Idaho and Center board uphaul

[ChrisLee]

Anyone here who lives in Idaho and willing to trade help replacing an uphaul line for your favorite beverage? Or just a fun meet up after Father’s Day weekend sometime? Im sure I can handle it on my own but it sure would be nice to have experienced help. But, the greater purpose of the post is just to find someone close to get tips and pointers from. Not a lot of sailing schools here in the middle of Idaho haha!

 

[rgranger]

I replaced mine in 2017 and was lucky enough to have the help of the guy who designed the system (@Crazy Dave Condon ). Kermit also was there and the three of us made short work on replacing the lift lines on two boats.

I wrote up a short "how to" document on the process. It is attached. Hope this helps.

R

 

[RonniePH26]

I haven’t had to replace mine yet but I’m happy to help. I’m in Boise.

 

[ChrisLee]

That’s great guys, thanks! Ronnie I may take you up on that at some point! It’s nice to know someone is that close too. You must sail lucky peak then?

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

This is not an easy task gentlemen as the boat has to lifted in order to replace the centerboard line since the centerboard bracket has to come off. Are you willing to follow my suggestions? First read what rgranger referenced to as I helped them Any other questions come later

 

[ChrisLee]

Sounds good, I have read the instruction and it looks really well written. the only issue is that I live in Idaho with no access to the machinery that you guys had. This is a 1994 H26, sitting on its trailer. Therein lies my biggest issue and fear, how do i do this without the access that you guys had. Also, since i know the hardware holding it in is a direct hole in the bottom of the boat im wondering do i need to worry about water intrusion at all or is the bolt in question above the water line?

thanks!!

 

[rgranger]

I would not do this in the water.

Can you find an auto repair shop and ask them if you can "rent" their lift for on a Sunday afternoon? Put tow straps under the boat and lift it off of the trailer? If you do that be sure to tie the straps together so they don't slide forward or aft while the boat is lifted. If that is not an option, you can rent a small crane... or "boom truck"?

Also, active captain shows 7 marinas in Idaho. I did a quick look and the very first one showed a boat on a lift but I have no idea how far a drive that is for you.... those Western states are huge. Also, if you can find one of those marinas that stack boats, they use these ridiculously huge fork lifts for that. One of those would work great for what you want to do. Go talk to one of them and see if you can give them $100 to lift your boat up for about an hour. Last... you could build your own lift.... I've done this once with a much smaller boat so the pics below are under built for an H26 but might give you ideas. BUT the boat in this pic had a similar displacement (#2000 ) to an H26 with empty ballast tanks so structurally it is possible.

 

[ChrisLee]

I live right smack in the middle of southern Idaho so yea everything big is a haul to get to but we have a ton of smaller awesome lakes without amenities. But being from the country I do know some pretty handy people who can rig something up. Out of curiosity what was the name of the marina you saw? Im guessing northern Idaho, Sandpoint maybe?

 

[rgranger]

...Out of curiosity what was the name of the marina you saw? Im guessing northern Idaho, Sandpoint maybe?

Now on closer look, I see that it is not a travel lift but probably a boom truck that is lifting the boat off of that flatbed truck.

 

[ChrisLee]

Ahh, yep that’s about 10 hours away from me not pulling a boat lol. We will get it figured out though, I’m thinking a home built hoist like you showed pictures of. Also a good chance to fix any trailer issues we might find, and put new carpet on the bunks.

 

[rgranger]

... I’m thinking a home built hoist like you showed pictures of. ...

Those heavy duty tow straps with the ratchet work very well. You inch it up until your ratchet body is full of strap... then brace the bottom with blocks or a bottle jack, release the ratchet, clear the strap, snug it up and start ratcheting again..

rinse and repeat until the boat is high enough to pull the trailer out. It takes a while but it is not hard.

Just make sure you tie a rope for-and-aft between the sets of straps. You don't want them to slip forward or aft and drop the boat. That is something Crazy Dave fussed at me about when he saw my pics. He had a guy he knew who got hurt that way.

 

[ChrisLee]

Very good point, I did construction for enough years that proper rigging was well beat into my head haha! So what kind of sealing measures do I take when I reassemble the unit? It is a bolt through the bottom of the boat right? Do I dope the threads or anything?

 

[rgranger]

The swing keel is housed inside a stainless steel bracket that has a threaded hole in the top. The bolt that you access from inside the cabin holds that bracket snug up inside the keel trunk. It is a solid design. I believe the bolt exit is above the water line ... a little thread dope wouldn't hurt but I would not suggest anything like 4200 if you ever want to get it out again. Maybe shoot @Crazy Dave Condon a PM and ask him. He designed the thing. I don't recall us putting any sealant on the bracket or threads when we reinstalled ours. But it was three years ago so I'm not 100%.