News and Projects

Year End Summary 2022

Our original goal was to match or exceed a generous donation from the Schmitz family, in memory of Ruth and Norb, their parents who donated the boat. They paid for two brand new sails, approximately $5000.

Friends of Spray raised $5,822 (Go Fund Me + some checks)

With these funds we were able to purchase:

A new boom, interior mahogany wood, new electrical panel. Many donated hours went into the preparation and installation of the wood and panel, resulting in a really upgraded interior, with more to come!

The boom was by far the most expensive purchase: $4354 (incl shipping)

In addition, Hoofers funded ongoing expenses, including replacing the swing keel's cable. And the club purchased a new compass that we'll install. 

Looking ahead: 

The next big thing is daunting financially: Spray needs a new paint job for the hull. With significant prep work, the estimate we have for that is $11,000. We've considered the idea that we could do the prep work ourselves, but as of now that doesn't seem realistic given the kind of facility and expertise the work requires. Over the winter we'll be strategizing about this, including considering whether there's a way to share this cost with the club. 

For now, let's celebrate our efforts to keep Spray "The Queen of the Hoofer Fleet!" 

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September 2022

New mast sail track is installed!

New sails are installed! 

The new electrical panel install is in progress and looks sweet!

The interior paneling is mostly installed and looking great.

Our boom is ready at Cape Cod Shipbuilding.  We need a little more money to pay for shipping.  Pleaese donate if you can.

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MAY 13, 2022 - Update

Hull Repairs/Painting

After further discussion we agreed that getting the repairs and painting done requires professional skill.  So we’ll postpone that work until at least late summer/early fall.  Because the professional work will cost more than $7000, we expect to do a new round of fundraising. Stay tuned! (And give now if you’re so inclined. See the Donate link below.)

Interior updates/upgrades 

We’ve purchased mahogany to create new interior wood panels. They should look great! This is an area where you may be able to assist as we get the project going.

And thanks to Julie Crowns, who will craft new cushions for Spray! 

Electronics

We thought you’d like to see the 3D-printed mockup of the new electronics panel Mike Litzgow is building. (See attachment) The final product will likely be in anodized aluminum, but the 3D printed version allows Mike to confirm all the design elements now.

Lift in

Getting closer! Spray may be “on the hard” at the Tong Family Marina (aka “Hoofer Shore”) as early as this weekend, but we won’t lift her in until some key work is done, including repairs to the rudder.

Got your merch yet? 

The prices are set to provide a few dollar donation to Friends of Spray, but mainly it’s for publicity and pride that we decided to offer the items.

There are a number of standard designs you can put on T-shirts, mugs and other stuff. There are color and fabric choices. AND, you can do some limited customization too. The link is always on https://friendsofspray.com or you can go there directly:

https://friends-of-spray.myspreadshop.com/

Share the Donate link

With the funding commitments we’ve made, we’ll need more funds over the summer. Spread the word, and please donate if you haven't already.

https://www.gofundme.com/friendsofspray Please share the link with anyone you know who might be interested.

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April 13, 2022 - Update

Boom!

This is our first big purchase. We've put down real money to purchase a new boom from Cape Cod Shipbuilding. With shipping, we'll be spending much of the money from our first round of fundraising, totalling about $3500. We had extensive conversation about whether to buy the boom or to pay for repair/painting, and decided the costs and complexities of the repair/painting require more time than we have before sailing season begins (see below). We've already secured a new track for the mainsail.

Sails

The new sails are on order, but may not arrive until summer. So we'll use the current set of sails for the time being. We are planning to replace the mainsail hanks with ones compatible with the new track we already have on hand.

Hull Repairs/Painting

This is potentially the most expensive part of our effort to keep Spray "the Queen of the Hoofer Fleet." We have a quote for the painting that we feel good about, but complications caused us to decide that waiting until later this season is necessary.  The painting itself will cost something like $3000 - $3500. And before we paint a bunch of repairs are needed - things like repairing a couple of significant dents, lots of spot repairs, sanding and more. Getting that work done professionally adds more than $7000 to the cost.

We have begun to discuss whether we could accomplish the prep work ourselves, and will need the spring and summer to figure that out.  Going pro all the way does make some sense, but will involve a second significant round of fundraising, so we'll make this decision thoughtfully!

