Bay Area:replace a fin box (power box) with another (US box)

DonORiordan · Joined: 06 Feb 2001 Posts: 146

Hi folks,

I have an 80L FSW board that I like a lot. Except I want to use it at the coast (Waddell), where fin breakage is of course a major issue/risk when wave sailing particularly this time of year (no sandbar) and at low tides.

The US box is a good fin box to have for wave sailing, as it allows one to sacrifice a fin (the tab breaks off) rather than the more expensive fin box itself when the 20 MPH wave ride suddenly gets terminated by an immoveable rock. Except...my nice board has a Power box. I don't know quite what they were thinking when they designed this, but when I bought the board (intended for use in 3rd channel etc) that wasn't a real worry to me.

So now I'm wondering as to the feasibility and risks of having some board repair folks replace the Power box with a US box. Anyone got any thoughts/recommendations to share on this? Who (board repair specialist) would you trust to do this surgery on your favorite stick?

tx,

D

cbknap · Joined: 03 Jun 1997 Posts: 373

I wouldn't do this. The Powerbox, also, is designed so the fin will snap before the box. Take a look at the fin: there is only a very small amount of materal between the screw insert and the top of the fin. This will break if you hit a solid object.

Now, if this system fails and the box is damaged, THEN you might consider another finbox. But filling up a powerbox and inserting a US box is actually quite a bit of work. You'll be fine with the p-box.

sharkasm · Joined: 10 Apr 2000 Posts: 149

kurtmagness · Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 68

Go to this web site: boardlady.com Email Eva these same questions. She is the best board repairer anywhere and very reasonable. Repairs all styro /epoxy boards. She has people from NorCal drive boards down all the time. She is in Ventura, Ca but would be glad to quote you to switch out the fin box and discuss other issues via email. Fins in particular are her specialty and she loves to talk story and lecture you on the best setup. Check out her web site. She has great photos of repairs she has done. She can fix anything

carl · Joined: 25 Feb 1997 Posts: 2674 Location: SF bay area

I broke a powerbox fin on the reef at Maui too and the other posters
are right, the fin just snaps off with no damage to the board.

Also a box change may make the board heavier, not to mention the expense, which could be almost enough to buy a used wave board.

mikecole · Joined: 21 Sep 2000 Posts: 164

Hmm, I've had the opposite expierience with Powerbox fins hitting solid objects. Fin was fine, the box however needed replacing. I use G-10 fins from Trueames, maybe they are stronger?

Seems odd to have a wave board with a powerbox but I have one as well. An SOS Rocket 92. I asked Eva to replace it and she reccomended aginst that option. Ended up having to buy a couple of powerbox fins even thought I have a nice quiver of a-base fins Sad

If you stick with powerbox you can use a nylon fin screw which should break before your fin or box... If you want to keep your fin after the screw breaks you can drill a small hole in the fin and rig up a bit of fishing line that runs up through the screw hole and attaches to a footstrap or something?

Mike

DonORiordan · Joined: 06 Feb 2001 Posts: 146

Folks, you are awesome. Thanks very much for your thoughful responses and hard experience sharing here, and for steering me away from what was a potentially crazy idea with low ROI.

To the question on the beefiness of Waddell waves, yes in fact they can be quite beefy. However, I'm somewhat in the wave kook stage (not a total kook, but not fully comfortable yet either and certainly far away from being considered the local hotshot in all conditions), and as a result I plan to choose my days carefully i.e. avoid the big beefy stuff. With that in mind, my current FSW board should do fine, though if I do manage to advance to the next tier as a competent wave sailor and willingness to go out in the beefier conditions, I'll certainly be likely to buy a real waveboard.

(That said, I misjudged things a little last weekend and went out in what I thought would be "easy" conditions only to find a sizeable and growing swell. It was exciting to say the least, the smaller waves I could ride fine, the bigger ones I was suffering on due to a combo of relative inexperience (haven't been on logo high stuff before), OP'd, tired, dehyrdated, and the "wrong" board/fin (a looser board etc would have been better clearly). Even with all those other contributors, I think the major factor was my own inexperience...and thats something I'm keen to address this year (which has led the beginning of this entire thread).

Finally a question to mikecole....where do I get nylon fin screws? Do I need to go to a windsurf store (real or online), or will good old Home Depot be able to set me up?

tx,

D

swchandler · Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588

Don,

In the absence of Mike's input on this, a number of years ago I found nylon machine type screws for my van at West Marine, and they were longer ones too. Since Mike also lives here in SB, it might be that he's seen them there also. However, I should point out that the screws I found were 1/4 20 threaded with a hex head. If you need metric ones, that might be more of a challenge.

If you don't have a marine supply company like West Marine in your area, I'm sure you could google it on the internet and come up with some possible alternatives.

kurtmagness · Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Posts: 68

I guess $150 +/- for the box switch out and another $100 +/- for a wave fin gets to be pricey. I actually prefer to surfsail my home break Kuau Point with a more floaty production board and a slalom fin setup just so I could get out through the lulls inside the bay and stay up wind. I would struggled to stay up wind with a wave fin and barely make it out and back with my wave board unless it was really cranking. At this point it might not even make that much difference in your learning curve. Just get out there and get some time in. Maybe look for a used fin on ebay or something.

mark · Joined: 10 Apr 2000 Posts: 181

Mc Master Carr www.mcmaster.com sells about any type of screw you could possibly want. They sell M6 nylon pan head screws in 11 different lengths from 8 mm to 50 mm. A bag of 100 will cost less than $9 plus shipping. Definitely less expensive than changing the fin box. They are located in Santa Fe Springs, CA.