centerboard pendant repair

[Rob]

I have 75 O'Day 23 which had a stuck centerboard that came free and now the pendant has pulled the shackle free from the ceterboard. I was backing into my slip and did not know the c.b. was down. This is at least what I could surmise in the murky water when I was in freeing the c.b. from the mud, I felt a small missing chunk from the trailing edge of the c.b. and no pendant. I have not pulled out the c.b. winch, but it sounds and feels like the pendant is spinning around inside the winch. Is this something I can repair in the water, or best done on the hard? The only convenient way I have of getting the boat hauled requires me to use the yard for repair and I am wondering if I should order a pendant or can a yard make one?

 

[Brian]

Centerboard repair

Ouch! Unfortunately, the best way to make this repair is on the dry. By the sound of your discription, the centerboard will need some repair and that needs to be done on the dry. No need to order parts until you know what you will need, unless you just want the spares. From your discription, it sounds if you have a mast that steps through the deck. I know all of the early pop top's had this system. I have never seen a later pop top with this kind of mast step. If this is the case, to step it will be quite honestly a bear of a job. If one is available, a crane makes the operation much easier.

 

[Rob]

Thanks for the input

You confirmed what I thought from reading in the archives, but I was hoping I might be wrong, or there was some simple fix I had'nt considered. The strange part about the c.b. was that I had to dive under the boat to get it to come down but after the pendant broke I had to wedge it get it to stay up. I guess it needed attention anyway.I'll check the mast further, it does'nt appear to go through the deck, but is butted against the deck with no hinge plate.

 

[Keith]

Time to remove the centerboard

I agree that this work needs to be done in the dry.I have a 73 Convertible ODay, which sounds like yours. The early pop-top actually raises the entire cabin roof around a keel-stepped mast. The later version was called a convertible, and only the cabin roof behind the mast raises up. The mast is stepped on the fixed forward cabin roof with a 2 pin tabernacle. You can lower the mast by removing one pin and hinging the mast to the deck. This must be done under control with care to the shrouds...there is info in the archives about mast removal as done regularly by those who are trailer-sailors with this boat.I also had CB damage when the old pendant broke and the lowered CB twisted in the mud while on a mooring in a lunar extra low tide. Mine was significant enough to require a new CB. The older CBs are installed with a 1" stainless steel drift pin right through the stub keel. The later CBs are installed with wedges and bolts. Yours is right at the age it could be either. The pendant attaches to the CB with a shackle pinned through a hole in the CB trailing edge. A good pendant arrangement is a 1/4" SS soft braided wire with a narrow deep throat shackle to attach. Narrow so it easily slides in and out of the CB slot.I got all of the parts from Rudy at D&R. I needed the boat out of the water and on stands to remove/reinstall the CB and feed in the new pendant. Good luck.

 

[Rob]

mast stepping

I have the boat in a boatyard to have the centerboard repaired and some interior fiberglass work done. The boat is an hour away and I only have weekends to work on it, so I decided to let the boatyard do the centerboard repair etc. to get it done more quickly than I would. I would like to work on some other projects on the boat while this is being done. The boat will be on blocks this weekend during which time I can do some other work. One project is getting my anchor light working and I need to lower the mast. The archives mention a tabernacle or hinge involved in the stepping process. My mast is not keel stepped, but does not have a tabernacle or hinge of any kind, just the base of the mast butted against the top of the cabin. Inside on the cabin roof is a bolt right next to the compression post which I assume is a bolt from the mast? I do'nt know if this is original or something that was changed during the course of the boats life. The top of the cabin under the base of the mast does'nt show any evidence of a hinge plate having been there in the past. I welcome any insites to this mystery.