CENTERBOARD HELP

[twodzusfittings]

So way back when, before Covid19, I asked the forum for anyone who might have personal knowledge with an O'Day 30 CB
Some folks replied, but since sending PM's out, no one has replied
My CB is stuck in the stored position (Up). I understand that it is easiest to drop the board when on the hard. But to educate myself, I have a bunch of questions, so here goes.....
How long and how wide is the CB?
How high do I need to have the boat to be able to have the CB clear when its dropped?
How much does it weigh?
Is it made of steel?
Are the bolts holding in the brackets, hex head, Philips head or slotted. And what are they made of.
Do the bolts come out easily or do I need to apply heat?
Once the CB is removed, how does one manage to clean and paint the inside of the Keel?
What does one do, barrier coat and then ablative or hard bottom paint on the inside of the Keel?
Is there generally a lot of slop with the pin.
And last of all, how much do folks use the CB when sailing?

If anyone can help me, please PM me through the Forum, thanks.

 

[SlicRic]

I'm just posting for moral support. Hoping that you find the answers you are looking for. My 32CC (new to me) has a broken cable.

 

[twodzusfittings]

@SlicRic
Thanks for that. No answers from anyone yet. Maybe this will be a super adventure and the answers will be found after much trial and error.
Question then: Is your centerboard in the down position?

 

[SlicRic]

@twodzusfittings
My cable snapped at the board. You can barely see a few steel strands in the photos from the diver. It isn't stuck and pivots freely so it is down. Or "was" actually as we used ratchet straps to hold it up so we can sail it from one slip to another. I was hoping an underwater cable replacement with a shackle or something could be done but it appears to be molded into the board itself, requiring a haul-out.

 

[SlicRic]

Back to your vessel. I can help with two questions.
I see on gjenvick.com that your draft with the CB down is 7'2". Considering the draft with the board up is 3'6" then you will need to have the boat lifted at least another 3'8" below the lowest point.
On a reach, in high winds, the board down will keep you pointed where as the board up will allow the wind to cause you to drift from your pointed direction. Check this out.

 

[twodzusfittings]

so I found this on the web. But my boat is five feet longer. Really looking for answers to my question. I wont need to raise the boat as high as Slic Ric suggests.

 

[jssailem]

I see no one has offered much in the way of insight. I do not have a O'day 30, but I will share the limited boat experience I have gathered.

• How high do I need to have the boat to be able to have the CB clear when its dropped?
  • According to sailboat guide
  • A keel/cb model was also available.
    Draft (board down): 7.18’ / 2.19m
  • I would say you need to raise the boat at least 5ft above the bottom of the keel to have any working space to get the keel unhinged and out of the trunk.
• How much does it weigh?
  • According to sailboat guide
  • A keel/cb model was also available.
  • Ballast: 4,700 lbs / 2132 kg
  • The shoal keel version of your boat is listed as having a ballast of 4200 LBS. It is possible that the centerboard could weigh as much as 500lbs.
• Is it made of steel?
  • Most likely. Steel was the popular material for centerboards on keeled boats. Your stub keel is said to have lead as the ballast.
• Are the bolts holding in the brackets, hex head, Philips head or slotted. And what are they made of.
  • It would be a guess. Any of the previous owners might have changed up the bolts. That said if your system is identical to the video I would anticipate Philips head screws. Now you boat is larger than the 25 shown isn the video. I would expect the keel to be much heavier and perhaps have a totally different design to hold it in place. A common method was to place a pin through the stub keel and seal it on each side of the stub keel.
• Do the bolts come out easily or do I need to apply heat?
  • What I saw on the video would lead me to believe that they were extracted fairly easily. Perhaps with a hand held electric nut driver. But again until you get the boat out of the water and inspected it is just a SWAG as previous owners may have invented what they though to be a "Better idea".
• Once the CB is removed, how does one manage to clean and paint the inside of the Keel?
  • You do the best you can. A thin stick with sand paper to rough it up, and then a wipe the same way with a rag and acetone. Then you dab paint up there using a brush pad. Nothing about this is going to be clean and neat.
• What does one do, barrier coat and then ablative or hard bottom paint on the inside of the Keel?
  • Your boat your choice. I would lean to a barrier coat, then a hard bottom paint. Ablative paint needs water moving over it to do it's thing. The water in the CB trunk will be still.
• Is there generally a lot of slop with the pin.
  • Not generally as much shown in the video. Likewise the pin appeared to be a wood dowel held in place by wood wedges. When dry I would expect they would get sloppy. The system in your boat may be different.
• And last of all, how much do folks use the CB when sailing?

This last question is dependent on how you are sailing. If I want to sail into the wind then I would drop the center board. It allows me to sail the boat at the closest designed angle to the wind somewhere better than 45 degrees too true wind angle. With the center board up the boat would have a tendency to slip sideways as I tried to sail into the wind.

Sailing down wind the center board is not needed. You might use it to help stabilize the boat. If racing I would try to raise the center board to reduce the amount of wetted hull surface and perhaps squeeze a little more speed out of the boat. These are all trim decisions regarding the boat, the wind, waves, and skippers thinking.

As always it is your boat and you get to make all these decisions as you desire.
Good luck with this adventure.

