Well, after reading all of your excellent advice and vowing to be careful with the pump to avoid the dreaded keel cable break, I pulled my new 216 out of the water today to put the registration numbers on. An experienced sailor was helping me re-launch the boat, and he felt that the keel was too far down and preventing the boat from floating off the trailer. He gave a GENTLE pump and as we backed a little farther down the ramp and the boat started to float off the trailer, there is a resounding "crack" as the cable breaks and the keel plants itself in the mud. Well, some guys led a line to a wench on a moored boat nearby and with the wench and the motor we got the boat out of the mud. The cable broke just forward of the metal fitting that secures the cable eye. There is lots of frayed cable left to splice or otherwise attach a fitting to hold the cable up long enough to get the boat on the trailer and do a proper repair. I could even hook some of Mr. Ernie's Spectra line to the cable eye at the keel and pump it up.(Have you tried that yet, Mr. Ernie? What kind of knot would one use to lift a 500 lb. block of lead?) Has anyone repaired a cable with the boat in the water? I guess one good thing is I can still sail, and some of the best sailing around here is coming up. I just have a fixed keel boat for awhile. Nonetheless, I feel some urgency about getting it fixed. I will contact my dealer this week, but have those of you who have dealt with this problem just called Hunter and ordered a new cable? I do feel a bit foolish knowing how easy this was to do, being on guard for it, and doing it anyway. I have been enjoying the boat but for a variety of reasons have not really had a good sail on it yet - just short, get the feel of the boat jaunts. Any advice or sympathy would be appreciated, any derision would be be justified! Randy
I broke my cable, too!
- Thread starter Randy18528
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Ordering the cable from Hunter
Randy, I've recently ordered the center board cable from Hunter. Just call Lind Bayreuther at 860-739-3033. In addition to the new cable, you may want to order the allen head D shackle that attaches to the centerboard connection to save you some time. They will install the shackle on the cable for you. Lamar
Randy, I've recently ordered the center board cable from Hunter. Just call Lind Bayreuther at 860-739-3033. In addition to the new cable, you may want to order the allen head D shackle that attaches to the centerboard connection to save you some time. They will install the shackle on the cable for you. Lamar
Spectra Replacement for cable
Sorry to be so long in answering this post but we have been tied up in a major regatta here on Lake Hartwell and have pulled the boat to trailer it to another regatta this coming weekend. We have not tried to lift our keel yet with the spectra line but are planning to do so in a couple of weeks and I will post our results then. As far as tying the spectra and strength, we use 3/32" diameter for the spinnaker halyard on an RC-27 and tie on the shackle using a bowline with a couple of half hitches added above the knot. To get an idea as to the amount of load this thin line will handle you might want to look at these pix of the RC-27. This is a 16' wide boat with a 44' mast. Unfortunately, I can't remember the Sq footage of the spin but as you can see from the picture it is enormous. Click on the "Additional Photos" on this related link.
Sorry to be so long in answering this post but we have been tied up in a major regatta here on Lake Hartwell and have pulled the boat to trailer it to another regatta this coming weekend. We have not tried to lift our keel yet with the spectra line but are planning to do so in a couple of weeks and I will post our results then. As far as tying the spectra and strength, we use 3/32" diameter for the spinnaker halyard on an RC-27 and tie on the shackle using a bowline with a couple of half hitches added above the knot. To get an idea as to the amount of load this thin line will handle you might want to look at these pix of the RC-27. This is a 16' wide boat with a 44' mast. Unfortunately, I can't remember the Sq footage of the spin but as you can see from the picture it is enormous. Click on the "Additional Photos" on this related link.
Spectra Replacement for cable
I would suggest that you splice an eye into the spectra rather than tying a bowline. 12 strand is so easy to splice, takes a couple of minutes. Mr.Ernie, I suspect you meant 3/16" not 3/32" for your spinnaker halyard. The breaking strength of 3/16" spectra is 4750lbs. More than enough to handle any lifting keel.
I would suggest that you splice an eye into the spectra rather than tying a bowline. 12 strand is so easy to splice, takes a couple of minutes. Mr.Ernie, I suspect you meant 3/16" not 3/32" for your spinnaker halyard. The breaking strength of 3/16" spectra is 4750lbs. More than enough to handle any lifting keel.
Mr. Ernie - re: Spectra cordage
Mr. Ernie, I actually purchased Endura 3/16 " diameter cordage since I couldn't find the Spectra in 3/16" diameter in my catalogs. I tried to run it through the D shackle as a backup to the stainless steel cable with the boat in the water. However, I found that with the centerboard raised so that one can get to the shackle, there is not adequate room to run the cordage through the D shackle. The boat will have to be on the trailer for me to install the cordage. Not that this is a major problem except, at least in my case, just having the cordage aboard is not going to be much help if the stainless steel cable breaks.
Mr. Ernie, I actually purchased Endura 3/16 " diameter cordage since I couldn't find the Spectra in 3/16" diameter in my catalogs. I tried to run it through the D shackle as a backup to the stainless steel cable with the boat in the water. However, I found that with the centerboard raised so that one can get to the shackle, there is not adequate room to run the cordage through the D shackle. The boat will have to be on the trailer for me to install the cordage. Not that this is a major problem except, at least in my case, just having the cordage aboard is not going to be much help if the stainless steel cable breaks.
Spectra as Backup
Sorry to be so long in answering this post. I checked our boat's keel today and although there is no room for a spectra line to be attached to the D-shackle with the keel down, should the cable be broken, I believe that the shackel, or even the cable ferrule attached to the D-shackle, could be accessed with a coat hanger (or something like that.) I will, later this week, look at adding a piece of back-up spectra to the ferrule and hope I can find a way to rig it so that it won't bind in any way. Attaching it to the D-shackle probably won't work as the shackle is pinched hard against the board by the cable when it is down. Stay tuned - I'll post the results.
Sorry to be so long in answering this post. I checked our boat's keel today and although there is no room for a spectra line to be attached to the D-shackle with the keel down, should the cable be broken, I believe that the shackel, or even the cable ferrule attached to the D-shackle, could be accessed with a coat hanger (or something like that.) I will, later this week, look at adding a piece of back-up spectra to the ferrule and hope I can find a way to rig it so that it won't bind in any way. Attaching it to the D-shackle probably won't work as the shackle is pinched hard against the board by the cable when it is down. Stay tuned - I'll post the results.
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