Centreboard lift rope / pipe

[Andrew]

Posting this because my lift rope/wire is jammed inside the lift pipe/case. It happened last week, discovered it while anchored in a nice though choppy bay with the centreboard fully lowered, it could not be raised again. and no amount of diving under the keel, levering, forcing it would free it. So jury rigged lift ropes outside the hull both sides and through the plates lift eye and raised it most of the way, enough to sail back and get back out on the trailer.

Suspect the jamming is at the rope/wire join inside the pipe, wont know until the boats off the trailer and blocked up again at the shed.

Any ideas or experiences with lift ropes/pipes appreciated

Andrew

[Ozzie]

Bugger I replaced my lift cable with 6 mm spectra after the ring wore through, probably aided by electrolysis. Just a knot now, no thimble or cable to wear against my new metal ring. That was 3 years ago now and I'm moored and no problems at all. I replaced it last haulout just because I could but it was really ok . This time I will just inspect it .

Tied it on with a buntline hitch (learned off YouTube) and marine sikaflexed the knot for good measure. Leave enough extra to reterminate a few times if you wish.

Good luck, the join on mine was accessible once I took the stainless bent tube off the top. Guess it depends where it's tied. I'm replacing the main halyard with all spectra also and that will be one less join as well.

[Andrew]

Thanks Ozzie,

I managed to fix it for now. Put the boat up on stands, and removed the bent ss pipe ,the wire/rope join got stuck in a small hole at the bottom of the 30cm lift pipe glassed to the centercase top. to be more precise, the swage from the soft eye in the lift wire jammed in a 1/4" hole ,,the rope was attached with a tight soft eye and whipping. It's still in serviceable condition...

I filed down the swage a bit to remove all the lumpy bits causing jamming and also tied the rope figure-eight end knot 6" in from the ropes tail end so the wire swage can't reach the 1/4" hole again. (I think my lift wire was shortened about 25-40mm when i re-swaged the lower end on earlier centerboard removal could be the cause/effect )

I'm not sure what's lining the 1/4" hole but it sure does take allot of wear and tear from the lift wire bending at that point.

Just hope it lasts awhile.. , but spectra does sound like a good material when time comes for replacement.

Did you replace the entire thing with spectra? or is it still half wire/half rope with the join in middle?

[Mark]

All

I replaced the original rope leading to cockpit for CB control with spectra a few years back I still have the wire section connected to CB and the join is in the SS tube. Basically a loop held tight with copper wire tightly wound around to close loop instead of fine whipping line. It holds very firm and i check it annually. Same plan as others to completely replace with spectra one day to CB if I can ever get to my CB to do the job.

Regards

Mark

[Sharkey]

Hi. I've just registered with the club. I purchased a 563 about 9 months ago and thoroughly enjoy sailing her.
Unfortunately, the centreboard control wire came away from the centreboard on the weekend (I hauled on the slack rope and was able to see the rope attached to the wire at the top of the feed tube). I'm not familiar with the shape/design of the board system, and don't know how to repair it.
I would appreciate anyone able to provide answers to the following questions:

1) Can anyone provide a sketch showing the design/shape of the CB and where the control wire attaches, and how it is attached?

2) Advise how to replace it and with what?

3) My 563 is moored in a pen at PFSYC. Is it possible to replace without taking her out of the water?

Thanks for any help.

[Ozzie]

G’day Sharkey and welcome aboard. Busted cb cord is fairly normal as the boats age. Many like me have replaced the stainless/rope combo with all spectra or dyneema with good results.

Doing this on the water is doable as you can remove the flexible pipe section from the lower glassed in fixed tube as the top is above the waterline. I have done it several times. The only issue is if you can get a line down through the hole as it has a stainless turning block glassed into it and depending on how it’s been done the opening can be very small and difficult to get anything through. You may try a piece of coat hanger to start but you need to get a pull line to thread with it.

Then it’s just a matter of tying the pulled through dyneema into your attachment point if it is still sound and passing the other end up through your internal tube. It will be chilly this time of year working underwater. Good luck

. viewtopic.php?f=4&t=167&p=648&hilit=Centre#p648
Above link about cb including a diagram

[Peter T]

Hi Andrew, not sure if you know or not, but in that fibreglassed piece that the tube attaches to, at the rear of the centreboard case, there is a small pulley mounted in there so the hole for the wire is only very small which could cause it to stick at that point. When I had my centreboard out, I was going to replace the stainless steel wire at the bottom with dyneema, but that pulley on a lot of the boats, and definately on mine, is seized and I didn't want to be pulling dyneema across a seized pulley as it would wear it away so I figured better to stick with the original. It's a shame they weren't made so that pulley could be replaced. Anyway, Also, I used 6mm cord from the eye at the inner end of the wire and you need to make sure that it is whipped really tightly to reduce the thickness as much as possible to prevent it from getting stuck in the tube. Hope this helps.
Also, as a matter of interest, I fitted an outboard motor pull start handle to the other end of the cord as well as one of those round plastic things that will house a knot in the cord so it will rest against the back cabin wall to prevent the centreboard from slamming into the front edge of the centreboard case when lowering the board. Works a treat

[Ozzie]

Good idea Peter with the outboard pull start handle. You have jogged my memory about that ss fitting in the cb case. I think possibly it was just a rubbing block. It may have been a turning fitting before installation but mine looked like it had never turned to be honest it was set in too much glass. Has anyone actually had one that rotated freely? I’d be curious to know.

I haven’t had any real issues with wear on the pull rope and I try to drag it all down when I inspect it ( stopper knot at the top), and mine is underwater 24/7. When you consider that it only moves once each trip under real load and that’s raising the keel it does not get a lot of movement against the ss. I’ve left enough extra poly at the top that I can re-terminate it a few times so I will move it down onto new spot next time. This is if I have enough puff to tie a buntline hitch underwater and provided my pull ring holds up. That’s the other reason I went all spectra. I think the wear and electrolysis from the ss wire and thimble were shortening the life of the pull ring . As Sharkey is also moored, he may need to consider that too. Anyway food for thought.

Sharkey, I recommend spraying/squirting fish oil up all over your centre board. I’ve been using it for 16 years and it’s doing an excellent job of preserving it underwater.

[Peter T]

Yes Ozzie, the otherthing I did on mine was to turn up a small nylon insulator to fit over the screw of the D shackle that mounts to the centreboard to prevent any electrolysis. The bush is a tight fit in the hole of the centreboard so it won't move sideways to allow any electrical connection between the two different metals

[Ozzie]

Good idea. Mine only has a welded ring . The last time I did it I used a galvanised chain link with the gal ground away at the weld point but not the outer part of the link . That’s where the link always rusted/wore away. Both the original and my first repair which was ungal mild steel. With the gal link and spectra (actually I think my last replacement was dyneema), plus filling the link up with marine Sika to prevent movement I’m getting better mileage....so far.

Next time I may pony up for a large diameter cobalt drill bit and put a hole right through the cb , chamfer the entry points and tie direct to it with no add ons. Because I’m mooring I don’t want to risk dissimilar metals even close for long periods.