Centerboard parts

[agprice22]

I just finished reading an excellent post documenting the replacement and repair of the pendant, centerboard, pin, and wedges. Now I have some questions:

Wouldn't this pendant catch a lot of weeds, fishing lures, sticks, etc? Perhaps a stainless steel cable would catch a lot too, but at least fewer things would stick and hook into it.

Also, doesn't the rope pendant need to be replaced often?

How often do you replace the pendant, nylon pin, wedges, etc?

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[jepomer]

The pendant is on the trailing edge of the centerboard. Not much of it extends below outside of the centerboard housing. So it really does not catch any of the things that are in the water.

Replacement frequency? Most will do it when it breaks. If the line begins to look worn, I would change it when I do a yearly inspection. You do inspect your boat in detail each season before putting it back in the water, don't you? (Much more effective action than making offerings to Neptune.)

If the boat stays in the water for long periods of time, sea life may grow on it. It would be equally important to get antifouling paint up into the centerboard housing. I trailer sail my O'Day so I don't need to worry about things growing on it.

 

[HukilauMike]

I have been sailing my Oday 23 for about 12 or 13 years now, and nothing has ever caught on the pendent line. And believe me, you do not want to use a stainless cable. The days of needing to use stainless cable for halyards or centerboard pendents (at least pendents on boats like ours where the centerboard is quite light) are long gone. It used to be necessary as a rope halyard or pendent would stretch so much that it would require constant retensioning. But with modern line materials, you can buy a piece of line that will never corrode, is so much easier on your hands, and is maintenance free. And if you have to hand adjust your pendent (like on my boat; there is no crank or winch), you really don't want a stainless cable; that would mean that you would need one of those heinous rope-to-wire splices. Just another thing to inspect and maintain (not to mention possibly get stuck in the narrow tubing it has to navigate).

I have replaced the pendent line on my boat a grand total of once in the many years I have owned it. And that was because the cotter pin on the clevis pin failed, and I lost the shackle. As long as I was replacing the shackle, I figured I might as well replace the line too; it didn't really need it, but I did so anyway. And I have never replaced the wedges, pivot pin or any other part of my centerboard. No problems and no need to. I would only think about doing so if my centerboard became wobbly or otherwise presented a problem. The wedges and pivot pin are made of delrin plastic, and will undoubtedly outlast me on this planet.

Rudy at D&R Marine sells a direct replacement pendent/shackle combo for your boat, as well as all of the centerboard replacement parts you could ever want.

http://drmarine.com/products.asp?cat=154