Centre board advice

[Mark C]

Hi there,

I hope you're all well. It's been a while since i've been checking the forum. It's Mark who owns Toreisi. I hope you are all well. I'm contacting the group as I wanted your advice on replacing the rope that is used for lowering and raising the centre board. The rope on Toriesi has worn through and it needs replacing before it wears through completely. I was out at Collins beach (quarantine bay near Manly NSW) last Saturday and went into the shallows. I decided to swim under the boat and pull through the rope. It was very clear quickly that there is something that prevents you from pulling the rope all the way through. How does one replace the rope for the centre board? Would love to hear your tips. Does it and can it be done from within the cabin?

Many thanks,

Mark

"Toriesi" Investigator 563

[Yara50]

Hi Mark
Good to see you on the board.
I have not replaced the centreboard lifting wire on Yara, but it is wire rope at the bottom, somehow connected to the actual rope at cabin level. There is a hose between the fibreglass case and the steel guide tube. Maybe the join was catching on something there.

Guess you would have to do the job on dry land if you want to have a swage eye on the c/b rather than a shackle.

[Ozzie]

Welcome back Mark. I have removed the hose and stainless pipe inside the cabin while on the water. There was no problem with flooding, so you could do that and have someone feed the rope. BUT I think the problem is that the hole tapers down inside the bottom tube so it is just big enough for the wire cable to go through. Once when my keel was stuck I attempted to poke a long thin rod down to push it but it would not go down to the keel. Thats what makes me think it is tapered or grommited at the end. If this is the case then the swaged end would jam.

You may need to cut the swage off and attach a pull wire. However if your lift wire is ok then just attach a new rope. The join should be inside the pipe. On TSP they discussed the idea of using all spectra right from the centreboard to the cleat and doing away with the potential failure of the join. Most posters seemed to think spectra was stronger than ss wire so I assume it would be OK.

What do you think Ian ?

By the way if you want to see what is going on down in the lift tube, I do too. I have figured out a way. Its almost impossible to shine a light down there and still get your eye around it to see. I have not tried it yet, but I keep some thin lightstick style bangles on the boat ($2 a pack of 10 at Go Slow) I tie one on to the back of my tender at night so no one cuts behind me in the dark and hits it. They are quite bright and I think could be lowered into the hole to see whats going on down there.

Good luck let us know how it goes.

[BobK]

Let me know of you can't solve the problem and I'll put you in touch with thr previous owner of my boat. He replaced the CB with a stainless steel one so he'll know how it's rigged.

[Yara50]

The c/b on Yara is very light, but even the standard steel one is relatively light, so Spectra would be fine for the load. However, it still needs some kind of eye or splice on the end. This is probably a good thing to ask about on TSP.

[Mark C]

Thanks Chaps!! I will try to get onto it this weekend. Either way I will be taking my wife, and two friends for a sail this Sunday.!!! We'll be launching from rose bay at 10:30am. Forecast is looking good..
On another note. Back in June I got married and for part of the honey moon we chartered a 1 year old Jeanneau 36 and sailed in Croatia around the dalmatian islands. I strongly recommend it if you get the chance to go to europe. Beautiful sailing area, amazing water quality and a lot of places to explore!!
Have a good weekend and thanks for the tips!!

[graham5494]

Gidday all . I am busy restoring my Investigator from the ground up . I took out my very rusty centreboard ,ground off the surface and painted it with epoxy paint . I noted that it was 3 feet long , 11 inches wide and just over 10mm thick . Two disks of plastic faced the pivot hole either side . The small dee shackle at its end sits in a recess in the metal , the board weighed about 15 kg . The overall length of the wire strop was 49 inch . In the tube / tunnel leading to the board is a pin , restricting what can be led down the hole . This is probably to help give a good lead for the wire when the board is fully lowered . Flexible running rigging wire is the best to use , but I used the stiff version 3mm thick . I made up one swage on the wire , attached a rope to its end then fed the rope up the curved tube in the cabin . Note that the swage needs to be compact in order to fit the tube . Now the plain end of the wire is lowered into the board trunk behind the aformentioned pin . The second swage is then made under the boat and shackled to the plate itself. Note that I was lucky enough to drop the board between rollers on my trailer. Hope this helps somebody . I do look forward to sailing my boat................eventually !

graham5494