Daggerboard wells

Technical discussion of ARC products
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FraidyCat
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Daggerboard wells

Post by FraidyCat »

I have a few questions about my SC19 I am hoping you can answer.

I need to replace the material at the top and bottom of my daggerboard wells on my SC19. Is that what's called the "daggerboard retainer"? in the parts manual?

What should I use to glue it in place?

I also have some stress cracks at the top of the wells that I think need sealing. Can I just fill them with epoxy and forget about them or will they be a problem?

What actually holds the daggerboards in? How about when the boat is upside down? I have pitch-poled my Mystere several times and would hate to lose a daggerboard perfecting the same maneuver on the SC.

My boat also came with an update kit for the main halyard. It is a replacement for the existing cable and hook that is located at the foot of the mast. I am reluctant to install the hook and ring system unless I really need to. It seems like a nice idea to be able to release the sail from the bottom of the mast. The Mystere has a hook and ring system but it also has a boom and mast rotation controlling thing that allows me to twist the sail off the hook "easily". the SC19 doesn't have a boom or any way to controll the mast rotation so I can see lowering the sail might be a little problematic . The exisiting system seems to work ok, are there compelling reasons I should replace it?

Liam
"There is nothing- absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

Rat - The Wind in the Willows
Matt Haberman
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SC19 Questions

Post by Matt Haberman »

Liam,

The "daggerboard retainers" you refer to are actually a shock cord assembly that attachs to the tramp. You loop the retainer around the daggerboard and adjust the tension of the shock cord to prevent the board from "slipping" down. The carpet in the top & bottom of the trunk is just that, carpet. It is held in place with contact adhesive.

Regarding your halyard kit. Even without a mast rotator the system is relativly easy to use. Your boat has diamond/spreader wires on the mast, you can use them to get any extra leverage you might need in rotating the mast. The two most compelling reasons I can think of at the moment are less wear & tear on the luff of the sail and easier hoisting the sail up and down, both due to the removal of the halyard WIRE.
Matt Haberman
Aquarius Sail Inc.
http://www.aquarius-sail.com
Bill Roberts
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SC19 Repairs

Post by Bill Roberts »

Hi Liam,
I'm not sure exactly what you are talking about relative to the CB trunk retainers but when you asked about the glue, it makes me think you are asking about the indoor/outdoor carpet strips at the top and bottom of the centerboard trunks. These carpet strips are put there to protect the centerboard from getting vertical scratches and gouges in it as the board is raised and lowered. To replace this carpet note that the thickness is important and the carpet, sometimes called Ozite, is held in place with waterproof cantact cement.
Don't worry about the hairline cracks in the gel coat of an old boat. Gel coat is a brittle material and fiberglass is a very rubbery material. Gel coat will have hair line cracks long before there is any problem with the fiberglass immediately below the hair line cracks.
If the top of the mast is sealed,waterproof, on your boat as it should be, going upside down, turtle, is very unlikely. The mast has sufficient volume per unit length to prevent the boat from going upside down. When the boat does turn over, don't stay on the hull up in the air. Jump carefully into the water. Your weight on the upper hull of a turned over boat can drive the boat into an upside down position.
Your SC19 will not pitchpole nearly as easily as any other beach cat. The bows are taller on the SC19 for just that reason and the foredecks are round on top to make them streamlined to the water even when submerged. The SC19 is a much more foregiving beachcat when it comes to pitchpole than any other beach cat design.
If you like the mainhalyard locking at the botom of the mast, then stick with it. When the wire wears out, replace it with a new wire just like the old one.
New boats and old boats especially need care. Lubricate the main halyard
sheave and jib halyard sheave on your boat. Lubricate the plastic mast base ball. Lubricate the rudder pintle pins if SS. In the rudder head casting, lubricate the vertical slot for the plastic pin that moves up and down as the rudder moves from the down position to the up position. This plastic pin has springs attached to it on its ends. A good lubricant for these parts is white lithium grease available at most hardware stores.
Good Sailing,
Bill
FraidyCat
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Post by FraidyCat »

Thanks, that helps.

Stepping the mast is a little frightening, the manual states that it can be "easily done by hand" but that really didn't seem to be the case, any suggestions?

