Center board cable snapped

[lancelot8602]

I have inherited a 19' Oday Mariner, she is in pretty good shape. My wife and I have been learning to sail with her this summer and have enjoyed ourselves immensely.

I noticed when we were leaving her this past weekend that the cable for the swing center board broke sometime during the cruise. She is moored right now and I understand that it's not best practice to leave her moored with the centerboard in the down position; However, I do not have a choice right now. I was wondering if anyone has some advice on replacing the cabling. I can get replacement parts OK, its replacing the cable while the yacht is in the water is the issue.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Joe11688]

You're going to have to pull it out

You're probably going to have to pull the boat out with a trailer to be able to get at it, unless you know someone with SCUBA gear that could unhook the cable underwater and hook the new one on. Getting the boat off the trailer isn't the easiest thing to do with a 22 foot keel centerboard sloop, but this should give you some idea of what is involved in doing it yourself.

 

[Joe11688]

I would call Rudy of D&R Marine

I would give Rudy a call first and order the centerboard pendant line from him. He has them in stock and He will be glad to answer any questions you may have regarding installation procedures. Centerboard pendant lines usually come with a special shackle with rigging pin for a cotter pin connection. I'm afraid that goggles aren't going to do it. You'll need to get it on dry land so that you can see what you're doing. If the old pendant line is still within grabbing distance of the centerboard slot, you may be able to tie a strong tag string to it while wearing goggles underwater, and be able to use it later to attach the new pendant line to it from underwater. Then, if you think that you can attach the shackle to the centerboard with goggles on, I say "go for it." Here's a picture of my centerboard pendant line shackle.

 

[Sunbird22358]

Best to haul out

Well, it would not be impossible to replace the CB cable with your MARINER in the water, I'm not sure that I'd want to do it unless the water was very clear, calm and warm. I have a series of photos taken by a Mariner owner when he removed his boat's CB to clean and paint the board, he also replaced the cable while he was at it. Unfortunately, no close ups of the actual cable attachment point. The cable is looped through a hole in the CB and a loop is made using what I assume to be 2 Nicro-Press sleeves. As I say, you could do it in the water, but I'd rather do it on land. It will require lifting the boat up enough to expose the hole in the CB, maybe 3-4' off the ground?
In the mean time, the way to raise the CB at least partly, is to bring the boat into a beach bow first. The CB will retract as you get into shallower water, then pass a strong dockline (CB weighs about 165#!)under boat (side to side) as you move the line aft from the bow it will slide under the CB. With the line tied tight, the CB will be held up. this will work temporarily, but I wouldn't want to leave the boat too long this way! Some, if not all MARINERs had a locking pin to hold the CB in the fully down position (not masny owners have used these I bet!) if your boat has a place for a pin, that will at least help to keep the CB from moving around too much if you leave it down. I don't have a Mariner, so I'm not sure where the pin would go. I presently have a 1979 DS II, but with occaisional attacks of "two-footitus", I've collected a lot of Mariner info! I've added a link to the Mariner Class Association, you should be able to get some advice there as well.

 

[lancelot8602]

Thanks

Thanks everyone for your input. I live in Maine so the water is a little cold but nothing I am not used to. Getting into shallow water is a great idea! I never thought of that. I think I will take an attempt fix the issue in water first, as I really do not want to re-launch the boat.

Anyone know what the CB pendant will run me?

 

[Joe11688]

Pendant line reply

You'll probably have to call Rudy and get a price on the pendant line. (508) 644-3001 It's very possible that he can make you up one with a braid line and shackle. The 1975 O'Day 25s had wire centerboard pendant lines mounted on a winch in the cabin on the table stanchion, and Rudy has been doing away with wire and going to braid line. I just looked on his site and he doesn't have anything posted on the Mariner centerboard pendant line, but that doesn't mean that he can't fix you up with something that will work. Good Luck!
Joe

 

[Ray T]

Centerboard Repair

One of the things I haven't seen mentioned here is to pull your boat into shallow water anchor it fore and aft then pull it over using a halyard. I did this in a slip to clean the bottom on two of my boats before a race. I also had a Oday 23 that I installed a knot meter transducer by doing this. I pulled the boat over, estimated the distance from the center line to the water, I then went inside and drilled the hole. It was about an inch above the water, perfect. I guess you have a lot of confidence and nerve when you are young. Ray T

 

[lancelot8602]

shallow water

Round Pound is connect to the ocean, so I will have to take the tide into affect. I will try it at low tide.

 

[Joe11688]

Using the halyard

Ray,
In some cases I think that you can probably get away with using the halyard to lay her over on her side, but one of my friends did that years ago with either his Widgeon or his Mariner at the insistence of his friend, and the mast bent right in half. It was kind of a costly decision. I think that if they can go underwater and just tie the cable for now and ride out the rest of the season I say, "go for it", but to do the job right, I'd get it on dry ground. I don't like doing things on my boat half butted.
Joe

 

[Sunbird22358]

165# CB

The Mariner has a wire CB pendant for a reason, the CB is cast iron and weighs about 165# so braided line is NOT a realistic option. The 25 has a fiberglass CB, as do most if not all of the O'DAY K/CB models, and it weighs maybe 30-50#.

 

[lancelot8602]

stainless

I am going to replace it will stainless cabling. Not sure about the gauge of cable yet though, I was thinking I would call up Stewart's Marine in Rock Port Maine and the OEM information.