unknown bracket or fitting?

[mainegrw]

Hello, I am a new to this forum and the daysailer II as well.
I picked up a 1973 Daysailer II from a friend, and it needs a little TLC. My grandfather and I have just started to do some minor work on the boat, but as neither he or I are familiar with this particular boat, we have been browsing this forum for help help. Most of our questions have been thus far answered from reading other posts here. I am however interested in knowing if anyone knows anything about a particular part mounted on my centerboard trunk. It is currently broken, and appears to be some kind of mounting bracket for something. I can only assume that it was u-shaped, but i'm not sure. Please check out the pic i posted at the link below and if you know what it is, it would be most appriciated if you could tell me what it might be. I have browsed other photos posted in the galleries and haven't seen anything like it. We also sailed the boat multiple times this summer and it did not seem to have any function relating to the overall function of the boat.

http://forum.daysailer.org/forum/album_pa ... pic_id=648

[Bob Damon]

It is not a stock fitting and is not integral to the operation of the centerboard however the photo does not fully show the item. I would not worry about it. Good Luck, Bob Damon

[mainegrw]

Thank you for your opinion. I think I would have to agree with you about being aftermarket.

[talbot]

I agree. I have a '73 myself that looks exactly like your photo, minus the doodad on the trunk. I would remove it, fill any screw holes with epoxy, and top them off with gel coat patch.

That place on the trunk would be a possible spot to mount a compass; I wonder if your widget might be the remnants of a compass bracket.

[mainegrw]

I would have to agree with your synopsis, and being that it serves no usable function, it has already made it's way off my boat. However, the thought about maybe it being a compass bracket got me thinking about possibly installing a compass there now. But then I thought some more, and although I have very limited sail time on the daysailer, I know better already than to put something where it will inevitably tripped over during a tack. I can only assume what was there was broken in just that way.

[talbot]

Yep. My thought exactly. See Roger's DSII book for a different compass position, mounting it through the bulkhead.

[SUNBIRD]

I have "Bulkhead" style compass on my DS II and have it mounted on a bracket attached to the mast inside the cuddy. My Compass is a PLASTIMO-Mini Contest, and there is an optional factory-made bracket to attach it to a mast. Unfortunately, that bracket costs more than I paid for the compass! It does feature a velcro strap to secure it to the mast making it easier to remove when unstepping the mast. Anyway, I made my own bracket in hte form of a box that fits around the mast. It works well for me but would be a pain if I had to unstep the mast each time that I used the boat (I don't have the tabernacle-equipped mast). On boats with the tabernacle it could be left in place in the cuddy all the time.
I'll see if I can figure out how to post a picture.[/img]

[talbot]

SUNBIRD's solution sounds great, except that I suspect I'm too old and blind to read the compass that far away when I'm at the helm. Fortunately, I'm mainly sailing on lakes, so a backpacker's sighting compass is usually sufficient; I have some visual point on land to aim for. Well, except in mist and cloud, so I'm still curious about fixed compasses.

[SUNBIRD]

I have posted a picture of my compass mount in the photos section, along with a few other views of SUNBIRD. I have a better view of the compass, but will need to reduce the file size before posting.