wobbly centreboard

[seanslife]

Dear investigators,
As you may recall I've been going through the process of getting my CB working again after years of neglect by previous owner. Thus far I've unstuck it from its barnacles encrusted home in the casing; beadblasted and painted the CB; and now I'm refitting the CB I've noticed there is a lot of slack and play in the CB (side-side movement). I've added three by polyethelene 2mm x 270mm round cheecks but its still not enough to remove or dampen the play. At the top 300mm of the CB it is 6mm thick (worn away by rust over the years) and for the rest of its length its 9-10 mm (see photo).

How much play should I expect?

[Yara50]

The cheek plates should fill the gap between the c/b and the fibreglass sides of the well. However, if the c/b can move, there is always got to be some play. Thicker, single thickness cheek plates might be a better solution.

[Ozzie]

Sean as Ian suggests thicker bushing may be the answer . If you are keen for a quick/ low cost fix and have easy means of working on the keel ,( as it appears in the pic), have you considered reversing the keel . Reprofile the thick end to be the supported end by cutting a curve where the pull rope attachment is . Just drill a hole at the rusted end to attach your keel pull or weld a ring if your keen. I've welded a mild steel one on mine a few years back.

Coat everything with fish oil before reinstalling. I have had Spritzig II moored for ten years now, 24/7 in salt water and fish oil has been my main line of defence against mother nature. I used neat oil for many years ( check my pics in earlier posts) i two packed and anti fouled the swing cb a few years back but the results were no better than the oil Every year I expect to replace the cb but it's still going ok with minimal deteriation. The oil also appears to deter growth up in the keel cavity and on the board for longer during the season than anti foul alone. I have few bare spots in the keel every haulout but now just hit it with fish oil and only antifoo the bottom edge thats exposed when the cb is retracted.

Works for me anyway.

[seanslife]

Ian, your suggestion proved to be the answer, I had another two cheeks cut 270mm rounds but this time in 3mm HDPE, those and one of the 1.5mm rounds did the job.
Ozzie, unfortunately I didn't see your post in time before I refitted the CB and lowered the boat off the hoist. There was some time pressure to do so. Nevermind, I cold-galvanised the board and for the next few months I will be sailing in Lake Burley Griffin (fresh water), it'll be a while before I can get back to Batemans Bay. Once the club's hoist is repaired I will be able to raise the boat and apply the Fish Oil, I especially will need this done before our planned September Whitsundays voyage!

Thanks for all the help, I would have been stuck without the help of other investigators

Cheers