How do I remove the centerboard on H23?

[Larry Woodward]

I have just aquired an '85 H23 with shoal keel and rear swing centerboard. From the archives I see these boats are notorious for the centerboard getting stuck. Mine is. I want to remove the board and see if I can make it workable again. Has anyone done this, especially while on the trailer? I am hesitant to just lean on the pivot bolt through the keel. It looks like it may be easily broken off. Any advise?Larry Woodwardlwoodwar@dccc.edu

 

[steve]

Its a Pin

I was looking at mine and I beleive it is a pin that is holding the centerboard. If you drive it out you should be able to remove the centerboard. Remember that there are two ropes attached to the board good luck.

 

[William Berson]

i've done it.

I did it a few years ago on my 23.5. It's very possible, but you must be VERY careful. Parking the boat/trailer and blocking everything carefully, I was able to use a small hyraulic cylinder jack to get a few extra inches to enable the centerboard to come out. Getting it back in was much trickier however. We put the whole boat on a hoist, but lining up the screw and the centerboard bracket was impossible - so I went the local auto parts store and got a 2 foot length of threaded rod, same thread as the bolt. then it went in easily. I found that the nylon? bearing of the board was damaged.which caused the board to bind. Had a replacement made - easily retrofitted.