Today was "launch" day. Great. All smiles despite the rain. My centerboard won't drop on my '76 O'Day 25. The line down through the cockpit just sits there waiting...any ideas? Will it sail ok (lots of leeway) without it?
Centerboard problem
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T
Teepee
Caution --
Do not leave your CB untied if you go out sailing. Tie it off with a foot of slack. If you are out sailing and the board should drop, and you have not tied it off, the CB will fall completely down and slam into the trunk and maybe damage the pin holding area and/or the trunk. I'm sure you don't want that. Well have a good day!! Tom
Do not leave your CB untied if you go out sailing. Tie it off with a foot of slack. If you are out sailing and the board should drop, and you have not tied it off, the CB will fall completely down and slam into the trunk and maybe damage the pin holding area and/or the trunk. I'm sure you don't want that. Well have a good day!! Tom
THanks for the response. It may be that prior owners have typically let it "drop" into place. My concern is that there may be some delam somewhere causing it to stick in the keel bunker....can it sailed on a reach with the CB up? Obviously I'm going to need to pull it to inspect...
M
Mel
Junk in your (CB) trunk
When you haul out, check to see if anything's caught up in your CB trunk. By the end of last season, we had an entire mussel colony up there which prevented our board from dropping. I just ran a hand saw back and forth along the length of the trunk opening to clear the blockage. Make sure your board's tied off in its upright position though... once I cleared the obstruction, mine fell and the cable snapped (I'm almost certain it was about to break anyway, but still worth watching out for). Our 23' sails okay without the board down, but she does make more leeway.
When you haul out, check to see if anything's caught up in your CB trunk. By the end of last season, we had an entire mussel colony up there which prevented our board from dropping. I just ran a hand saw back and forth along the length of the trunk opening to clear the blockage. Make sure your board's tied off in its upright position though... once I cleared the obstruction, mine fell and the cable snapped (I'm almost certain it was about to break anyway, but still worth watching out for). Our 23' sails okay without the board down, but she does make more leeway.
Great information and thanks. Yes it is stuck so I probably can't really sail it until it's fixed...it looks pretty inviting since I just put it in the slip...but I'd better be careful w/o the CB. The line the lets it down looks kind of rough so I might as well be prepared to replace some stuff... thanks
S
Scott
try pushing?
I have a 1978 O'Day 23 and have had the centerboard stick several times. Usually, I would cleat it off as Teepee suggested and it would drop while sailing or a choppy day on the mooring. Not this time. The yard pulled it up hard before launch and it wouldn't drop. I purchased a thin metal rod (1/8" or so) from the hardware store and was able to push the board free from the top today. I removed the plastic cap that the CB pennent goes down through from the cockpit and slid the rod down the tube. A good solid push and the CB dropped (I had it cleated with 6" of slack). I've heard (on this forum, I think) that at least some O'Day's have a plastic tube that can be punctured with this method. (Hey! I actually contributed something instead of always asking for help!)
I have a 1978 O'Day 23 and have had the centerboard stick several times. Usually, I would cleat it off as Teepee suggested and it would drop while sailing or a choppy day on the mooring. Not this time. The yard pulled it up hard before launch and it wouldn't drop. I purchased a thin metal rod (1/8" or so) from the hardware store and was able to push the board free from the top today. I removed the plastic cap that the CB pennent goes down through from the cockpit and slid the rod down the tube. A good solid push and the CB dropped (I had it cleated with 6" of slack). I've heard (on this forum, I think) that at least some O'Day's have a plastic tube that can be punctured with this method. (Hey! I actually contributed something instead of always asking for help!)
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