I am rebuilding the 'Ghost Skegs' on The Flying Crutchman.
Having a fiddle.
The delight is that I'm doing this with... (would you believe?) crutches. This would mean that all builds on the craft are resourced from second hand crutches: the mast step, the mast cradle and now the rear skegs.
Thus the name...really suits.
Mind you, I'm still 'having a fiddle'. I'm engineering the rebuild as I go -- deploying what I know works and rejecting any doubtful elements.
While not evident from the illustration, once I've trimmed back the stems I'll have the choice of a few ratchet positions on which I can locate the skegs as they fall to the rear. That way I hope to adjust how far they will be apart for different sailing or paddling conditions. I also will be able to slide the whole frame to the left or right if I want -- say, when I'm tacking over along distance.
The other big advantage is that the whole rig can be disassembled for easy portage. Setup will be a few ratchet ties and twists of a couple of stretch cord.
Thats' the big picture anyway, the plan.
That I tie the kit and caboodle onto the craft -- lash it on -- is a product of how I see traditional sailing vessels which were usually lashed together. Not only did these craft sail before the wind, but all the rigging moved. That's why they creaked. I want that flexibility because I'm sailing on plastic without nails and only a few screws to hold the rigging onboard.
Even my sail is tied on and I've not had a moment's problem with the join despite the force of the wind.
