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Calling All North American Spirit 23 Owners

73K views 247 replies 38 participants last post by  Pernerewski0802 
#1 ·
If we get enough action here we may get our own Thread, but these beautiful boats are few & far between.!!
 
#185 ·
'Has anyone put a furler on a Spirit 23''
I'm interested in this also, slowly working on having the boat ready for the end of the hurricane season, all small hull blisters now ground out and filled with thickened epoxy, cabin slide top wood milled ready to fit,
next project inspect shoal keel and see if its operating correctly.

MM
 
#190 ·
mouser370, there are tons of pictures on the net of the Spirit, and I have told you, the winch is in the port locker in the cockpit. You need to convince us your boat is a Spirit, because it does not look like a Spirit to me.

Here, let me do some googling for you:
Pictures: north american spirit 23 - Google Search
Descriptions and photos from all angles on Sailing Texas: American 23 Sailboat Photo Gallery

Now go take a look at those and prove to yourself that your boat is not a Spirit
 
#191 ·
I know fro looking at the spirit 23 and the older pre spirit north american 23 it is absolutely a north american 23. The cabin lay out of the original north american 23 is what I see in this boat. the real definer is the way the table , located on the port side of the boat and the galley is the clincher. The table becomes the berth once lowered. the galley is on the starboard side of the boat located midship making the starboard berth a quarter berth.

any help will on the location of equipment inside the boat would be appreciated.
 
#192 ·
From my research, and the fact that I have owned a 78 Spirit 23 (from HIN made in April of 78) for about 6 years now...a "pre" Spirit 23, would be known as a North American 23...IIRC, Glastron, once buying and taking over from North American Yachts in Austin, put the Spirit name to their boats(21s, 23s, and 28s)....North American 23s, made from 76 to late 77, had a built in galley to starboard just aft of the starboard bulkhead leading to the v berth...Spirit 23s, (post late 77), had a slide out galley below the companionway hatch. The NA 23s had a dinette table portside, with athwartship seating both fore and aft of the table...the winch for the centerboard was mounted near this table on NA 23s....later, on Spirit 23s, there was no dinette table except a "sharable" table that could also be used in the cockpit..., nor was there athwartship seating, rather, a longitudinal berth on both port and starboard sides, along with above mentioned "slide out galley..piece of crap btw, first thing I threw away).....and the centerboard winch was, as already mentioned, in the forward portion of the port locker in the cockpit...and fwiw... my North Carolina registration has it titled as a Bombardier Spirit 23....oh well...my 2 cents..could be wrong..
 
#194 ·
could you send me a pic or drawing of the routing of the winch and the cabling. the wnch I have was on a wood backing but the boat is in such bad shape inside I cannot find the location of the winch placement. It is interesting the winch cable comes up through the hull right at the cockpit entrance from the center board.
 
#197 ·
a true na23

the boat I have was prior to glastron buying the NA name and renaming it the NA Spirit, It is a true NA base on the floor plan lay out on NA's info. The real problem I'm having is finding info on the centerboard cable winch layout and where the winch was located. The inside of the boat is completely trashed as it was trailer-ed for 10 years and never saw the water during that time.

It would be appreciated if I coild get photos of the inside of the boat showing the lay out of the center board winch, electrical panel, and galley.
 
#199 ·
Yes I did it s pain in .. but is doable Mailme petrpompa@ yahoo.com got some pictures.
1 remove windows frames only from outside ,they will brake it is given,
2 assuming you have acrylic / lexan , what ever clear or tinted ,peal old windows out of framer ,(they will brake even more)
3 copy shapes of windows and cut them
4 glue frames back together i used bondo , not perfect but works, fill screw holes also
5 use grinder and dremel tool to clean bondo ,predrill new srew holes on different locations
6 use plastic paint in spray (home Depot/ Rust olleum) to prime frames
7 peal plastic film from lexan and silicon windows on frames,after 24 h add beat of silicon to completely seal widow and frame
8 clean window openings out of debris , test windows,fix what is necessary, trace pencil outside perimeter
9 use blue tape to cower outside area that not to be goop-up by silicon run generous amount silicon around windows especialy ower old screw holes and stick windows in
10 screw all in and let it dry for 24 h cut around w utility knife and remove blue tape with leftover of silicon ,you could run thin beat of almond silicon around outside window. Frames might crack again ,plastic is old , just silicon them and be happy ,mine works fine and don't leak .Do fix inside frames in winter time. fair wind.
 
#200 ·
he boat I have was prior to glastron buying the NA name and renaming it the NA Spirit, It is a true NA base on the floor plan lay out on NA's info. The real problem I'm having is finding info on the centerboard cable winch layout and where the winch was located. The inside of the boat is completely trashed as it was trailer-ed for 10 years and never saw the water during that time.

