WIND INDICATO
I got to thinking, how hard could it be to make a simple wind indicator? Well after about 10 minutes in the garage, it looks like a came up with something that's simple and effective. (What's a guy to do while he waits for his daggerboard repair to harden - right?)
Here is what you will need:
1: a 4-10 inch piece of dowel that's laying around the garage.
2. A pushpin
3. Kitchen garbage bag
4. A small zip tie
5. Glue or a regular paper stapler. (I used superglue - but I'm sure anything will work)
Here they are below:
How to do it:
1. First take the zip-tie and zip it around the pushpin -
securely, but
LOOSELY. (The zip-tie should move smoothly and freely around the pushpin - seen below

.
2. Now cut the excess zip-tie away. (This will reduce extra friction on the pushpin.) leave about an inch of the zip-tie remaining, as seen below.
3. Now fix the pushpin into the top of the dowel. It should look like this:
4. Get a trash bag ( I used a white kitchen trash bag) and cut about an eight inch strip of it. I made the width a bit smaller than the width of my finger. Now grab your superglue or stapler (or whatever light glue is laying around).
5. Glue the trash bag strip to the excess zip-tie and let it dry. (Mine was dry in 5 minutes). (A simple staple might work perfectly as well).
6. Now tape your wind indicator to the top of the mast. Be sure to place it opposite the main halyard opening, so your wind indicator does not get in the way. (I used duct tape, but clear packing tape might work wonderfully as well - and may look better.)
Here was the result: a wind indicator that is very easy to make (took me ten minutes total - including drying time). A wind indicator that is able to pick up very light breezes (this was how it looked at three knots in my back yard, as verified by KNFW's metar report). You also get a lightweight, rotating, tangle-free set up that is CHEAP to make (from junk thats already laying around your garage).
Here it is in action:
I turned the mast and the indicator swiveled effortlessly with the wind.
Ill be testing this thing out in the next few weeks (after my daggerboard repair is complete and the water warms up a bit more). Let's see how it holds up in some heavy wind!
I hope this helps someone, and saves someone 40 bucks!
Warm regards,
Whitecap