O'day 25 Centerboard

[Ward H]

I have read how the centerboard on the O'day 25 can swell due to absorbing water. I pulled the board early December and will be starting on sealing it soon.

I read a suggestion here, from Shoaldrafter I believe, to sand down the board and seal with thin epoxy, which will soak in better. Then another coat and then paint.

Question 1 is how much should I sand it down? Should I sand down to the glass on the widest areas?

Question 2 is after a couple of coats of epoxy and sanding, do I paint it with bottom paint or put do I put a coat of "regular" paint on first, then bottom paint.

 

[Joe11688]

I'm no expert on Fiberglas repair, Ward. I do know that Epoxy is the way to go.

As far as the centerboard paint goes, when I took my centerboard out I gave it two coats of Super Shipbottom Ablative bottom paint. I also painted the inside keel slot with the exception of the wedge grooves. I like this paint because you can paint over bare fiberglas or over most bottom paints. It has it's own built in primer.
http://supershipbottom.com/

 

[Ward H]

Joe,
I looked at it on the website and it looks pretty good. It will go directly over epoxy and if the durability is as advertised I will get two to three seasons out of it. It also says there is little build up which will help with the CB thickness.
I will give them a call for pricing.

 

[Joe11688]

I like this bottom paint Ward. It has a high copper content and it protects very well. Myself and a couple of others in my club have been using it for years. I get two seasons out of one coat. This spring I'll just spot paint where needed with what I have left in the can which is about 1/4 of a gallon.

 

[TLW]

Hey Ward,

This thread pretty quickly digressed to a discussion of bottom paint. Unless I missed something you posted earlier, you didn't say whether you actually have a moisture absorption problem, or if this is strictly preventative maintenance. It would make a difference as to how you should proceed.

 

[Ward H]

When I bought the boat the CB was stuck in the up position. PO said the yard guys thought it was just some marine growth holding it up since he did not paint it when he did the bottom. He only owned it a few months, turned out he did not like sailing.
I had it short hauled for inspection and while it was in the sling the yard guy gave it a tug with a short pry bar and it dropped right down. It was clean and did not have an obvious bulge but did have a rub mark in the center area. No marine growth. When it went back in the water I tried to get him to raise it up shy of full up but he tugged too hard and it was stuck again.
I sailed that way figuring I would fix it this winter.
I had read that it could swell with water and get stuck so I figured that was it. I just didn't know and still don't know if the swelling goes down or it is a permanent thing. Also, if water absorption was the problem was there an obvious bulge or not.
So yes, I believe I had a problem and want to correct it.
It also could have been bottom paint build up. The paint on the rest of the hull was real thick.
I appreciate any suggestions you may have.

 

[Joe11688]

I really don't know what to tell you Ward. You're going to have to eye ball the centerboard and maybe stick a building square in between the board and the slot on both sides and just probe. If the board has water in it, you may need to bore a hole in it and set the board next to the boiler down cellar so it can dry out.

I knew a guy who had a chunk that was missing on his centerboard. He had the boat lifted and he took the board out and had the boat put back in the water and sailed it the rest of the season while his board was drying out in his cellar.

It's hard to speculate unless you can visually check it out. Then take it from there.

 

[Ward H]

Yeah, I may bit the bullet and drill a couple of holes to see if any water comes out. It has been out of the water since end of October and out of the boat since end of Nov.
Once I am sure it is dry I will go over it with a straight edge and flatten it any high spots a bit by sanding. Then a couple of coats of thin epoxy and then bottom paint.

 

[Joe11688]

I think that it's something that you're going to need to visually check with a flashlight for abnormalities in the keel slot or even with the board back in place to check what the clearances are. Also, I would check to make sure that it isn't the shackle that is binding up in the slot. I don't know how you could do that but I'm sure you can find a way. This happened on my centerboard when I had the old shackle. You know how I found out it was the shackle? The shackle was bent out of shape. Bingo!

I'm fortunate in that I'm the only owner of my boat because I bought it new, but when a guy buys a boat today, he really has no way of knowing what the PO did to it. When I bought my house back in 1971 the PO had installed some Aluminum conductor Romax. I found it and replaced it. I also found a two wire Romax with "Western Union" splice in the wall of my kitchen. Surprise surprise.

I found out a couple of years ago that owning a factory boat is no guarantee for flawed workmanship and screw ups that can occure while the boat was being built.
I talked to someone in NV who owns an O'Day 222 that was built on the West Coast in 87 and the workers forgot to install the single sheave assembly in the keel slot of the boat. Hey, maybe the factory worker took a coffee break, or quit his job that day. The pendant line keeps getting frayed and needs replacing every year. Unbelievable. Who da' thunk it?
Good luck Ward.
Joe