It would be appreciated if I coild get photos of the inside of the boat showing the lay out of the center board winch, electrical panel, and galley.
Edit/Delete Message
 
#202 ·
Windyway as you know I have zzZippety Doo Dah on the hard right now. The centerboard snapped right at the edge of the fixed portion of the keel :S. Built a new one which I will post on my site soon. Here is what the old one looked like Ben Lobaugh Online » ZDD: Lucky sailing this summer

My centerboard cable was not actually broken. I looked at it Saturday to get an idea of what is going on and found that the cable broke off the centerboard when the centerboard snapped. The cable is fine. As a quick fix I am using some fuel line to act as the friction buffer from the keel. Eventually I will fix it properly with a pulley, but I think that when I do so I will cut open the indent in the top of the keel where the pulley goes and make the attachments there, then repair that hole. It will be a lot easier doing it that way than trying to hold everything up in the cavity to get it in place.

Pictures and notes will follow when she goes back into the water. Hope I can provide something you all can learn from
 
#203 ·
I hope cutting a hole in the bottom of your boat with limited access to the lower surface works for you! I would be totally freaked out to do it that way. All I had to do was to drill 2 small holes for the bracket bolts on the back & top of the pulley mount. I installed it alone (no helper) with 3M 5200 sealant between the faying surface of the pulley mount & the top surface of the keel slot in the small pocket that's up there. Let us know for sure how it worked out.
 
#204 ·
The cable through the fuel hose seems to be working fairly well for friction. The fuel hose was epoxied into the previous hole for water tightness and stability.

The main issue left is where exactly on the centerboard the cable attaches. I think right near the bottom of the centerboard cavity. Any input on that?
 
#207 ·
The cable through the fuel hose seems to be working fairly well for friction. The fuel hose was epoxied into the previous hole for water tightness and stability.

The main issue left is where exactly on the centerboard the cable attaches. I think right near the bottom of the centerboard cavity. Any input on that?
The cable attach point is a compromise in every sense. Too close to the top & you have no moment from the pivot point to raise the keel easily, too far from the top the cable comes out of the hull at too much of an angle. I think mine was about 1 ft below the pivot pin hole.
 
#205 · (Edited)
On Another Subject...

I've been having issues loading the Spirit 23 on the trailer at the boat ramp. I just recently found out why...

With the engine & battery on the starboard side of the boat, & me at the same side with the engine controls. The boat was leaning over. Hardly noticeable but due to the shoal keel being under water 2 ft while loading it was way over to the port side & not lining up with the trailer keel slot. A couple of times I pulled the boat up & it leaned over due to the keel being outside the slot on the trailer entirely! Recently I've just installed a 4 stroke Mercury 9.9 that is wayyy heavier than the 9.9 2 stroke that was on there, the problem would be much worse but... Here's the solution!

The engine weighs 125 Lbs. I mounted it a little bit closer to the center of the boat than the 2 stroke was. But here is the main thing. I had an Optima blue top deep cycle battery on the same starboard side, these suckers are 60 lbs ea! So my plan is to buy another one & mount them both on the port side. Since I moved the battery to the other side there is a difference of 120 lbs, and with another one added that brings it to 180 lbs difference from what it is now. I also turned the cockpit fuel compartment into an ice box that drains into the cockpit drains, & moved the 12 gal tank (now integral) to below the cockpit floor both for better C of G. and a larger easier to fill tank. Which should help as well.
 
#206 ·
Nice call on the ice box and fuel tank! I may have to look into doing that myself.

When I pull my boat out I walk it up the dock with a bow and stern dock line. Works great so far. My motor is port with my batteries and fuel tank to starboard. 4 stroke 7.5 hp Honda

windyway have you tried the motor yet? What speeds to you get? I push at about 6.2 with mine
 
#208 ·
Nice call on the ice box and fuel tank! I may have to look into doing that myself.

When I pull my boat out I walk it up the dock with a bow and stern dock line. Works great so far. My motor is port with my batteries and fuel tank to starboard. 4 stroke 7.5 hp Honda

windyway have you tried the motor yet? What speeds to you get? I push at about 6.2 with mine
The issue with an outboard is not max hull speed cause due to hull design, boats are rated at the max speed they can do, unless they can plane...our boats do not plane! LOL What the issue is concerns low speed controllability. The engine I mounted was a Mercury Bigfoot, which is lower geared & has a 20% larger prop. This will allow better response at lower speeds. Alas no I have not had it out yet the boat is on the hard for the winter.
 
