Newbie with a small project

[Tiger Cub]

Hi, I'm a "re-entry" sailor; sold my last boat in '95. It was a Westerly Padgent 23'. A little slow to weather but very comfortable and seaworthy. The shallow draft bilge keels were great for Florida waters but you don't want to run aground on an outgoing tide ..... learned that the first day! LOL

I retired in January and decided it was time to get another sailboat. I found a Morgan Tiger Cub. Kind of rare, according to Charlie Morgan less than 10 were made. She's suprisingly good in light air and has been fun to sail. On our first trip out to the Gulf she was really fun to sail and did great in a fresh breeze.

BUT, I did notice the starboard spreader was moving around way too much. I could see from the deck it had broken and we carefully sailed back to the dock.

When we got the spreaders down this is what we found:



I sent them both off to a friend who repairs boats for a living and he made me a set of teak spreaders. He does good work.



Nice detail:



Made the ends just a tad larger than the old ones, so we can sand them down to a tight fit.



I got the spreaders back a few days ago and plan to sand them just a little smoother and then do the first coat of varnish on Sunday. I'm waiting 'till Sunday because they asked me to come back to work "for a while" ..... I love my job and can't say no to 'em ..... but ...... when am I gonna find time to sail?

Jack

[Oscar]

Very pretty! Welcome aboard. How about some boat pictures?

[Chris Campbell]

Welcome! And thanks for the informative and picture-filled first post! Your new spreaders look great - you'll have to send us a picture of them up when they get there. And perhaps one of your boat? I found this one by Googling - they look lovely!

Congratulations on getting back to sailing - and I'm sure you'll find time in amongst the work to get out on the water - most of us do!

[Tiger Cub]

I do have a few pictures!

First sail. The first few sails were out into the intercoastal, it's kind of narrow in my area so a lot of tacking required. These were taken behind the house:





And this one out in the Gulf. Our "SOG" was as high as 6.3 kts and 5.8 on the other tack.



The first owner was a Morgan employee who built the boat himself, for himself. I'm told he sailed her just about every day for the next 35 years! The second owner was Billy Johnson (just passed away last week) of the Johnson sail family. I purchased her from Billy. Her sister ship "Ginger" is locally remembered for taking over 100 trophy's back in the day. What I wanted was a big day sailor that was easy to single hand (wife has some medical problems) and fun to sail. I don't plan to do much racing but I'm kind of a competitive type and I always enjoy passing another sailor! LOL

Jack

[Chris Campbell]

Ah! She's lovely! And for what you want her for, I think you've selected well. What a nice history she's had, also.

Congratulations!

[Tiger Cub]

I've got a few coats of Cetol on at this point and plan to end up with 8 or 9 coats before they're ready. I've been asking around and many people suggest painting the top of the spreaders white, for better UV protection. Think I'll look for some "aluminized" paint; better UV protection and it'll discourage those Martians!



DB

[Figment]

Are those new spreaders identical to one another? Funny camera angles?

[Tiger Cub]

Yeah, it's the angle ......... had to hold the camera to hide unsightly bathroom stains! Bob, my friend who made them, made sure I noticed one side was flat and the other a little rounded. Rounded side up so rain water won't pool. Spreaders will be ready in a few days but I'm going to be gone for a month and prolly won't have time to install them until I get back.

DB