Oops, I just replied about the ladder, but I reread your message and saw
your comment about the lobster pot warps and the prop. I thought I'd
share a little device I made that has saved me from probably hundreds of
pot warps using toggles. (For those of you who haven't been downeast and
don't know what a toggle is: in our waters where lobster pots are placed
almost every 10 feet almost everywhere within a mile of the coast, there
are often two floats per line, with a connecting line between them
running just beneath the surface. Often the extreme tidal currents pull
one of the other float underwater, making it invisible and the water a
minefield of almost totally unavoidable lines running every which way
just below the surface. My previous small boat with a kick-up rudder
would catch a line about every 20 minutes of sailing time even when I
spend all my time on the lookout.)
Anyway, an old Maine sailor took one look at my Vega's exposed prop and
suggested installing a flat piece of stainless steel (maybe 15-18 inches
long, about the size of a paint stir stick) horizontal, mounted to the
trailing edge of the rudder just below the prop. Any line that crosses
under the keel and sweeps up the rear edge of the rudder is deflected
back and away before it hits the prop. In 4 years I've only snagged
once, and that was on light wind in the middle of a tack when I think a
strong tide flow actually set me slightly backwards on one. I forget
where I found the piece of steel, but I simply drilled a couple holes
through the rudder and through-bolted it. I didn't know if I might be
letting water into the rudder and so sealed the holes well. Four years
later, it's the best and cheapest modification I've made!
Tom
ellissitzky wrote:
your comment about the lobster pot warps and the prop. I thought I'd
share a little device I made that has saved me from probably hundreds of
pot warps using toggles. (For those of you who haven't been downeast and
don't know what a toggle is: in our waters where lobster pots are placed
almost every 10 feet almost everywhere within a mile of the coast, there
are often two floats per line, with a connecting line between them
running just beneath the surface. Often the extreme tidal currents pull
one of the other float underwater, making it invisible and the water a
minefield of almost totally unavoidable lines running every which way
just below the surface. My previous small boat with a kick-up rudder
would catch a line about every 20 minutes of sailing time even when I
spend all my time on the lookout.)
Anyway, an old Maine sailor took one look at my Vega's exposed prop and
suggested installing a flat piece of stainless steel (maybe 15-18 inches
long, about the size of a paint stir stick) horizontal, mounted to the
trailing edge of the rudder just below the prop. Any line that crosses
under the keel and sweeps up the rear edge of the rudder is deflected
back and away before it hits the prop. In 4 years I've only snagged
once, and that was on light wind in the middle of a tack when I think a
strong tide flow actually set me slightly backwards on one. I forget
where I found the piece of steel, but I simply drilled a couple holes
through the rudder and through-bolted it. I didn't know if I might be
letting water into the rudder and so sealed the holes well. Four years
later, it's the best and cheapest modification I've made!
Tom
ellissitzky wrote: