The Inland 20 bilge boards are beasts.  They drop 3.5 feet below the hull and have a total height,  including horn, of about 5-foot-8.

Getting  them out of the slot is easy if you know this trick.  

Imagine you’re heeling the boat, only this time its on the trailer and you use stacks of foam insulation to hold the angle of heel.   

You will need a lift and some two inch construction foam.  Tilt the hull up on one side, remove that raised board out the top on that side.  Raise the boat up an inch or two and remove the foam.  Lower boat back onto bunks.    Repeat process for the other side.

Here’s full procedure:

1) Use penetrating oil before attempting to remove the nut from the pivot bolt.  After it soaks a bit, get the nut, washer and gasket off  and back out the bolt a bit..but not all the way.  The board needs to be able to pivot.

2) Remove boom.  Get the stop knot out of the board check line.  Keep the line in the cleat, we will lower the board later.  Now…take the shackle on the mainsail halyard and attach to the board horn shackle or the check line eye splice.  

3)Get a friend because you will need a second set of hands. Roll the boat over to a crane and have about ten 18-inch squares of construction foam ready to go.   (on a windy day, those buggers grow legs and walk away!)

4)Raise  the boat until you can get a stack of foam under one side of the hull, on top of each bunk.  Lower boat onto foam and bunks so the boat is heeling.  Eyeball the slot to make  sure the board will not hit the fender when lowered.  If the board touches ground before it can swing most of the way down, stack more foam. This boat needed eight inches up front and about ten inches in back.

5) Get inside the boat carefully!  (Ww assume no liability. ) Lower the board and remove the pivot pin.  Have your assistant outside the boat hold the bottom of the board in case it slides around.

6)  Get out of the boat carefully!  Raise the main sail halyard.  The board will slide out the top of the board box.  One of you will need to guide the board as it is hoisted.  

7) Raise the boat so you can extract the foam and put the boat back on the bunks flat.  Side two is radically similar to side one.  Repeat process.