I"m a fellow idiot with a fleet of rather useless cats. I cruise Craigslist for sub-$250 cats and "upgrade" whichever of my fleet is most appealing on the day.
Ex:
I found a mono-hull Prindle in lake tahoe, on trailer (monohull 'cause one hull had a snowfall break it in half) that other hull was insalvageable due to having water ingress to the foam sandwich and then freeze...
...But - the rig was sound and the trailer only needed tires. Parts of the rig have gone to "complete" an incomplete 5.2-early I found for $300 in Walker Lake NV.
I also have a set of Sol hulls I have no idea what to do with whose top seam has degraded enough I could (probably) remove same by a light touch with a leather mallet. Those were $100 and I just picked up 'cause they were there and so was I.
I've been toying with converting the 5.2 to a 5.2 maxi using the rig from my Alpha 18 - the only boat I paid "fair used" price for. But as both sail as is, nah, not now.
As for "idiocy" the smashed Prindle was donated to my school's "solar boat" race attempt and they "patched" much worse than what you have (one of the hulls was in three pieces!), then went on to demolish their competition 3 out of 4 years. "SMUD Solar Regatta", "City College of San Francisco".
~So - the hull and project aren't "Worth" recovery IF you are looking for a fst clean re-sellable boat. Sure.
BUT, a few simple patches will get you HUGE 'glassing experience - which can be quite satisfying in its own right - a "free" boat with hella sweet stories to tell
- when it comes time to move on not a lot of $$ (If you find a suitable donor boat on C/L or whatever
- a unique experience bonding w/the kids, even if it's a couple of borrowed neighbors in fixing it up AND sailing.
- and it appears, what you're after - personal satisfaction.
I'd say go for it. The things to consider in frankenstein'ing a rig is what/how to merge/modify or replace the mast step. Steps are pretty mfg specific and you might need to buy a different ball, mast base or?
Good luck and I laud your effort!
'77 nacra 5.2 sunken treasure
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- Rank: Lubber
- Registered: Apr 14, 2007
- Last visit: Aug 14, 2019
- Posts: 9
Posted: Aug 14, 2019 - 04:01 PM
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- Rank: Lubber
- Registered: Apr 14, 2007
- Last visit: Aug 14, 2019
- Posts: 9
Posted: Aug 14, 2019 - 04:04 PM
Forgot to add, there's a fine line between rational and irrational. Owning a boat of any sort is far from rational.
Edited by nyniaan on Aug 14, 2019 - 04:13 PM.