Interior updates/upgrades

We're planning a number of interior updates/upgrades. Replacing the cabin deck is on the list, as well as repairing the table.  And Mark Gillespie is leading the effort to decide on new wood panels to be constructed out of cherry or mahogany.  It should look great when we get it done. This is an area where you may be able to assist as we get the project going.

Electronics

Mike Litzkow is leading the electronics effort, and is working on schematics to do some extensive rewiring. He made an electronic "sketch" of a new panel that would feature LEDs, and a neat cutout of the Soverel logo- see below

Compass

While our Friends of Spray effort is not an official club project, we are of course collaborating with the club.  Hoofers is planning to purchase a new compass for Spray, and we are hopeful that some other expenses may fit into the regular keelboat budget.  Thanks to Keelboat Fleet Captain Brett Unks for partnering with us as we figure things out!

Lift in

Plans are underway to start getting boats lifted in, perhaps as soon as the end of this month. The mooring field is scheduled to be open May 7.  You may have seen the notice about the April 30 celebration of 90 years of Hoofers. There's some hope that a keelboat or two might be in the water and ready for some free sails, but that may be a big stretch to accomplish it.  Watch for work parties and other official information from the club!

New on FriendsofSpray.com

Ben Nichols continues to add to the Friends of Spray website.  There are some beautiful photos in a slideshow here:

https://www.friendsofspray.com/gallery-and-videos

And while you're visiting, don't forget the merch!  

The prices are set to provide a few dollar donation to Friends of Spray, but mainly it’s for publicity and pride that we decided to offer the items.

There are a number of standard designs you can put on T-shirts, mugs and other stuff. There are color and fabric choices. AND, you can do some limited customization too. The link is always on https://friendsofspray.com or you can go there directly:

https://friends-of-spray.myspreadshop.com/

Share the Donate link

So far we've raised just under $5000 dollars! That's really great, but as the information above demonstrates, we'll spend it all pretty fast.  The boom alone costs around $3500.  So spread the word, and please donate if you haven't already.

https://www.gofundme.com/friendsofspray Please share the link with anyone you know who might be interested.

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March 17, 2022 - Update

Bosuns

Barry Rokusek and Doug Graham are this year’s Bosuns. So you can expect to see them posting work parties soon.

Piers In

We’re hearing that Piers In is planned for approximately May 1. And once that happens the smaller boats will start to be put back in place (such as Badger Sloops on their track). After that, perhaps around May 7, we expect to be able to move boats to the waterfront as needed.

Work Parties

We’re getting close.  Expect a work party to remove the mast from Spray’s in anticipation of prepping it for a new track that’s been purchased. Other items we anticipate doing work parties for include: addressing the electrical linkage from the cabin top to the mast; possible prep work for painting; generally getting ready to put Spray on the lake, interior work to spruce up the cabin and much more.

New Sails

Supply chain challenges may apply here. We’ve heard that the sails may not arrive until June. So we’ll plan to keep sailing with the current sails they arrive.

Timing decisions for expending funds

The two biggest purchases to be paid by Friends of Spray are a new boom and painting the hull (and perhaps a few other parts) are being figured out. If we can do painting soon, we’ll postpone the boom purchase until we raise additional funds. If we can’t paint this season, we’ll likely buy the boom and schedule painting for later.

Speaking of fundraising:

We’ve raised more than $4700 so far! Getting close to matching the $5000 for new sails from the Schmitz family.  That sounds like a lot, but we could use a large chunk of it paying for the painting OR the boom.  So we’ll continue fundraising. Spread the word: https://gofundme.com/friendsofspray  (BTW, the total on the gofundme is lower because some donations have come by check.

Fundraising events

Now that it looks like we can do in-person events, we’re getting closer to some decisions about events. Stay tuned.

Merch!

We’ve got some great Spray merch. It’s for sale by following the link on https://friendsofspray.com You’ll find customizable t-shirts, mugs, hoodies, caps and more. A couple of dollars will be contributed to Friends of Spray, but we mainly set this up because 1) it’s fun!, 2) it helps promote the Spray – love!

How long…will this be goin’ on?

A great question came up at the organizing meeting: this is a lot of work! Will we be able to sail? Is this a two year project? Much of the anticipated work can happen on the water, and we all want to sail.  And yes, this might be a two-year project overall. (Then again, isn’t EVERY boat a multi-year project?)