Randy_Watkins@odp.tamu.edu wrote:
> Lenny thanks I'll check them out for some of the general spares. One
> item I read about in some of the earlier postings were centerboard
> problems. I don't have this problem
> ( and hope I don't in the future) but how would you for instance
> obtain a replacement c/b for a M15? would you have to have one made
> or is there a source for these critical type parts.
I haven't gotten through all the archives (perhaps some poor soul could distill
them into a FAQ), but I did have several experiences with my M-17 centerboard.
First, the pivot pin for the centerboard mounted through the keel trunk kept
walking out. Just the little back and forth movement of the board while sailing
was enough to start it walking out. I could not have done a multi-day sail without
risking the centerboard completely falling out of trunk, or something worse. What
a disaster that would have been! The shop filled the holes on both sides, glassed
them over, and gelcoated. I don't know if that is the preferred response or not
(it wasn't necessarily mine), but it's done. Perhaps a better response would have
been to have some sort of C-ring insert into a slot at both ends of the pin. With
their response, any time the centerboard hoist rigging needs replacing or
repairing, we are going to have to find and break into the filled/glassed over
holes and push the pin out to drop the board entirely out of the trunk.
Second. Before they fixed the first problem, I had the boat hoisted, and the
centerboard removed from the keel trunk. I had them inspect the centerboard hoist
rigging. The rigging seemed fine, but they noticed that the little metal tab at
the back of the centerboard had broken off. This tab, part of the original
casting, if it's there, it supposed to rest against a through-pin at the rear and
bottom of the centerboard keel trunk, and keep the centerboard from swinging too
far forward and damaging the front of the trunk.
Apparently, or so the shop said, the tab breaking off is is a common failure, as
well as when it does, subsequent damage to the trunk (which mine also had had). To
mitigate this, there is a big knot in the centerboard haul up/down line (I forget
the exact name!) just inside the companionway, inside the cabin, and at the front
top of the centerboard trunk. When the centerboard is fully deployed, the knot
rests on the entrance hole to the trunk, and prevents any more forward movement of
the centerboard.
All you other M-17'ers: is this problem common? Have you had similar
experiences? How have you solved the centerboard pivot pin walkout problem?
--
Regards,
--
John Fleming
Systems Engineering
Advanced Systems Division
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