We just started down the inland river system. Left Chicago on Tuesday. We've already run aground, had to turn around and had an unexpected haul out and we're not even 10 miles into the river! Hopefully we've gotten it all out of the way early on.
The reason is because we didn't properly prepare/plan for how to secure the centerboard pennant. We rigged a line to run from the midships cleats to hold the board up when unstepping the mast, and that worked well. We also fabricated a wooden plug for the mast collar with a hole through it to run the pennant back up to the winch in the cockpit to secure the line.
However as we were 10 ft from the dock after motoring 6 miles down river we ran aground in much deeper water than we should of. We checked the line on the midships cleat and it was slack. It turns out that the line slipped off the back of the board as we were motoring and our mast plug made out of 1/2" ply was not strong enough to keep up the board. In hindsight we probably should not of snugged the line up under the hull so tight, and let the CB hang down slightly. Since it was flush it was much easier for the line to slip off the back.
Once the line had slid off the CB moved all the way down and was hanging at a 45 degree angle towards the bow! The pennant got stuck down next to the board in the trunk. We tried for hours to get it unstuck, but ended up having to motor back up river and get hauled out to fix it.
We also had to make a much beefier setup than we had originally intended. I'll post a few photos when I get better internet. Our initial plans of using 1/2" with some PVC pipe cemented and life caulked together just did not cut it. The version 2 was two layers of 3/4" ply in the collar and one on top with a proper "exit sheave block" to take the weight and roll smoothly.
Long story short, if you're going to spend any time moving with your mast down, take some time to fabricate a mast plug with a real block to properly secure the centerboard pennant. It will save you a costly haul out!
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