[Rhodes22-list] Loose centerboard

[Leland]

Bill,

Welcome and congrats on the boat!

I'm no expert but your loose centerboard might be normal.  Stan told me of
an owner who put a spacer in his centerboard trunk to keep it from banging
around while at anchor.  The board banged the spacer and put a hole in his
centerboard trunk which caused a serious leak.

I normally only have my centerboard down while going upwind, and frequently
not even then.  May not be the best solution but it works for me.  

Good luck!

Lee
1986 Rhodes22  AT EASE
Kent Island, MD


BillyDoc wrote:
> 
> 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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