by GreenLake » Tue Jul 28, 2020 12:58 pm
Welcome to the forum!
First off, what you have is definitely not a DaySailer II, but a customized DS1. I will move this thread into the appropriate subforum for you.
Why can I be sure? The wooden coamings all around the cockpit and the lack of a bulkhead closing off the cuddy are dead giveaways.
Some previous owner seems to have used plywood to enclose the bilge area. This required a recess for the CB handle and in the process there's a novel way of anchoring it. The original bronze handle seems to have broken off and been replaced by a new one with plastic grip, but it appears to attach to a stub of the original one.
Nobody here (other than any previous owner, should they be active here) would be able to tell you how that new bracket works and how to allow removal of the CB. This is something you need to puzzle out with access to the real thing. Normally, in a DS1, the CB sits on a pin connected to the handle and you pull that pin out by the handle. Should be the same here, the question is what holds the pin in, and how to disengage that.
You show no photos of the other side of the CB trunk. Some DS1s have a bolt or other connection to the CB pin on that side, most do not. If yours does, it would likely have been left accessible, so if nothing is visible, you may be in luck and only have to deal with the contraption on the port side.
You can purchase replacement centerboards from DR Marine, but you can also make your own (or possibly fix what's there - if the existing wood isn't rotted).
The DS1 usually has two kinds of drain. One is right aft of the CB trunk, at a point that's close to the lowest point with the boat on the trailer. The other is in the transom (at the waterline). Both are normally operated from what is now inside the enclosed bilge. You might check whether the transom drain is still in place and whether the plug's been reversed to open from the outside. If that's the case, you drain the bilge by tilting the trailer up a bit, no access ports needed. (There is nothing in the enclosed portion that one would normally need access to).
If you feel you'll want an inspection port to check on the general condition of the bilge, then put one opposite the CB handle. That's the low spot and would allow you to pump any leaked water.
My concern would be with the "well" for the CB handle. If that extends all the way to the hull it would (partially) divide the starboard side of the bilge into a separate fore and aft compartment. That matters, because there is a small raised ridge forward of the CB (the keelson) and it would seem that would allow some water to get trapped in that forward area because it couldn't freely flow from starboard to port. And it would only flow aft if it can get past that well. You can see the keelson in the first picture and it appears there's a circular hole in it (for whatever reason). The well is relatively narrow, so what gets trapped may only be a small puddle.
Might be a good idea to place a second inspection port in the cuddy area a bit forward of the well.
Again, this boat was rather heavily customized, so nobody here would have first-hand experience with that particular configuration. You'll need to do some of your own detective work.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~