HELP: typhoon gets knocked by a gale!!

[bill]

I'm afraid I was caught by an unexpected gale while cruising the coast of Maine and was WAY overpowered by my mainsail- It took several minutes to get her down- when I (finally) returned safely to my mooring
on the New Meadows River, shaken, wet, but alive, I discovered that the deck areas where both the port and starboard chainplates are attached were slightly raised- perhaps by 1/2 inch. I keep my side shrouds relatively loose as I haven't wanted to install a compression post and lose my porta-potti space. The deck core appears to be dry- There certainly was a tremendous force on the rig with the 50 knot blow I was in. Have I done any serious damage? Thanks-



wdj1@top.monad.net

[John Lesage]

Your thought to install a compression post is the critical point. Remember the deck (chain plates) did not rise; the cabin top was pushed down. This is how the moments of force work. I am not certain that you could move the deck drop that quick, but....? Jack the inside of the cabin slowly. I move about 1/8" per day when necessary. There are post designs available. Currently I just leave the "house jack" in place, in shrink wrap while I sail. All this while I am designing a version similar to the original.



john.lesage@snet.net

[Serge Zimberoff]

You don't need to lose the porta-potti area with a compression post. Check older posts. Fix well worth it for happy future sailing.
Serge
Ty #1700 'Cloning Around'



serge@srtrop.com