Greetings to the collective,
This brief note is confessional! I hope that sharing will result in some degree of relief from my acute embarrassment.
The story: Our DS was launched over the past two days and was resting gently along side our dock on the shores of lovely Black Lake, Ontario by 3 PM today. This year's deployment has been the best ever....the water was high so the boat slipped effortlessly off its cradle. My new tabernacle made the mast a piece of cake. Even the two coats of hull polish had seemed easier than usual for this arthritic old guy. I was feeling smug! In preparation for a planned sail tomorrow morning, I decided to do the once-over this evening so I would be cleared for take off bright and early. The check list went wonderfully....until the last item: make sure the center board is operable. And this is where my story gets confessional. As hard as I tried, I could not get that cursed handle to move. I even sat with my back against the mast stub and used my leg muscles....but no movement. I undid the screws holding the handle against the gasket. Still not movement. I panicked. I used some colorful language. I now had two choices....overwhelming brute force....or undo all my launch activities and put the hull back on shore to careen and look for the source of the jam.
And then the First Mate sauntered over and nonchalantly inquired: "Did you take the locking pin out?"
End of confession....
Regards,
Marv