hello fellow oday owners i have been reading some old posts on this site reguarding stuck c/b and one of the ways to go about fixing the problem was to stick a rod down the tube to free it up however they warned of pokeing a hole through the tube and causeing a leak, can this happen on every modle or only on certain ones & if it does leak how do you go about fixing it, i have a 72 o23 with a broken cable that needs to be replaced and i would like to know more about these tubes before i get my self into trouble. thanks again ron.
o23centerboard cable
- Thread starter SEACOW
- Start date
- Status
Ron,
If you checked through the archives, you probably ran across some posts by BaySailorBill and the problems that he ran into with the stuck centerboard on his 1973 O'Day 23. The O'Day factories built these boats with cast iron keels right up to that very year so I've been told, and after 1974 they started using lead for the keels on these boats. The cast iron would rust and the fiberglass centerboard would get stuck up inside the keel slot. The best way to get at the board is from underneath the keel. I'm not sure of how Bill removed the rust from his keel, but I do know that he painted it with some kind of a resin. He broke the centerboard in half, just trying to get it out of the keel slot and wound up making a new centerboard for his boat. When he finally finished working on this boat, it came out looking beautiful.
http://baysailorbill.spaces.live.com/ With that said, if you're not up to tackling a project of this nature, your boat will sail just as well without the centerboard, and it's still a great boat to own. One of my friends had an OD 23 with the same issue, and he loved this boat. I loved the interior of his boat and kind of wished my 222 had something similar to it. Here's a picture of my 222 in my yard with the keel exposed. I had to do this to remove my centerboard and bottom paint it. I hope that I was able to help out in some way. Good Luck!
Joe
Attachments
Hereford: I wrote a number of posts here outlining how I usually free up my O23 stuck centerboard with a metal rod. However, I was referring to my '79 Oday 23, which has a completely different configuration than your '73. The later models of the Oday 23 (the Mark II version) control the centerboard with a pendent that runs up through the keel, under the cabin steps and out into the cockpit, where it comes out through a hole in the bridge deck. There are no cranks or other mechanical devices; the pendent is controlled just by hand. When adjusted up or down to your liking, the pendent line is simply cleated off on the bridge deck. When usticking my centerboard, it is a simple matter to push a three foot long 1/4" metal rod through the bridge deck hole down past the pendent line until it touches the stuck board; apply the appropriate amount of pressure, and the board is free. I believe the fear of puncturing the pendent line conduit comes about when that conduit is made of flexible hose. On my 23, it appears to be made of some solid material, so I am not that concerned about a puncture, especially because I am very careful when putting the rod into the conduit. I do remember reading about someone who did puncture his conduit, although I think he had an Oday 25, not a 23. It can't be a simple fix as the conduit is relatively inaccessable. I would guess you would need to haul the boat to fix something like that.
However, on the older models of the Oday 23, the pendent line is lead into the cabin through the support post for the table, where it is controlled by a crank. I have never taken one apart, but I bet you can remove the table top, exposing the interior of the support post. It should be a straight shot down to the centerboard, with no flexible hose to worry about. A metal rod should theoretically work for you too. However, keep in mind that you can't really exert that much force with one of these skinny little rods; certainly not enough to free up the board if it is rusted to the keel. The method works fine if you have some barnacle encrustation or a stuck shackle, but I have grave doubts that it can do much good if you have a big problem. I would be more concerned that you could damage the centerboard by forcing the rod down onto its edge if the board is really stuck.
However, on the older models of the Oday 23, the pendent line is lead into the cabin through the support post for the table, where it is controlled by a crank. I have never taken one apart, but I bet you can remove the table top, exposing the interior of the support post. It should be a straight shot down to the centerboard, with no flexible hose to worry about. A metal rod should theoretically work for you too. However, keep in mind that you can't really exert that much force with one of these skinny little rods; certainly not enough to free up the board if it is rusted to the keel. The method works fine if you have some barnacle encrustation or a stuck shackle, but I have grave doubts that it can do much good if you have a big problem. I would be more concerned that you could damage the centerboard by forcing the rod down onto its edge if the board is really stuck.
I'm glad that you cleared that up Mike. I'm afraid that the problem that he has can only be attacked from under the keel of his boat. I think that your solution works pretty well for your particular centerboard set up where your keel is made of lead, only because your fiberglass board my have shell growth on it at times, which can cause it to get stuck occasionally. On the other hand, his fiberglass centerboard is probably stuck up inside the cast iron keel slot which is probably caked up with rust, and no amount of freeing from inside of the cabin is going to free it. It may be possible for him to remove his centerboard and sandblast the inside slot of the keel and use a special paint on it that will prevent a recurrence of this problem. Just how long it would last is anyone's guess.
Joe
Joe
hukiluamike&trinkadink
hey guys just wanted to thank you both for the great info you gave me on my o23 cable your know how just made my job easier after reading your replies and takeing a closer look. ron
hey guys just wanted to thank you both for the great info you gave me on my o23 cable your know how just made my job easier after reading your replies and takeing a closer look. ron
thanks for the update. Its nice to know that we were helpful. Let us all know how it comes out.
Joe, How high do you need to get your 222 off the traiker to do the center board. Mine needs to be painted desperately and I need to check the pendant before it breaks. I already did that on a catalina 22 and almost sank the boat.
Peter,
The first time that I ever painted my board and part of the keel slot a few years ago, I took the boat completely off the trailer and put it on boat stands. I used timber to support the hull, and dug a hole under the keel so that I could let the board down. To really do the job right though, you need to remove the centerboard from the keel slot. I don't know if you want to do that. It's not a very hard job provided that you can remove the four bolts that hold the plates on. I had to use a nut driver. Are you taking your boat completely off the trailer, or just part of the way off? If half way off, you may need to dig a hole. I wrote down the height and can't seem to find it now, but figure it this way; The centerboard is 44 3/4" X 12" wide and the pendant line shackle is attached to the board at a small hole located 3 3/4" from the bottom, and 1 3/4" in from the trailing edge. Digging a hole under the keel isn't the greatest way to do this job Peter. Do you have any sailboat stands. You need some like Brownell's sells, like the SB-3 stands. These stands will lift your boat right up, but you need to keep building up under the keel with blocks criss crossed, two at a time until you reach the desired height. Once you attain that height, you need to use more blocks set up the same way under her stern, and under the bow, just in front of her keel. Once you have the desired height, you raise the hull with the stands just enough to remove the keel blocks, and lower the hull down on the new shoring blocks to take all the weight off the stands. Chain all the stands together, and of course use a padding between the hull and the blocks like indoor/outdoor carpet. Email me if you like and I'll send you some pics. As it is, I'm not sure how you are going to do this. If you're going to remove the boat half way off the trailer, you're limited on the height that you can get it. On the other hand though,(four thumbs and a finger) if you can put the boat on stands, you can get it much higher. It's dangerous and I think that you know that, but you've done this before and I think that you know enough about the weight distribution of your boat to be able to pull it off safely. Let me put it this way; if you had your O'Day 222 sitting up high on the stands with blocks supporting the boat under her keel, you could prop about 8 2X4's or 2X6's under the gunwales to the ground, and remove all the boat stands, and that boat will sit there and not tip over. I did it a few years ago when I painter the bottom. I shored under the bow eye a little just as an extra precaution. As long as something is hold the weight of the boat, it's OK. Here's some pics of it. The last picture will give you some idea of how high I had the boat to get at the centerboard.
Joe
Attachments
- Status