No centerboard rope, 222, what do I do, the boat is already in the water?

[Carloswen]

Hi everyone!

To all those who know, I am in Portsmouth ,Ri, and my boat is already in the water, and the centerboard rope is no longer attached to the centerboard. Can I reattach rope without taking the boat out of the water? Can I sail this season,1984/222, with the board down, and scrape it this fall when I take it out? Any suggestions as to the best way to reattach board? And finally is there anyway of checking the pin on the centerboard, except that it works, or doesn't work? And I do not have a trailer, so it means paying to use a crane.

Carl

 

[Joe11688]

Hi everyone!

To all those who know, I am in Portsmouth ,Ri, and my boat is already in the water, and the centerboard rope is no longer attached to the centerboard. Can I reattach rope without taking the boat out of the water? Can I sail this season,1984/222, with the board down, and scrape it this fall when I take it out? Any suggestions as to the best way to reattach board? And finally is there anyway of checking the pin on the centerboard, except that it works, or doesn't work? And I do not have a trailer, so it means paying to use a crane.

Carl

Carl,
My hat is off to you for the info that you have supplied in your post. First off,--I wouldn't leave the board down all summer. Your pin will wear for sure with the boat just sitting at the mooring or slip, not to mention the probability of your board getting damaged if you happen to run aground somewhere. Do you have any friends with SCUBA gear who can go down and connect up a new line for you? Where you are located in Portsmouth RI, you're not too far from Rudy at D & R Marine in Assonett Ma. http://www.drmarine.com/
Just take Exit 10 off Route 24 North to Assonet and take a right on to Water Street. He's right next door to the Assonet Inn. Call him first, though. Are you up to swimming under your keel and taking a peek at the board to see what you may need? This is something that I would do myself. I don't think that I could hold my breath long enough to connect it back on. If your centerboard pendant line is in good condition, and the rigging pin is missing from the shackle, a diver can get you back in business. On the other hand, if your centerboard is damaged you may need to have it lifted, or have the diver push the board back up and hammer a soft wooden wedge between the board and the centerboard slot to keep it in place, and use the boat without the board for the rest of the season. A friend of mine in Ohio discovered that the board in his O'Day 222 was broken, so he had it pulled out with a crane to remove the board, and placed back in the water without it. He sailed the boat the rest of the season on Lake Erie and the board stayed down his cellar next to his boiler to dry out until he was able to make the repair himself. So in short, you really don't know what you're going to find until you go down there and take a peek at it.
A couple of months ago when I was bottom painting my hull in my yard, I had the boat positioned so that the keel was exposed and I could let the centerboard down. It's a good thing I checked the centerboard pendant line shackle pin. Half the cotter pin was broken on the rigging pin. The pendant line and shackle looked good, so I replaced the stainless steel cotter pin with a new one. Here's some pics of it. Note that there is a single sheave up in the top of the keel slot that the line goes through.

I hope that I was able to give you a few good ideas and choices. The best of luck!
Joe

 

[Carloswen]

Thank you Joe,

Carl

 

[LordNelson]

i have reattached my oday 20 with a mast and snorkel. a small tank would make it easier. make sure it is a dead calm on a slow boating day so you don't get hit in the head with the hull as it rolls in a wave.

my oday does not want to come about with the center board up so i would want it repaired.

 

[Joe11688]

The O'Day 222s will tack very well with just the Mainsail up and without the centerboard down. They just won't point up as high going to weather with the board up. It's really not that hard to live with for the summer unless he's into racing. Myself, I'm kind of a lazy bum who likes to hang out on my boat in a quiet cove than to sail in the hot summer sun. What do they say, "Different strokes for different folks?" This is what happens when you reach "Geezerdom."
Joe

 

[OdayDave]

Carl -

I have a friend who has done this in the water. He just tied a knot rather than attach a shackle. Joe's point is well taken. You would not want to leave the CB in the down position all summer long. Note you can loop a rope or a strap below the keel and use that to pull the CB up into its keel trunk before loading onto a trailer. I think that hiring a diver is the easiest thing to do. You may be able to use the remaining line as a messenger line to pull the new pendant line through the tube.

Good luck,

Dave
O'Day 222

 

[48dodge]

If you have access to compressed air, you may be able to blow a messenger line through the tube. It'd probably take a pretty high volume of air to push the line through that last little bit of water, though. Electricians fishing wire can also be used. Feed it through, then dive under the boat and attach a line to it and pull it through. I'd probably do one of the mentioned temporary fixes unless you have access to a scuba tank.

 

[Joe11688]

Carl,
Which ever way you try to fish a line through the centerboard pendant line pipe, just be aware that there is a single sheave at the end of the pipe enclosed in a small space. The pendant line needs to go through this sheave. You can see the sheave in one of the pics that I posted.