It's in 18 feet of murky questionable marina water that I'd prefer not to swim in, even if I could see my hand in front of my face :)
Turns out I got great customer service from Head Foil. I sent them a picture and description of the half I didn't drop overboard, and they dated it to the first years of their company - early 70s, meaning my luff support system was probably original. They looked but couldn't find a replacement part. So I'm getting a new Head Foil system after a 44-year service life on the previous one. Not sure the replacement feed funnel have would have been a complete fix anyway, because some of the plastic extrusion underneath it cracked and broke off. Without a new system I'm worried that sharp plastic edges might cut luff tapes of headsails being hoisted. The new Head Foil system is significantly less expensive than competing systems or furlers. I called / emailed the company on Saturday morning and they called me back within a few hours. My new system shipped today. I'll report back after installing and using it. There's actually more to the story. Went out for a leisure sail with family, and the genoa foot fouled on a horn cleat during the hoist. My daughter's boyfriend (big strong kid) kept hauling on the halyard until the feed funnel blew apart. Both halves were still dangling by one of two screws holding them together (the other screw blew out somewhere during the hoist). When we got back to the marina I went to take all the parts off the forestay to see if I could find replacement screws and re-assemble the whole thing, and that's when I dropped the part overboard. But I'm not sure reassembly would have worked anyway because of the broken plastic. The lessons: (1) if a sail is not going up like you expect, something is wrong, and continuing to haul on the halyard will only break something; (2) be careful not to drop shit overboard :) Cheers, Randy ----- Original Message ----- From: "detroito91 via CnC-List" <[email protected]> To: "cnc-list" <[email protected]> Cc: "detroito91" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 23, 2016 6:25:31 PM Subject: Re: Stus-List Head Foil Feed Funnel Look directly below your boat! You will find all the items I have dropped also Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device -------- Original message -------- From: Randy Stafford via CnC-List <[email protected]> Date:05/20/2016 11:49 PM (GMT-05:00) To: cnc-list <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] Subject: Stus-List Head Foil Feed Funnel Listers- Tonight I accidentally dropped overboard half the feed funnel of the old Head Foil 2 luff support system on my boat. Any ideas where I might find a replacement? I'd prefer to not plunk down the money for an entirely new luff support system or (gasp) furler. I'll contact the company but judging by their website I wonder if they're still viable. Thanks, Randy _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you like what we do, please help us pay for our costs by donating. All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
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