Engineering Problems A Plenty

Boys Trip 2006 066
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

As I mentioned yesterday, our first trip was completely uneventful. This is mainly because there was just enough wind to get us from the landing to our campsite, so we cruised to the island, set up camp, ate, and hoped for more wind the following day. Our wish was fulfilled.

After a hearty breakfast of beer and eggs, Greg and I were anxious to continue our experiment and to test our skill as sailors. We did a quick sail in the water immediately next to our camp site, and were soon satisfied that our boat and our skills were solid enough to venture further into the open water.

Being novice sailors, it took us a little bit of time and experimentation to learn the ropes, but we took great pleasure in the new experience... until we heart that first **CRACK**. I dont remember whether it was caused by shallow water, or by actual stress, but our leeboard mount broke. As this picture shows, the leeboard itself held up to the stress, but the frame wasnt quite as strong, flexible, or whatever.

Despite our hobbled watercraft, we were able to limp back to our campsite, which was upwind from us when the malfunction occurred, and fortunately Greg brought plenty of material for repairs. He pulled the leeboard mount and had soon fashioned a repair of glue and screws. On the downside, we had to wait for the glue to cure, so our sailing was finished for the day.

Stay tuned for our continued misadventures.

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Repaired Leeboard

Boys Trip 2006 086
Originally uploaded by OzzyC.

After repairing the leeboard, we again tested our craft for seaworthiness. As you can see in this picture, the repair was fashioned out of a steel brace, hose clamps and a log provided by mother nature. Greg sunk a lag bolt in to the log. We tested things out, and the repair held, but there was yet another problem. By repairing the leeboard in this fashion, the board didnt sit as deeply in the water, effectively eliminating a portion of our ability to tack. We were able to tack one way against the wind, but not the other.

As you can imagine, this necessitated another long arduous paddle back to shore. Fortunately, we were picked up by a pair of boaters who towed our crippled craft back to our campsite for still more repairs.

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