ouch, but not too terrible to correct
Michael, Sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope that you have been enjoying the boat up to this episode. This shouldn't be too bad to repair, though you might want to do it on the trailer instead of on the beach. Your cable attaches to the centerboard in one of two ways. Either there is a fork shaped fitting at the end of the cable the sits over the trailing edge with a pin running through it and through the board, or you have a ball fitting on the end of the cable that is epoxied into the board. You would recognize this second type because the wire will appear to come right out of it. In the first case, all you need to do is remove the pin and take the remants of the cable out and replace it with a fresh one. In the second, you will have to gouge out the old one, and epoxy in a new one. Not hard to do but you'll want to be on land. I would call Stuart Marine in Rockport (Maine for those of you in the other 49) and see if they can send you a replacement unit off the shelf. If not, any rigging shop should be able to set you up if you bring the parts to them so they can match the old stuff. So, how's the boat coming? Is your wife more comfortable with the heeling? When are you going to tow it down here and take me out on it? In any event, good luck with it. Justin - O'day Owner's Web