Liam
"There is nothing- absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

Rat - The Wind in the Willows
Matt Haberman
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SC19 Mast Stepping

Post by Matt Haberman »

Liam,
There are several things that can make mast stepping easier.
The first thing is to set the boat with the bow sitting slightly downhill so gravity works for you once your on your way up. This also helps to hold the mast upright when your crew is putting the pin in the forestay. The second thing you can do is tie a long rope (25 feet) to the forestay and have your crew pull when raising or lowering the mast. This setup has the crew doing most of the work :wink: while your on the tramp steering the mast upright. The initial start from horizontal is still a bit tough until the rope/crew kicks in, but having the bow down helps to reduce this.
Here are a few things to remember:
1) Always hold the mast track pointing backwards when raising and lowering the mast or you might break the post that the ball sits on.
2) Have the person pulling the rope stay at the end when pulling and "walk" the mast up. This will give them greater leverage and make the job easier.
3) Always look up for overhead power lines before raising the mast!

You can also look at the "gin pole" system used for raising the ARC-22 and RC-27/30 masts. This requires more hardware but works very well on the 38' and 45' masts on these boats.
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Matt Haberman
Aquarius Sail Inc.
http://www.aquarius-sail.com
FraidyCat
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Post by FraidyCat »

Thanks again for this information

Downhill sounds like a good suggestion, as I can leave the mast up once it's at the club the gin pole might be a little bit of overkill.

Now I just need to wait for summer although we have has so much rain in the last week all the snow has gone.

In the attached picture the dolly has nice cradles for the hulls, my trailer has rollers at the back and little v things at the front, not exactly what I would consider ideal as I live on a very rough dirt road. The trailer is the Easy-Loader that came with the boat from Boston Whaler in 1988. What can I replace these with? The Mystere has metal and wood V cradles, is there something like this available from Aquarius to fit the SC hulls?

Liam
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FraidyCat
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Post by FraidyCat »

New year - new picture, there is a little more light today this shows the roller better
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Bill Roberts
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Trailers with Rollers

Post by Bill Roberts »

The dealer that sold you that trailer knows nothing about beachcats and foam sandwich hulls. What he sold you is hull damage waiting to happen. Where the hull comes tangent to the roller, the contact area is less than 1" x 1". This means if 1/4th of the boat weight is on one roller, the pressure is approximately 100 pounds per square inch. Our foam sandwich hulls can only withstand about 150 pounds per square inch without damage. When the trailer hits a bump in the road, the hull/trailer could could easily be exposed to 2g's and there goes the impression of the roller up into the hull leaving a big dent. You need more contact area between the trailer and hull for a long life boat.
Bill
FraidyCat
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Post by FraidyCat »

Agreed, those rollers suck pretty badly. What do you suggest?

Liam
"There is nothing- absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

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Cookie Monster
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Post by Cookie Monster »

Fraidy Cat,

You need a set of the fiberglass cradles that most everyone uses nowadays. I imagine that Tom or Matt at Aquarius could get you a set that are made specifically for your boat. I higly recommend a set. They aren't that expensive and well worth avoiding the wear and tear on your boat.

The pics of your trailer indicate that it appears to be in great shape for its age. I would cut those rusty "U" bolts off though, and replace them if you don't do anything else.

Good sailing!
Don Cook
ARC 2226 - Adrenalin
FraidyCat
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Post by FraidyCat »

The rusty bolts will go come springtime, I'll contact Tom or Matt tomorrow re the fiberglass cradles.

Thanks

Liam
"There is nothing- absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

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FraidyCat
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Post by FraidyCat »

Spring is here.
Rusty ugly bolts have gone (most of them anyway) and nice new cradles are in place. I have been having nightmares about the kilometer of washboard I need to drag the boat down before I get to the highway, I feel better now.

I will be sailing out of here:
http://www.cvgr.qc.ca - not another Supercat in sight, lots of Mystere's though.

More info about Ottawa River sailing here: http://sailquest.com/ottawa/index.htm

Fraidy
"There is nothing- absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

Rat - The Wind in the Willows
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