DRAGONFLY Trimarans User Forum

Hello- I am keeping my dragonfly 800 sw Kihitara on a marina berth and wondered about antifouling ( including the centreboard) I would be willing to do this myself if I could figure out how to do the centreboard.
I did ask for a marina lift out so as to get the boat professionally done, but the guys are a bit scared of how to lift it without damaging the folded boat. Has anyone experience and willing to share it? Allan

To lift a folded SW is easy if you got the right equipment - a crane with a lift-square. It is described in the users manual.
1) Remove mast. (don’t try to lift with mast)
2) Fold the boat
3) Put the slings around the main hull only
4) Put the slings outside the beams
5) And lift

My harbor has a small lift-square – so I have the front sling behind the beams – it works if the sling is broad.

And don’t forget to remove log and other things pointing out ounder the waterline.
/Christian

Please click on any of the photos to see them enlarged!

Thankyou for that. I have just spoken with the marina people who decline to have anything to do with lifting the boat!
I wonder if it is possible to get at the centrebozrd by tilting the boat over, as I have done with my monohull trailer yacht, but I fear that I would damage the joints by doing this. The centreboard needs cleaned and antifouled, but presents the main problem! Thanks for your post Allan

I bought my DF1000 in 2000.
I painted the bottom with VC17 including the centerboard.
I've painted the bottom several times since, but never touched the board.
I keep it retracted whenever the boat isn't being sailed, and the board looks great. No fouling at all eleven years later, even though the boat's been kept in the water the whole time.

Hey, thanks for the reply. I haved dived over to look at the centre board and it has a fair amont of growth - tubeworm /barnacle/small weed on it, with the surface being quite rough overall. Since I bought the boat I have kept the board up but perhaps it has not always been kept so.
When you antifoul the hulls, how do you manage this? On a trailer? Jacked up? Allan

I made a tide grid from my boat's shipping cradle.
It works great.
Pressure wash, slap on another layer of VC 17, zincs and I'm done.

Thanks. I appreciate that. I guess by a tidegrid you mean a platform onto which the boat settles as the tide falls on a beach/mudflat?
I have wondered about doing something like this but I wonder how stable it will be if tall enough to allow the centreboard down. Cheers, Allan

Hi
Bo just added som photos to my post - they are from different years.

If your marina can't do it - find another marina with some pro's that knows how to lift a small boat
/ Christian

thanks a lot for your interest. I can show these photos to the lift manager and see what he thinks. I'll post when the job is done! Cheers, Allan

I just lower the board while it is on the cradle and paint it - simple as that.
Also I know on the 1000 you can access the top portion of the board by removing the table top.
I have never had any fowling on the board.


Also - it is easier to take the 800 in and out of the water on a trailer!

A lot cheaper in the long run too.

Thanks Ted, I will have a look at that next time I am with the boat. It's about 200km away from home! . Perhaps I can scrub down the board using a combination of this access and a low level jacking of the boat from the trailer
Many thanks for contributing Allan