pick. I built a trailer and launch and retrieve my boat with my 1/2 ton pickup at the boat launch just like the fishermen and skiers. Low range low gear I have no issues getting in and out of the water. Good luck these boats if built like mine are tough. Missed a rock on the chart and drove right up on one in the North Channel. Used 600 ft. of line to a rock the size of a truck and winched along with the motors off being stranded. Just a 3 ft. scratch on the bottom paint. Good luck with her. Now What as been a real gas for me.

 

Hello Catamaran Dan, I don't mean to hijack the thread.. sorry.. but I want to build/buy a trailer for my 30' cruising cat and am interested in how you did yours. If you have any pictures of it, that would help. And if you care to respond, I have my own thread over at : 30' cruising catamaran repair log https://www.boatdesign.net/posts/847648/

And Rohde.Soda, it would be great to see an update here if you get the time! cheers, JD