Old Topic, New Subscriber, Stuck Center Board

[Dick Rowe]

My ODay 25 has been on the hard (trailer) for almost 3 years and I finally completed some hurrricane damage repairs. Having been high and dry for that length of time I was surprised that the board didn't want to go down when I recently relaunched. Other than finding and paying for a lift, and getting under the the slot, I've considered getting into the sandy shallows (easy to do on the FL panhandle) and possibly using a machete to probe and clear the seam between the CB case and the CB.

I'd love to find an archive or resource that deals with the care and feeding of CB cases, lines, and pins. I'm sure that it's a familiar topic for ODay owners.

It's good to be on board. Thanks from the red neck Riviera

Dick

 

[HukilauMike]

Welcome Dick! My introduction to this website about 10 years ago was my post seeking advice on unsticking the centerboard on my '79 Oday 23. This site does have archives, although I don't know where they are under the new format. A little research on your part will uncover a lot of info on stuck centerboards. When my board sticks (an uncommon occurance these days) while I am in the water, I use a three foot long, 1/4 inch diameter steel rod to free up the board. This is a somewhat controversial methodology, but it has always worked for me. Remove the grommet that surrounds the pendent line (that little plastic ring mounted directly on the deck where the line goes into the bridge deck). Insert the rod into the tube that takes the pendent line into the cabin/keel area. Be gentle! I remember reading about someone who put a hole into the tube below the water line and flooded his boat. I don't see how its possible, but hey. I have gone so far as to make a cushion on the end of the rod with duct tape to lessen the potential for damage. When the rod touches the edge of the stuck centerboard, tap the end of the rod until the board is free. I have had to do this about five times. A few times all it took was a love tap to free the board; once or twice I really had to give it a good whack. I wouldn't hit the rod too hard, as it is touching the vulnerable edge of the centerboard and you don't want to damage it. So far, so good for me.

 

[Joe11688]

The guys at my club went under the keel with SCUBA gear on and used a flat metal object to clear away any obstruction between the centerboard and the inner keel slot on a 1975 O'Day 25. The board then came down very easy. The board is made of fiberglass and this particular boat has a wire cable that is operated by a small winch on the table stanchion down in the cabin. I think that the pivot pin for your centerboard is made of Nylon. The keel slot on your boat is probably about 20" deep, as your centerboard is about 17 1/4" wide. If your centerboard pendant line comes up into the cockpit near the companionway, your pendant line is braid and there should be a small sheave up inside the keel slot that it goes through before it terminates to the board. I think that you're better off freeing the board from under the keel. Here's a sketch of an O'Day 26 centerboard, which is pretty close to what you have on your OD 25.
Joe

 

[RECESS]

If it was me, I would pull the boat out on the trailer and have it raised on a lift at a marina. I would be more concerned about why the board is sticking? There really is not that much to a centerboard and either there is swelling or it is seriously out of alignment. Both would need to be addressed and you may only have one shot to get it down to make the repair. I recently reglassed an area of my centerboard and then used some two part marine putty to smooth it and sealed. It will be a major PITA if that centerboard gets so stuck that you cannnot free it.

My recent repair

You may want to look at this as your free pass to get it down and make it right. I doubt the repair would be very hard once it is down. But you could have a serious problem if it gets wedged.

Just my two cents, take it for what it is worth. Which may be nothing.

Good luck with anything you do.

 

[Joe11688]

It's true that centerboards do occasionally get damaged, swell up and get stuck, but they also get marine growth or mud and pebbles that can cause them to get stuck. I would put the boat in the water and leave about 6" of slack in the pendant line. I would take her for a sail. The wave action may free up the board, even while she's sitting at her mooring. If it does turn out that the board is damaged, I would use the boat with the centerboard up, for the rest of the season and pull the centerboard out at the end of the season, dry it out down a warm cellar and then make the needed repairs. My friend Chuck had to let his centerboard dry out next to his furnace for about three months before he made his repairs. His board had a chunk taken out of it. He had the boat raised and removed the centerboard himself, and then had the boat put into the water without the centerboard and he used it without the board for the whole season. The O'Day 25 will sail pretty well with the board up. I sailed one up from Cape Cod to Dighton Ma. years ago with the board up and she sailed great.