Centerboard stuck

Box of Rain · **Joined:** 25 Feb 2008 19:09 **Posts:** 15

We recently finished our first season with "Box of Rain", our new to us Tartan 37 #93 (aka Enterprise). The haul-out trip was eventful. A three hour motor turned into a very long beat into 25-30kt winds and up to 10-12 ft chop when the engine conked out 5 minutes into the trip. But that's not why I'm posting here.

Hauling out today I expected to find the centerboard stuck up in the trunk. It was a problem the previous owner had and supposedly repaired. It turned out, much to my surprise, that the board was half way down and the pendant hose was jammed in place. It's very possible that the board was jarred loose during the trip and in the process the jam occured. Or it may have been stuck down all year.

So the question is, what's the easiest procedure to unjam the board?

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

The best thing you can do at this point is to un-bolt the hinge assembly and drop the hole thing, this way you can inspect the condition of the bolts. Mine were severly corroded after about 28 years of service and I would up drilling and tapping holes for a small zinc that lasts about two years before it needs replacing. Also, check the pad-eye on the centerboard for corrosion as well, it is bolted into a heavy steel plate that is encased in the board itself. I wound up ginding a lot of this out and re-glassing. I'll dig up some photos of this when I get home but I do have a shot of the hinge assembly.
Tom

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jvoelxen · **Joined:** 21 Oct 2006 15:36 **Posts:** 268

I second Tortuga's Lie's suggestions, in particular, regarding the hinge pin and pad eye issues. I had both problems ( see Centerboard Padeye Maintenance, under General Maintenace, for a good discussion about the pad eye, with pictures from my boat and Tortuga's Lie). If you have either or both problems, this would be a good time to fix them.

Jim
#191

Box of Rain · **Joined:** 25 Feb 2008 19:09 **Posts:** 15

I did read the excellent posts in earlier threads about the cb rebuild. It may come to that for me. First I'd like to try to unjam the line and see how the operation of the cb is without modification. I didn't have time to play around with releasing it because the yard was very busy pulling out the last boats and I couldn't hang in the slings. "Box of Rain" is currently on the hard with the board hanging out a little bit. In fact, they are not able to give me time in the slings until next spring (short of some serious arm twisting). If the hinge or padeye anchors are removed and turn out to be shot, then I'm faced with an immediate need for rebuild next spring at the front end of a busy launch season. So I'm hoping to find a way eventually to shift the line and free the board without removing the hinge. If the line jam is a common issue, I thought maybe someone had a clever method of freeing the jammed line. Alternatively, I could remove the board and sail without it until it's properly fixed. But that leaves the screw holes for the hinge exposed for some amount of time.

I should add that the reason the cb was sticking in the first place was that the previous owner had built up the thickness of the board so that it didn't rattle around in the trunk at anchor. Against my wishes, they ground away some of it so that the board operated correctly during the survey (still dry from being on the hard ~18mo). So I don't know if there is corrosion in the anchor plate inside the board or some other problem with the "repairs" done by the previous owner.

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

Box of Rain,
Do you race? I ask this because our boats sail perfectly well without the centerboard (sometimes, I'll go all season without dropping it) just doesn't point as high. You could fore go any repairs until a later date when you haul out next time and be sure to anticipate un-bolting the board at that time. In the mean time, you'll want to secure the board from dropping out....You may be able to use wooden wedges to secure as long as you have a means for removing them after they swell up from immersion....maybe a Sawzall...just thinking outload here.
I have heard of some T-37's who have their boards glassed over, something I have considered. Future owners could cut out the glass skin and re-expose the board.

Box of Rain · **Joined:** 25 Feb 2008 19:09 **Posts:** 15

No, I crewed many years ago on a small J, but no racing in view for us any time soon. If I am correct that the cb was up all season and dropped during the last trip (I left a little slack in the pennant line always hoping for that) then I think that performance on the wind is an issue. She'll sail ok, but with a big leeway angle and poor tracking ability. I'm not ultra-competitive, but I like experimenting with available controls to try to improve my understanding of trim. It's kind of a bummer not having the cb in that regard.

Ardea · **Joined:** 19 Mar 2007 16:40 **Posts:** 195

Also backing under power with the board up is not much fun. The boat kind of developes a mind of it's own.

-Jim

captainron · **Joined:** 30 May 2008 13:44 **Posts:** 8

I assume you tried really winching hard on the pennant. The rope may just be jammed between the board and the housing. If it goes slack and the board bounces up a bit, it can pinch the rope. If you do manage to get it free, after dropping the board, always put some decent tension on it. If all else fails, try a prayer! Bow

Captain Ron

mfeiertag · **Joined:** 31 Dec 2008 21:45 **Posts:** 7

a couple of years ago i got my board jammed half way down

i figure i had the board down all the way (too far) with slack in the pendant and with a brief soft grounding the board went part way up and the pendant hose jammed between the board and trunk

it could be unjammed only by removing the cb pin and removing board (at yard as was due for bottom paint anyway)

here is what did not work (tried hard 'cause a 6 foot draft does not work well in winter where i live on florida west coast):

1) crank the cb pendant winch real hard -- cheek block (rather old) explodes; luckily nobody is hit by projectiles!; probably needed a new cheek block anyway

2) pass a line under board between primary winches and crank hard -- line dug a little groove in my nicely varnished toe rail

3) in slings, use a pick-up truck to pull on a line secured to the deep end of the board to try to get it fully extend and free pendant -- no movement and no damage

4) in slings gently lower onto leading edge of board to see if it goes up -- moved a little, no damage

5) blocked boat over a quickly excavated hole for board and left it for yard to extract

following that for past 2 years i never lowered the board more than half way but now i am comfortable with new arrangement:

1) the hose that jammed was from po and i do not recall type but was flattened and made me think i needed a hose of greater compression resistance and greater diameter

2) tartan manual says 22inches of 1inch ID heater hose

3) i nested three hoses using 1inch ID sanitary hose which is very rigid over another sanitary hose just small enough to fit inside and inside that a potable water hose with ID (?1/2inch?) just big enough to allow a 3/8 inch pendant to be easily passed; i cut the inner hose at 22inches and the others just a little shorter so pendant contacts the softer water hose and may have less risk of chafing on the sanitary hose

4) boat was just to the yard for bottom job and etc; yard installed my nested hoses over new pendant and i could not inspect before they splashed boat; i did ask them to mark pendant to indicate board positions a) full up, b) just clear of keel, c) optimum angle leading edges of board and keel colinear, d) full down. i just delivered boat home and played with board and seems fine -- some day i will dive and have a look. i plan to not lower board below optimum angle and to avoid letting slack into pendant if board does go to full down (i believe that without pendant tension the board hangs beyond full vertical). also, the weight of the pendant hose could pull more slack line if available inviting a jam if hose can get past board

5) by the way, tonight i eliminated the tag line and took the cb pendant straight to the winch; it's perfectly comfortable without the 2:1 purchase

Box of Rain · **Joined:** 25 Feb 2008 19:09 **Posts:** 15

Well, I'm scheduled Tuesday to put her in straps and see if I can sort this problem out. Meanwhile, I took a picture of the hinge plate as viewed from the bottom of the keel. What do you think. From what I can tell,

1) The hinge plate looks ok, and the corroded pieces attached to it are old zincs. Box of Rain is in Erie now, but spent many years in NJ and then in Lake Champlain. The bolts may yet be corroded. What do they thread into?

2) The peeling and chipping at the edges of the plate are either fairing material or layered epoxy paint, not fiberglass damage.

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