 

[twodzusfittings]

@jssailem , thanks for your reply. Seems like there are not many CB 30 O'day owners, or the ones that do own them haven't needed to remove the CB.
I may be wrong however, I'm thinking the vessel won't need to be as high as when the CB is in the down position as it will be dropped while its in its horizontal position. (Thinking if it can be removed as in the video in this thread) . That's the reason for the question of how wide.
Instead of a string, (again as in the video), I'll use my one ton floor jack to lower it. A cradle made out of 2x4's on wheels would sit underneath. If indeed the CB alone is weighing in at 500lbs, it can be rolled out from underneath this way. Or if luck has it, I could just pick it up and put it on a work table to do any necessary repairs before painting.

I think I'm going to enjoy this season sailing and haul out next winter and do my all my exterior work over a few winter months.
Again, thanks

 

[jssailem]

I could just pick it up and put it on a work table to do any necessary repairs before painting.

Hope it helped. Just have the back brace ready if you plan to pick it up and it is 500lbs.

I captured this image of the boat with the CB. It may give you some ideas regarding how long the unit is. Once you get the boat up on the hard, take pictures. I'll be glad to throw my ideas in the mix regarding what the images show. From the image here taken from Sailboat Guide, I am guessing the pivot point is going to be somewhere near where the red dot is.

O'Day 30 — Sailboat Guide

O'Day 30 is a 29′ 11″ / 9.1 m monohull sailboat designed by Raymond Hunt (C.R. Hunt & Assoc.) and built by Bangor Punta Corp. and O'Day Corp. between 1977 and 1984.

sailboat.guide

 

[Golden Road]

As an owner of a 1982 30:
Board is solid laminated fiberglass, 65" long, 23" wide, weighs 108 lbs, 2 5/16" thick, but it is a tapered foil section. Philips head machine screws are threaded in to the solid glass on each side of forward slot. Do not use heat. They usually come out okay. If you replace be sure to use 316 marine grade stainless on any of that underwater hardware. Cleaning is done with stick and hand and sand paper, although a power washer might help initially. YOu could do a barrier coat if you want, and a non ablative is probably best up in the slot, its up to you. There is actually not much fouling up in the slot as there is no light. The pin is a massive solid nylon shaft and there is slop but there has to be for to clear possible debris. I use it when ever sailing to weather - boat sails well and tight on the wind, without the board it's crap. The keel bottom has to be 4 railroad ties up, but you may have to dig a trench somewhat to manuever the board better.

 

[twodzusfittings]

Wow, wow wow! This is great information. @ Golden Road. Thanks. Your pictures answer much of my concerns. And at 108lbs I think this old man and his son can lift it easily on to a couple of saw horses to work on it. Also I see you have the boat keel sitting on 4 9x9 blocks and the gap once the CB is laying on the ground is about 4 inches, that would answer my question on how high do I need to have the boat to safely remove the CB About 38"?
Again, thanks, thanks and thanks.

 

[twodzusfittings]

Today we have success. Center board freed but my boat isn't high enough to remove it. Next week the yard is supposed to re block the boat and give me enough space so I can remove it.

 

[twodzusfittings]

So here is a picture of how the board is at the moment. In addition, I am posting a second picture of the wedges and SS plates that hold the swivel pin in place. My question is, does it really need that much caulk on the wedges? Was this someone's attempt at overkill?

Wedge pic below

 

[twodzusfittings]

 

[twodzusfittings]

TOOL CREATION: Some folks call it a back scratcher, some even call it ugly! All I know is it is a long handled scraper to use inside the centerboard cavity area to clean the inner walls. Hey its time to get the work done with low cost tools.

 

[kappykaplan]

Necessity is the mother of invention!

 

[twodzusfittings]

I can get it down another 3 inches at the front, but still can't get it out. The Yard's equipment can't lift it any higher and the boat is blocked in with other boats, so the sling lift can't get to it. My plan is to sand, clean and paint the area I can get to, and finish the rest in the spring when the yard can get me into the sling.

 

[jssailem]

I like your plan. When you get the center board lifted back into the boat, and the sling raises you up, I bet you can just lower the CB and the area that needs touch up will be accessible below the boat.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

There is a steel plate inside the centerboard. If you do any fiberglass work on it, be sure to take measurements beforehand so it'll fit inside the trunk afterwards

You might be able to spray some bottom paint on the rudder and trunk if you don't want to wait for spring

To answer your question about the caulk, I found a similar amount on my 25. The adhesive had failed long ago. Perhaps it helps to keep them in place during installation and to keep things quiet while it's in the water?

Be sure to seal the screws well. From what I can tell, the screw holes lead right inside to keel. If water gets in there it could freeze and crack the keel in the winter

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Correction, those screw holes do in fact lead straight into the keel. I pulled my c/b for repairs when I first got my 25. While it was out, I came back to the yard to do some engine work. I forgot to hook up the fuel line and someone shouted that there was gas pouring out the bottom of the boat. As it turns out, a PO had screwed the bilge pump into the bilge without sealant. The gas got into the keel through there and made its way down and out through the centerboard screw holes. That same winter the keel formed a crack on the side. It was not a fun repair but it was made possible by the help of this forum (thank you again @jssailem !)