Hi Everyone, I know that some of you were wondering how I made out with the jammed centerboard on my 73 steel keel housing. Well it wasn't pretty I can tell you that. As you know after many days of tugging, prying and pulling the centerboard finally snapped in two peices. The pivot end was swollen tight and remained jammed, nothing could budge it. After several days and many-many blades I finally got it out by cutting along the sides with a sawsall. Naturally the cenerboard is trashed beyond repair and the steel housing is rusted to the point of being to thin to reinstall a stock replacement centerboard. *cry Now, some may see this perdicament as a very costly deal breaker, I mean the boat is thirty-five years old. Not me, I see it as a challenge dearing me to defeat it! Let's face it, this nightmare has wrangled my brain, beaten my body and basically driven me crazy for weeks. Actually it's been alot like my first wife, well if I could survive that ordeal this is a piece of cake! My plan is a for a strategic attack. I've hacked-away at the center of the steel housing with an air-chisel removing as much rust as possible. After much research, I found a company on the web that sells a product called Rust-Bullet that treats the rust and seals metal. I have cleaned, sealed and primed the housing and it's ready for bottom paint. As I can't reinstall a stock centerboard I've decided to make my own. This is going to be a challenge as it can be no thicker then one inch to fit freely in the housing. I'm kicking around several ideas on how to build the new C/B, but right now I'm taking a break from it and have moved on to the list of other things that the boat needs to be done. As I said, she is thirty-five years old, the list is pretty long and spring is upon us. I will give you all an update as soon as I have finagled a solution to the centerboard. Happy Sailing _ I'll be there soon!
