by badgley » Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:24 am
Hi Evan, did you relaunch yet? I'm a little late to the thread, but I just wanted to mention a couple things that I didn't see addressed (though I may have skimmed too quickly).
1. I have the same issue with my CB after repairing a separated downhaul. It was, for me, definitely MUCH harder to lift it out of the water than it is in the water using the uphaul line. So if you haven't tried it yet, then I suspect you will see the same. Again, assuming there is not much friction on your CB if you lift it by hand from underneath. It should definitely feel free and easy to move in that respect.
2. I think you might see an improvement if you get some less stretchy rope - nothing crazy like amsteel but at least some new double braid. It's not a long line so shouldn't cost much. That old 3-strand probably has a lot of stretch that you are having to load up each time you want to raise the board. I bet new rope would feel much more solid and efficient.
3. I love my boat, but this is, far and away, the thing I hate most about it. With all due respect to people who know much more about boats than I do... I think this CB design is terrible. I cannot really get my CB all the way into the trunk. The leverage on it, once it's close to up, is just stupidly inefficient (same for the down haul in almost any position...). It usually has a couple inches of the forward edge hanging out of the hull after I pull on it. Beyond that, I feel like I'm pulling harder than is smart for 40 year old hardware, fiberglass, and backing blocks. I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing. First, it leaves a little 'skeg' for docking and maneuvering, and who knows - maybe even sailing downwind. Although that might matter to races, of which I am not one. Two, the way I have my trailer, the board is supported along the whole length, so the roller at the end just lifts the board as it goes up and then the bunk holds it in place. I actually like this because I know it is supported from below and the uphaul is not stressed under load when on the trailer.
HOWEVER, this is important. Do not put your boat on the trailer with the CB dangling out if it is not supported! It will act like a barb in that it will easily pull up over any rollers, bars, etc. that it may contact but then, if it is too low, could snag sliding in the other direction when trying to launch the boat. I've had to get in the water under my boat once at the ramp and learned that less the hard way. The same can happen if the boat shifts sideways during launch or retrieval, e.g. in shallow water.
Finally, regarding some kind of sealant - mine did have it when I pulled the wedge blocks out. I suspect yours either completely degraded or someone else scraped it out previously. I didn't see a need for it from a watertight perspective, but I did find a little bit of bedding compound (dolfinite) handy to hold them in place while reassembling. Once put back together they'll do their job via gravity either way, but it feels a little unfinished to leave them rattling around loosely in there.
Brian Badgley
1982 DS II #10911 EGRETTA
Blacksburg, VA, USA