Sunday, July 10, 2011

Great Sailing but Oh! that *&#@$%^&* daggerboard




So had a great sail Thursday and Friday.  Took the kids out and had a nice gentle breeze to get used to the boat.  Ben had a hand at the tiller a number of times while set sails and adjusted the rigging.  During one lull Ben wanted to fish and so I let him throw the line out the back and a minute later he had a 14" small mouth which we kept for dinner.  Then on Friday as we returned I went to crank up the daggerboard and it stuck...but good.  Seems the guides were in worse condition than I thought so after sitting in the water for two days they got really soft and the daggerboard just dug in and stuck at the front.  My brother and I tried everything to get it back up but nothing worked. We even removed the stop bolt to see if that might be the problem.  Of course then it leaked.  So I motored over to the marina and he met me there with the trailer. I ended up having to cut the forward guide and pull it out.  Then on lifting the daggerboard, it cut into the truck and busted the fibreglass which meant I now had a fountain inside the boat.  I shoved a piece of plywood under the pulley header to support it, split the front of the trunk to allow the daggerboard to come up and then cranked.  Up it came and we quickly winched it onto the trailer and hauled it out.  WHEW!  Now it's at home and I have to redo the guides.  My brother's Matilda has steel guides so I'm thinking that might be a better way to go. Then I'll never have to worry about it again. Good thing I'm handy with glass work cause I also need to rebuild the trunk that I destroyed in the process.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Ralph
    I am very interested in your brother's steel guides. I am thinking of putting in some steel framing for my Matilda 20 trunk and any details would help me out in the design.
    Tom

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    Replies
    1. You still reading these notes??

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  2. Hi Ralph: On July 12/11 I purchased #760 which has been sitting in an alley in Windsor for years. I cleaned it up and have been putting it back together and am going to launch it this week (hopefully) I plan to keep it in front of my house on Cedar Creek in Kingsville. I have a bridge to contend with and have fashioned a ginpole rig that works. I'll keep you posted. Kim Kubis

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