Sean....get a stainless rod..not bronze. Bob

From: Nebwest2@aol.com Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:25:07 -0400 To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Subject: M_Boats: Dauntless' keel

Thanks for the well wishes for Dauntless. I got a good look at her keel as she sit on the trailer today as I was going through the de-salt ritual this morning. S0 far I see no visible damage. I suspect that the 1/2" stop pin will be deformed when I can get a look at it. In order to see it will mean either the "crane" routine..or floating her off the trailer and Scuba diving underneath. I am really leaning towards the Scuba solution...(it's free) but I'm not sure if I can effect the pendant repair while she is floating. I would have to completely free the swing keel from the existing piece of pendant which is what I would use to lower the keel. But the problem is...how do I then allow the keel to swing forward enough to get to the pendant and effect the switchout, without allowing the keel to swing all the way forward and contact the front of the keel slot? Due to the "quadrant" shape of the swing keel I cannot trust that a line or strap run from sheet winch , under the keel, to the other sheet winch , would not slip off.

I installed a new pendant 4 years ago when I rebuilt the keel. For the last 2 years or so I have been wondering how it was doing, and ...if I ever had to effect a repair or switch, how I could do it without utilizing a crane or hoist. There is no way that I can see as there is no access into the keel trunk to be able to get to the pendant's shackle. I love my boat, but this particular issue bothers me and I wish it was a little different. Seems that some kind of access hatch to allow you to get to the pendant and shackle would be a good deal.

I would like to be able to blame the pendant breaking on a design or wear issue, but unfortunately, it was all me. I have been aware from the beginning not to over crank the keel winch and have always paid close attention. This time I was distracted and cranked her right to the limit, stretched, and broke the cable. This is exactly the reason why , at work, when we are performing any type of technical rescue, we never use power winches. We do use mechanical advantage systems, sometimes quite elaborate ones, in fact. However, the power input to them always comes from just plain manpower. That way there is tactile feedback indicating if if a system is binding or becoming overloaded. Additionally, the mechanical advantage systems are built with attachments such as prussik knots which will start to show slippage and indicate overloading before catastrophically failing. The wire/winch system does not leave much room for error or tactile feel, there is no visual indicator, and I was a bull in the china shop....UGH! I had tried marking the wire with a tape mark, sharpie, etc, but all either faded away or became unreliable as the wire stretched over the years. In the end, it was my hurried and distracted disposition that caused the ugly event.

By next week I should know for sure where I stand. I'm feeling pretty confident right now that everything is OK, but won't know for sure till we look from below. I think I see a crane and at a minimum a new stop pin in my future. I think I'll just go to Duckworks.com tonight and order some bronze rod. Got to go to work for a couple of days. It'll give me some time to think about different options. Hopefully by next week it'll be resolved and I can move on to more "fun" projects.

S

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