We have a 1986 O'Day 222, which has been sitting on stands in the yard for the past three years since it was purchased very cheaply after sinking on it's mooring (that was the previous owner's headache). We had to spend a bit of time diagnosing and repairing the apparent cause of the sinking--the boat took on massive amounts of rain water while on dry land ... turns out the hose from the self-bailing cockpit was leaking into the interior of the boat. Once that was replaced, the boat has been completely dry. Otherwise, the boat is in very good shape, and we feel that we are ready to put her in the water. We are having problems with the centerboard, however. While bottom painting the boat, we lowered the centerboard as far as the blocking would allow, and found that it was VERY difficult to raise the centerboard. I am no 90 pound weakling, and I was unable to pull the centerboard back up into the trunk without my partner pushing from below. And, after trying to free things up a bit by moving the board up and down a few times, we discovered a new crack in the fiberglass in the bilge area where the CB pendant passes aft from the block at the top of the CB trunk and into the metal tube that leads it up to the cockpit. It is our feeling that this crack developed because of the excessive pressure that we applied to the pendant while trying to pull the centerboard up. Does this sound plausible? How difficult is it generally to pull up the centerboard on one of these boats? I am a little surprised that there is no winch or other means of mechanical advantage on a boat of this size. Are we missing something? If this is not normal, would replacing the centerboard pendant likely help? We are also considering, given the timing of getting our boat into the water, just repairing the crack and not using the centerboard at all for now. We will be sailing on Pleasant Bay, Cape Cod, which is quite protected and shallow, albeit salt water. We are also have not done much sailing for some time, so will be doing a lot of "re-learning." How much stability and ability to point up would we lose if we did not use the centerboard? Sorry this is so long. TIA for any thoughts/input!
Help! Centerboard problem
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222 centerboard
the centerboard on my 222 moves freely, there is not alot of force needed to raise and lower it. the previous owner told he he used to sail most of the time with the centerboard up. my experiences has been that she does not point well with the board up. if you replaced the hose for the bailer i would suggest replacing the thruhull also as that is where mine was leaking. mine was dry and brittle.
the centerboard on my 222 moves freely, there is not alot of force needed to raise and lower it. the previous owner told he he used to sail most of the time with the centerboard up. my experiences has been that she does not point well with the board up. if you replaced the hose for the bailer i would suggest replacing the thruhull also as that is where mine was leaking. mine was dry and brittle.
Thanks ...
... for the useful information, Larry. It's good to know that the CB should raise with less effort. I guess this will be our next "fix-it" project ... Thanks again!
... for the useful information, Larry. It's good to know that the CB should raise with less effort. I guess this will be our next "fix-it" project ... Thanks again!
222 CB Problems
Our 1984 222 had centerboard (CB) problems for a couple years before we did a short haul to check it out. The first season we sailed with CB stuck and you can sail OK but going up wind is most difficult and you will "slip" sideways on broad reaches. Our CB developed cracks at some point and absorbed water and then swelled. When boat was stored on land some water stayed in CB, froze, expanded(thus was stuck up) then came apart at its seams. We had to completely remove CB from 222, epoxy damaged areas and reinstall. It was a long process and I knew how to use epoxy but the CB worked great after that. You will probably also find lots of marine growth insde CB trunk that will contribute to its getting stuck. Otherwise CB should move up and down easily. I doubt that your pulling on the pendant caused the crackingt that you mentioned. Also there id s pulley that supports the CB (and pendant) up in the CB trunk, you should probably replace that too as it is most likely not working well(rusty,etc). Any questions feel free to call me 203 222-1936 Larry
Our 1984 222 had centerboard (CB) problems for a couple years before we did a short haul to check it out. The first season we sailed with CB stuck and you can sail OK but going up wind is most difficult and you will "slip" sideways on broad reaches. Our CB developed cracks at some point and absorbed water and then swelled. When boat was stored on land some water stayed in CB, froze, expanded(thus was stuck up) then came apart at its seams. We had to completely remove CB from 222, epoxy damaged areas and reinstall. It was a long process and I knew how to use epoxy but the CB worked great after that. You will probably also find lots of marine growth insde CB trunk that will contribute to its getting stuck. Otherwise CB should move up and down easily. I doubt that your pulling on the pendant caused the crackingt that you mentioned. Also there id s pulley that supports the CB (and pendant) up in the CB trunk, you should probably replace that too as it is most likely not working well(rusty,etc). Any questions feel free to call me 203 222-1936 Larry
