centerboard line replacement

  • Thread starter Joe Stonebraker
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Joe Stonebraker

My boat is a 1977 25' O'Day. I dove to replace my original centerboard line only to find the original pin or screw ends securing the line to be epoxied over and unaccessable for removal. I am considering drilling a new hole just above the centerline of the old pin/ line for attachimg the new shackle. But,is the old, original pin easily removed and how?? I would to use the original hole, and not add another. I will appreciate comments from anyone with experience in this matter quickly
 
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Geof

Related Question/Problem

I will more than likely be under my '76 25 this weekend looking at the pennant that a rigger just added for me. I had a replacement from D&R but the rigger said the hole in the board was elongated from use so he eye-spliced on a pennant of his own making. The board now hangs when up and needs to be coaxed down by rocking the boat. I also get the quesy feeling that the board doesn't go all the way down because it only needs about 4 feet of pennant when fully down. Has anyone else suffered from using a shackle on an elongated hole in the centerboard? Anyway, you can get replacement pennants from D&R and they already have a shackle spliced onto them. They are reasonably priced too. Geof
 
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David Garrett

Had the same problem

I had to replace the same cable a few months ago. I took my O'Day 23 to Main Sail Marine here in SC. They drilled out the old connection, replaced the cable and re-epoxied over it. It looked brand new when they were done and charged me $50. My point is: I'd much rather do all the work on my boat myself. But to have something like that done for only $50 was well worth it when you consider what could have gone wrong.
 
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Don Evans

Design Constraints

Due to the narrow width at the top of the CB housing, you have to be careful what you use to attach the CB and how much sticks out beyond the CB width. The original used a narrow SS clip with a SS wire and ball end, which has proved to be the weak link in the pennent. I like the idea of getting away from SS in that location cause it's bound to fail again, so Geof's rigger's splice was a good idea IMHO. The problem is it was likely to wide a splice and is getting hung up at the top of the CB housing. I don't see a great problem with drilling a second hole through the edge of the board (drill oversize, fill with epoxy then drill corect size) but if you got the boat out and the board exposed for some work, why not re-epoxy the original hole and drill it out for the correct attachment? As far as the length of the pennent, let it out to the stopper knot then dive over for a look see. The board should be staight down. Dealing with this problem is a real PITA. If a yard is willing to handle it for $50 thats a great deal. Good luck. Don
 
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Geof Tillotson

I'll let you know how cold the water is...

in Hingham this weekend. I just dug out my old snorkling gear and I'm getting ready to go under. Geof
 
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Justin - O'day Owners' Web

Don't drill in the water

Joe - I think you mean to pull the boat to drill the new hole, in which case I agree with Don, why not repair the old hole and use the same mounting location. If you were considering drilling with the boat in the water don't do it. You do not want water in infiltrate the core of the blade. You really do need to do the drill oversize, fill with epoxy and thickener, and redrill routine. Justin - O'day Owners' Web
 
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R.W.Landau

a different situation

I put my "new to me" 78 O day 25 in the water Friday. I backed the trailer down the ramp and tried to pull the boat off the trailer. The center board pennant was broken prior to the old owner putting the boat on the trailer. The center board dropped between the axles and wouldn't let the boat off the trailer. With the center board down in the axles I could not pull the boat back on the trailer. I ended up putting a rope from winch to winch and pulling the center board up enough to get it off the trailer. I went diving this afternoon to see the problem. The shackle was still connected to the rudder. They had used a galv. shackle to connect the original shackle to the swagged cable end. The shackel rusted out and the swagged end is jammed in the pennant tube. I am going to try to push it out with a #6 or a #4 copper uninsulated wire down the tube to dislodge the swagged fitting next weekend. I plan to replace the cable rope pennant with a 1/4" polyester double braided pennant. Don, You said there is not much room. I am planning on connecting the original shackel to the thimble on the pennant with a 3/4 x 3/4 stainless shackle. The thimble on the pennant is about 1" long by 3/4 wide by 1/4 thick. Do you think the is enought room in the pocket at the end of the tube? I don't know if I can get the original shackle loose to connect directly. I think that is why the previous owner used a shackle.( his was about 1 1/4 " round shackle) r.w.landau
 
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Don Evans

R.W...

Sorry to hear of your CB woes, but consider yourself christened. Your now part of the OD25 club...8^) I think your choice in shackle is about right. The width of the slot is about that by my recollection. The 1 1/4 was too wide at the top end, and I bet the original owner new this and never had the pennent pulled up too tight for fear of jamming it. You should be able to extract it by your method. Obviously buy the best quality SS shackle you can, and you should be good for another 10 years. Let us know how you make out with it. Good luck. Don
 
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R.W.Landau

Thanks Don

It is nice to have her floating. Enjoyed one good sail this weekend. Yea, the pennant is a minor problem. It's nice to be in the club! r.w.
 
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Joe Stonebraker

Thanks for the comments

Thanks to everyone for the responses to my C/B problem. All had very good advice. I dove one more time to further examine the situation, and found several barnacles (of course) up in the centerboard trunk. From that, I concluded use of anything other than a SS wire rope would be short lived, and quite quickly abraded to early failure, at least in salt water. Hopefully, D&R will allow me to return the pendant I had purchased from them. I intend to source a halyard with a ball end swaged to the wire rope end. Hopefully, D&R can make this for me. I am making a yoke that will secure the ball end. The yoke will pivot or rotate, keeping the rope end vertical to prevent bending of the wires as the C/B travels thru it's arc when raised or lowered. The original design caused the wire to bend and flex where it entered the C/B, and of course, fatiqued the wire strands to failure. I believe this is the root cause for the failure, as the old wire rope separated at the point where it entered the C/B. The remainder of the wire rope was in very good shape. At any rate, I will report on how this modification works out, and what I encounter during the repair. I really appreciate your comments and am gratefull to have discovered this excellent website. Would like to here from Geof on how cold the water was and what you found under there.
 
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