> All I have for a latch
> down is a rather thin (3/16 inch) pin which goes through the CB and trunk
> in the middle of the board. The hole in the board is large, but those in
> the trunk quite small. Does anyone have a recommendation regarding this
> setup? I know it would be better to have the CB latched if it looks like
> we could get knocked over. I thought about using something like a shear
> pin in the latch, but it strikes me that if it is going to break when
> hitting a solid obstruction, it might be just as likely to break when the
> boat turned over. Opinions?
HI Eric and Gang,
My P19 Redwing came with a 3/8" hole drilled through the keel trunk and two
3/8" 3 holes in the keel. One hole to lock it in the full-down position, one
hole for a 2/3's down position, and one for locking it in the full-up
position for trailering.
Now the funny part -- when I reinforced the keel trunk with fiberglass, I
forgot to mark the hole to drill it out again later. The next time we
launched the boat, David put down the keel while I drove the trailer back to
the parking lot. Next thing I knew, he was chasing me down the street,
yelling at the top of his lungs, all upset because the keel had no lock-down
mechanism anymore. and it was blowing like stink!
I got out the cordless drill and rigged up some bungee cords to hold it down.
Larry Costa has some heavy duty rubber straps (I think) to hold his keel
down. That way, there's some give if you hit the bottom. I have to
strengthen the whole setup, but it's a pretty good idea, as long as the
bungies can support the weight of the keel if you knock the boat over.
I called the factory and asked about the weight of the keel. While they know
the brochure says 470#, Glenn told me it weighs 255 pounds. I don't want
to be pulling with more than about 50 pounds of force (gotta baby that ole'
back o' mine), so 5 or 6 of the right diameter shock cord should do it. I
will make up some bungees from that really thick (up to 1/2") shock cord or
rubber straps.
Folks who have done this (including Left Coast Larry), please let us know how
you did this.
Regards,
Judy B