Pendant and pulley
Thanks for the additional information, Larry. Well, yesterday we patched the crack in the bilge area (we haven't named the boat yet, but we don't want to call it "Das Boot") and will probably try sailing it for now without the centerboard. The boat was scheduled to be picked up by boatyard and floated this week, and we're eager to start enjoying it. We'll probably order a new pulley and pendant and either have the boat hauled briefly later in the summer so we can work on it, or just wait for the fall and struggle through without the centerboard for this year. I think I read about your CB problems in archived posts. I think our problem is different, as the board moves freely up and down, as long as you are under the boat pushing. It just can't be raised with the pendant, although the pendant seems to move freely with the board as long as someone else is doing the work. And, believe me, I really hauled on the sucker, so I do think it's possible that was the cause of the crack. We also replaced the radiator-like tubing on either end of the metal tube that encloses the pendant as it runs through the cabin, as it was very old and cracked looking, and we were afraid it might leak as the lower end is below the water line. That was a real bear to remove, so it's possible that area was cracked during that manipulation. Our attitude is it's better to have these problems now, on dry land, than while we're out sailing ... Thanks for the offer of help. We might take you up on it!
Thanks for the additional information, Larry. Well, yesterday we patched the crack in the bilge area (we haven't named the boat yet, but we don't want to call it "Das Boot") and will probably try sailing it for now without the centerboard. The boat was scheduled to be picked up by boatyard and floated this week, and we're eager to start enjoying it. We'll probably order a new pulley and pendant and either have the boat hauled briefly later in the summer so we can work on it, or just wait for the fall and struggle through without the centerboard for this year. I think I read about your CB problems in archived posts. I think our problem is different, as the board moves freely up and down, as long as you are under the boat pushing. It just can't be raised with the pendant, although the pendant seems to move freely with the board as long as someone else is doing the work. And, believe me, I really hauled on the sucker, so I do think it's possible that was the cause of the crack. We also replaced the radiator-like tubing on either end of the metal tube that encloses the pendant as it runs through the cabin, as it was very old and cracked looking, and we were afraid it might leak as the lower end is below the water line. That was a real bear to remove, so it's possible that area was cracked during that manipulation. Our attitude is it's better to have these problems now, on dry land, than while we're out sailing ... Thanks for the offer of help. We might take you up on it!
Centerboard
Jill, I have the opposite problem. I just got my bottom painted and the centerboard is stuck in the retracted position. I can't lower it. I was told I could sail without the centerboard but am not sure I buy that. I you could would you please let me know what you learn about sailing without the centerboard. Thanks, Nancie
Jill, I have the opposite problem. I just got my bottom painted and the centerboard is stuck in the retracted position. I can't lower it. I was told I could sail without the centerboard but am not sure I buy that. I you could would you please let me know what you learn about sailing without the centerboard. Thanks, Nancie
Not so bad ...
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their responses. We finally did sail the boat for the first time this past weekend, and did OK without using the centerboard. As was suggested, we could not point up as high, and did experience some side slipping, but we had a nice time anyway. We hadn't sailed in 15 years, so our performance objectives were not very ambitious. The only unexpected issue (and it may not even be related to the cb) was we did have some difficulty coming about all the way when tacking (steady, 10 knot wind). I got stuck in irons a couple of times, and had to fall back off and try again. I then realized that I had to push the rudder over quite forcefully, to help push the rear of the boat around in order to successfully tack. Once I figured this out, I didn't have any more trouble. Jill
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their responses. We finally did sail the boat for the first time this past weekend, and did OK without using the centerboard. As was suggested, we could not point up as high, and did experience some side slipping, but we had a nice time anyway. We hadn't sailed in 15 years, so our performance objectives were not very ambitious. The only unexpected issue (and it may not even be related to the cb) was we did have some difficulty coming about all the way when tacking (steady, 10 knot wind). I got stuck in irons a couple of times, and had to fall back off and try again. I then realized that I had to push the rudder over quite forcefully, to help push the rear of the boat around in order to successfully tack. Once I figured this out, I didn't have any more trouble. Jill
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