Need some help

[Tony Vaillancourt]

Hi All:
I need a little help. My wife got ill today with a migrane headache while we were out and I lost track of where we were trying to help her. We went aground. We were able to float off with the help of out outboard ok in about 10 minutes, but I think the centerboard is now wedged up into the trunk. We still had a nice day of sailing but without the centerboard we weren't moving as quickly. Does anyone have any ideas as to what to do or what you might have done in the past?
Thanks,
-Tony

 

[Joe11688]

Tony,
I think that maybe the centerboard has some small pebbles or whatever in the keel slot from the grounding. I would just leave a little slack of about a foot of so in the pendant line and tie the rest of it off. The wave movement at the mooring will probably free it up. Also, you could take the boat out in the bay with a good Southwester and some wave action, and leave a couple of feet of slack in the pendant line. This may free it up too. If all else fails, have someone swim under the keel with a flat object like a builder's square and insert it between the centerboard and the slot, all the way around. I think that the slot is no more than 14" deep in that keel.
Joe