Centerboard assembly fell off boat!

[stapes]

Centerboard plate assembly fell off, just from corrosion of the bolts. Got to the yard with the centerboard hanging from the pennant. THAT was fun. Centerboard now sitting in the yard while I managed to get the boat back to the dock. Any advice on repair would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Tony

[Finbar Beagle]

Tony,


First, glad all were safe, and you made it back with board assembly in tow.

Second, do you know if it was the factory installed board pivot bolt?

Third, just want to be sure it is the pivot bolt.  Can you send pictures?.

Did you keep Boat in water and what condition was the anode?  I believe SC pivot bolt is in keel trunk below water.  An anode should be sacrificed to prevent the bolt metal corrosion.  Would be more sever in salt water.

Glad all were OK,.  And thanks for the heads up.  Will inspect my PC this week.

Thanks for the heads up. 

[Finbar Beagle]

Tony,

The pictures is because I am not sure if this is assessable on a SC. It is on the Picnic Cat.
There are a lot of good yards in RI.  I would go to pro for this, as it will be more efficient if you han lift to work on boat.  FYI-my skill set is not great, so I am not best on "key safety big repairs".

I sail to escape doing my repair list at house.

Regards,
Brian

[bruce]

I looked through the archives, and the only helpful post I saw was in this thread. tmorgan posted that access to the pivot changed, and it sounds like it may no longer be possible from inside the hull.
http://cpyoa.geekworkshosting.com/forum/index.php?topic=833.0

Looking at the parts lists for the SC, Sunday Cat, and Daysailer, I don't see anything that seems likely to be a CB pivot. It's listed as Bolt and Gasket on the PC parts list.

A call to Com-Pac may be in order. We do have some good yards here in RI, but a friend inquired of the local CP dealer for a referral for her PC and she wasn't impressed with the service she got. I'd introduced myself to the dealer previously, and he didn't know anything about the CP catboats, or why anyone would want a catboat. There aren't many CP catboats around here, and no yards with great expertise that I've heard of. If access isn't obvious, I'd want Com-Pac's input.

[stapes]

Thanks to all who replied. The pivot bolt was okay - it was all 25 bolts that hold the plate to the keel that failed.
I use a Wickford yard that deals with catboats all the time, but almost all Marshall cats, and he was a bit puzzled looking at it.

My boat partner and I picked up the centerboard today - it was lying on the ground at the yard. It is heavily pitted. Because the boat is on a trailer or in the water I never see the board, so it looks like the zincs (if there were ever any, wore away years ago. My bad. I should have thought of that.

Another damn learning experience. I will call Gerry tomorrow.

Tony

[Bilge Rat]

Sorry to hear this - good advice to call Gerry. Please keep us posted.

[matunucktuna]

Coincidently, I had my boat hauled up off it's trailer today for a stuck centerboard. It turned out to be the same boatyard you used...small world! No joy today though, there appears to be something wrong with the pivot assembly.

[Shawn]

Glad to see a few more sailers out of Wickford! I've seen a few Suncats in that area.

Shawn

[stapes]

Final update:

I was on the hard for 5 weeks. We decided to by a new centerboard assembly. Everything now works fine, but every time I hear any kind of "clunk" my heart stops!