Boat retrieved from the water, mast lowered in parking area, mast pulpit
damaged.
Idyler log entry: July 11, 2004
It had not been the greatest of sailing outings. On the previous day the wind had been almost non-existent, occasional light puffs of 100 degree air off the western shore, barely enough to blow the smoke of a cigarette out of the cockpit, let alone move the boat. In fact, the only boat movement was the rocking caused by the innumerable power boats racing down the lake, jerking the rudder and helm about, and shaking a boom and gaff from which a sail tried vainly to gain any effort.
In fact, the only action taking place was the wearing on the rudder, which was causing the steering rope to go slack, and run over each other on the helm, until suddenly you would find the ropes were wrapped,, and you could not turn the boat in one direction. There would follow the task of going through the lazarette hatch, and redoing the lines, and vowing to make a design change to the steering, which might help on future outings, but not today.
Finally we had motored to a cove and anchored for the night, and enjoyed our evening meal. The night was quiet, star-filled, and even less breezy than the day had been.
The next morning, our last day on the lake, we once again motored out to the main lake after breakfast, and spent the next 3 hours drifting, with rudder and spars banging about in the boat wakes again.
Finally, about 11:00 AM we decided to call it quits, and motor back to
the State Park boat ramp, only to again discover the tiller lines wrapped.
Totally frustrated with the continuing rudder problems, I removed the
rudder from its mount, and decided to just steer the boat with the outboard,
which originally didn’t seem like a bad idea, and about an hour
later we found ourselves approaching the park boat ramp.
It seemed like this must have been one of the busiest days of the year for boaters, as there was a boat were being launched or retrieved at the rate of about 1 a minute, with new trailers or boats backing in as fast as a lane became available.
We headed for the small dock near the ramps to drop my wife off to get the trailer. Of course, it was full, and we had to circle waiting our turn to dock. This is when I discovered that trying to steer a Vacationer with just an outboard mounted on the stern side is not the ideal thing in crowded waters.
Somehow, we made it to the dock without ramming another craft, Barb went ashore to get the van and trailer, and I discovered that a Vacationer with no rudder and an outboard on the port side steers even less well in reverse than it does in forward. Somehow I got it turned before I hit the shore, and again managed to get out and circle waiting for the trailer to hit the water, and receiving supporting gestures from power boat pilots whose favorite school was #1.
At long last, the trailer slid into the water – the trailer on which I had been trying to decide if I needed some modifications to keep the boat centered. Well, it had gone on well enough on the maiden voyage, hadn’t it? Of course, this time I am coming in with no rudder, and an outboard that needs the idle adjusted, as it tends to stall at idle speed. Somehow, the boat made it on to the trailer. Barb hooked the winch and pulled it up, but we are obviously way off center. Well, we can jerk it over after we get the mast down.
I hopped down off the boat, and Barb promptly pulls up the ramp to a handicapped zone. I walked up and told her we better not park there, as it is going to take some time to get the mast down, and the boat centered. I advised here to pull the boat up into the main parking area, some hundred yards up, where we can take all the time in the world to work on it, and climbed in the van. Nice clear shot up to the parking area, relax and enjoy a minutes rest in the passenger seat,
Let me add here that the parking lot at night is well lit, as is the ramp area. Of course, this is daytime, when it is normally well lit by the sun, so overhead lighting was not of large importance at the moment.
As Barb is proceeding toward the parking area, a noise comes from behind the car, and Barb screams “The boat is sliding off the trailer!” which is immediately followed by a loud crashing sound.
It seems
a power line running across the road to a lamp pole had encounter our
forestay, riding up it until it encountered the mast, and started pulling
the boat off the trailer, inhibited by a winch that slipped, but would
not let go. Finally, as the strain became too great, the eyebolt in the
bowsprit straightened out, the mast lowered itself by jerking its forward
bolts out of the pulpit, and crashed down on the hatch, still attached.
At the same time the electrical cable snapped loose from the lamp post
and coiled itself on the hood of a Lincoln Navigator. The boat was back
off the trailer, with the rudderless rudderbox touching the ground, and
the boat was now really off center. In fact, the port side was almost
off the roller bunks. Time to lower mast – approx 0.3 sec, possibly
a record.
This led to the spectacle of me hanging on the bowsprit to balance the stern of the boat off the road while Barb inched us up into the parking area.
Luckily, I had my port-a-power hydraulic device in the van, as well as wood blocks, so with an hours labor in 102 degree heat I was able to inch the boat up and on to the keel rollers, and Barb winched her up to the bow catch.
It
is at this point, still lying under the boat and trailer, that I observed
standing next to it one pair of legs in plain khaki trousers, another
pair of legs in the olive green with a darker green stripe of a Kentucky
Parks Ranger, and a pair legs in the distinctive blue with a yellow stripe
of the Kentucky State Police. My wife’s legs were nowhere to be
seen. All I could do was stick my head out and ask “Am I going to
County or State jail, or do I have my pick?”
Actually, it turned out, the trooper and ranger, and the third individual who turned out to be the Park Manager, were all more concerned about any damage the boat had received than the downed power line, which thankfully was inactive during the day. They spent a few minutes checking the stern for damage, looked at the mast pulpit, and gave a few words of advice as to some trailer modifications. At this point my wife turned up with the owners of the Navigator, who reported the only harm to there vehicle was rubber smudge marks on the hood, which wiped off quite easily. Then they all wanted to know about the design of the boat. Whew!
A few minutes later, as the local Power Company crew was arriving to replace the line, a very chagrined and abashed Vacationer captain tried as inconspicuously as possible to move his van out of the park and onto the highway.
Happily, damage was limited to replacing the eyebolt on the bowsprit, and rehinging the front of the mast – the rear hinge was ok, and replacing the horn on the cabin roof.
Since
than, centering brackets have been added to the trailer, the steering
was modified with cable, a torsion spring, and an idler pulley to eliminate
the loosening and wrapping of the cable, and the hard movement from boat
wakes when at rest, and our sails have been good ones. And the mast is
either lowered while at the ramp dock, or immediately after coming out
of the water with the boat. I don’t care how many boats are waiting
to be launched or picked up, the mast is coming down first, slowly.
Kentucky Lake photos (and stately owl), courtesy of Explore
Kentucky Lake,
http://www.ExploreKentuckyLake.com
Back Yard Yacht Builders
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All our wooden boats are Stevenson designs.