[Rhodes22-list] Loose centerboard

[BillyDoc]

Hi everyone!

My wife and I recently bought a used Rhodes 22 (1987 model) and took it for
a sail last weekend.  Everything was wonderful until we turned to a downwind
course with little wind but modest waves and heard repeated "clunking."  At
first we thought we must have caught the line from a crab-pot and checked
around the hull to find the source, but found nothing.  Then my wife climbed
into the cabin and said it was louder down there.  We were heading in after
a day on the boat anyway, so I pulled the centerboard up to start the engine
. . . and the clunking went away!

When we got the boat up on the trailer I climbed under to "feel" the
centerboard, and sure enough it seemed like it had lost it's pivot or
something equally dire.  The distal end was supported on the trailer roller,
but the pined end could be easily moved up and down and even sideways.

So Monday I opened up the trunk cap to see what was happening in there.  To
my surprise, the trunk is roughly 2" across, but the centerboard is only
(roughly) 1.375" thick . . . leaving 5/8" of slop!  The pin was still there,
but much smaller (slightly less than an inch in diameter) than the slot it
was resting in.  At least it was still resting in the slot.  Here is a
picture looking downward into the forward part of the trunk: 
http://poiesisresearch.com/CBtrunk.png.

Is this the normal arrangement?  I would think that the closest dimensions
that allowed free up and down movement would be preferable.

Has anyone tried putting spacers on either side of the centerboard to "snug
it up?"  And bearing sleeves around the pin ends to snug them up in their
slots as well?  I'm thinking large (whatever will fit without protruding
below the trunk) "washers" made from Ultra-High Molecular Weight
Polyethylene (UHMW-PE) cut to the appropriate thickness would work nicely
for both tasks.  Will this screw up something else?

Thanks everyone, these are fantastic boats!

Bill and Anne
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