Curt asked in a comment about the original Spartina, a Devlin-designed Nancy's China that my Dad and I built in Texas in the late 1980s. The designs called for small cabin, which I left off. I also changed the rig from a sprit rig to a gaff-rigged main with a traditional boom.
There she is above on our last ever sail aboard her, coming in to Ocracoke from Pamlico Sound. I was building the Pathfinder at the time. I sold this boat a few weeks later, walking away with tears in my eyes.
steve
Beautiful, Steve.
ReplyDeleteThe photo, too.
Pretty boat, Steve. Did you ever wish that you had a cabin? (on either Spartinas)?
ReplyDeleteChip
Never. Not in the least. I've made only a few good decisions in my life - going without a cabin is one of them. Cabins, particularly on small boats, are vacuums that collect junk. Sails, lines, seat cushions, mold and mildew.
ReplyDeleteThe only exception to this, and I think of my Canadian friend who sails way up north in the cold waters of the Atlantic, where the elements make some protection necessary.
Give me an open boat anytime.
steve