#210 ·
More Info About Aux Engines

I always thought that the transom was only designed for a maximum of a 10 horsepower motor. This information came from the operator's manual written before the 4 strokes came out. So I thought that the newer 4 stroke 9.9's would be too heavy for this boat...not so. As per Section I: OPERATION (page 8) there is a note that states: The auxiliary motor bracket available on some models is designed for up to 10 H.P. Do not use a larger motor.

I fabricated a much stronger motor bracket than what was available. So it's not the transom as the limiting factor, it's the bracket! (I was always wondering about the 10 H limit cause the transom is built like a tank like the rest of the boat!)
 
#214 ·
Drop keel and progress report

now the cooler weather is here(Central Texas) made some good progess recently. All wood work has been replaced, fordeck hatch made from original mold using ply and several layers biaxial 6 oz cloth, hull (below waterline) sanded, small blisters ground out and filled/faired with epoxy goopie ready for epoxy/grafite bottom coat, mast/boom inspected some jury rigged hardware (non stainless) replaced with stainless also some new blocks.
But niggling in the back of my mind now for some while has been, will the drop keel deploy when I get her on the water, so with the help of a couple of friends, got the stern lifted high enough to lower the keel partialy and all was good, big relief.

now onto making a gally box, dining table, calking windows,curtain rails/curtains.

Then try and figger out how to raise/lower mast on my own ??

also have a concern that the 4 horse nissan is not sufficient for this boat, Thoughts ???
 
#215 ·
now the cooler weather is here(Central Texas) made some good progess recently. All wood work has been replaced, fordeck hatch made from original mold using ply and several layers biaxial 6 oz cloth, hull (below waterline) sanded, small blisters ground out and filled/faired with epoxy goopie ready for epoxy/grafite bottom coat, mast/boom inspected some jury rigged hardware (non stainless) replaced with stainless also some new blocks.
But niggling in the back of my mind now for some while has been, will the drop keel deploy when I get her on the water, so with the help of a couple of friends, got the stern lifted high enough to lower the keel partialy and all was good, big relief.

now onto making a gally box, dining table, calking windows,curtain rails/curtains.

Then try and figger out how to raise/lower mast on my own ??

also have a concern that the 4 horse nissan is not sufficient for this boat, Thoughts ???
The question should be will the drop keel raise. Not deploy. The shear weight will lower the keel if the cable is broken but you will not be able to raise it. Did you check the condition of the cable? Now would be a good time to change it if it is frayed. Unless it was recently changed I'll bet it's frayed.
My guess is a 4H is not enough, I have a 9.9. A 4H may eventually get the boat to hull speed (6 whole knots) but what you'll find is the lower speed maneuverability is lacking, & that's the time when you really need it.
 
#216 ·
Windy
The cable (at the winch end) looks to be in good shape I did run oil into the sheath/cable junction while tentioning/slacking cable. if I could see/access to the lower attachment I would replace it as a precaution but don't see how?.

One of the many blisters I ground out and filled was right at the water line,and went right through the hull,fortunatly it's location, port side storage locker, meant access to install glass/epoxy patch was easy. Hull in this area is about 5-6 mm thick, not what I was expecting!!

Having only one experience (the day I took delivery) using the 4 HP (stiff winds close quarters) which went OK I still have reservations and agree with you on a bigger motor.I'll keep the 4 HP for the small boats I build and start looking for a good used 8-10 unit, with charging and or remote facilities.

Thanks very much for your responce.

John Farrell
 
#217 ·
Windy
The cable (at the winch end) looks to be in good shape I did run oil into the sheath/cable junction while tentioning/slacking cable. if I could see/access to the lower attachment I would replace it as a precaution but don't see how?.

One of the many blisters I ground out and filled was right at the water line,and went right through the hull,fortunatly it's location, port side storage locker, meant access to install glass/epoxy patch was easy. Hull in this area is about 5-6 mm thick, not what I was expecting!!

Having only one experience (the day I took delivery) using the 4 HP (stiff winds close quarters) which went OK I still have reservations and agree with you on a bigger motor.I'll keep the 4 HP for the small boats I build and start looking for a good used 8-10 unit, with charging and or remote facilities.

Thanks very much for your responce.

John Farrell
The winch end of the cable is always good. The cable wears & chafes on the fitting leaving the boat inside the keel trunk. The angle to the keel attach point is about 120 deg. That's why I put a pulley up there.

Can I put a plug in here? If you want a 2 stroke 9.9 xtra long leg, electric start, with remote & cables that I rebuilt & only has about 60 hrs on it I'm selling it for $750 plus shipping. I can send you pictures of it on my boat if you like. I have a crate all ready to go.
 
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