stuck centerboard, DSII single-cable system

[burnsbayhome]

Does anyone know exactly how the CB system on my DSII (1972? Hull No. 3048) is set up and supposed to work? Our is apparently stuck in the up position. One thin cable runs into the cuddy from the CB trunk, attaches to a line that runs around two blocks, then runs back out through the bulkhead to a cleat on the starboard side of the trunk. There's about an 8 or 9 inch length of cable showing.

Is there any reason not to drill a hole in the top of the CB trunk and try to push it down with a rod? We had a lot of trial and error getting the boat (new to us) rigged in the water and want to leave it there if possible, and the creek it's in is too shallow and muddy for underwater work.

[talbot]

Yep. The cable attaches to the aft edge of the board (when the cable is slack and the board is down). The typical problem is that the slack cable sags between the board and the trunk and gets pinned. A few years later, O'day began installing a shock cord to keep tension on the cable at all times.

I would start by floating the boat to deeper water and going underneath to try to get the board down. If that fails, I would pull the boat and drop the board. It's possible the tang that holds the cable to the board is twisted (mine was, when this happened to me), so I couldn't get the cable straight. Drilling a hole in the top of your CB trunk wouldn't help, in that case. It would just be one more thing to fix. I had to replace the tang and cable. Roger's book has the procedure, and D&R Marine has the parts.

Your boat doesn't have a downhaul? That would help. I think Roger's book also has diagrams of how the downhaul can be rigged.

[burnsbayhome]

Thanks, Talbot. We'll plan to motor it to deeper, cleaner water on a very calm day. Could I try to loop a cable around the board at the bottom and pull it down? It does seem to me that a relatively small hole in the top of the trunk permitting force to be applied from above might help, and the hole could be fitted with a plug if it might be needed again.

Is Roger's book the manual I saw referred to in posts from late last year? Also, if it's convenient, can you give me a link to D&R Marine?

[talbot]

The DSII maintenance book is a sticky link at the top of the DSII forum, so it's always accessible.

The link to D&R Marine is http://www.drmarine.com/

You should know that this is an infamous DSII problem. While it is a hassle, dropping the board, straightening out the cable, and adding both a downhaul and a bungee to tension the uphaul should fix the problem. Also, while the board is out, you can check it for any delamination, check the through-hull holes for any leaks into the bilge, and replace the seals on the pivot. After that, you should be set for trouble-free use for another 20 years or so.

After a while, you'll begin to wonder (and certainly any buyer will wonder) why you have a hole in the top of your CB trunk. If you do want to cut into the trunk, I would suggest adopting the older O'Day downhaul option, which runs the downhaul cable through a slot in the top of the trunk back in the cockpit. That would make the hole in the trunk serve a regular purpose. The newer system keeps the line inside the cuddy and runs it back to the same cleat used by the uphaul. Having used both systems, I marginally prefer the older one.

[burnsbayhome]

Thanks again, Talbot. I exchanged e-mails with Roger this morning, and am ordering the book. He actually used a rod through a hole to push his cb down at one point, he said. But he recommended first using a bent coathanger looped around the bottom end to try pulling it down, and a breadknife or hacksaw blade along the sides to clear any lodged debris. Also a power washer if we pull the boat out.

[talbot]

Best of luck. Roger seems to have tried just about everything at some point. BTW, where is Churchton, MD? I grew up in MD, and learned to sail on the bay at Edgewater.

[burnsbayhome]

Churchton seems to be mainly a post office designation. Our community is Franklin Manor ("On the Bay"), between Deale and Shady Side, the next peninsula below Edgewater. Our house is on the marsh pretty close to the Bay, with a great view of it. We've been going back and forth for a couple of weeks between really crisp, cool, sunny days and very muggy ones that make us want to get to Maine (Western, with mountains and lakes), which we will do in July. The Bay is very shallow out for a few hundred yards here. If we capsize we can stand on the bottom to right the boat.

[Roger]

Thanks for the cudos people expecially about having tried just about everything... just a point of clarification however. The DS cb trunk slopes down towards the back end. If you do drill a hole make sure it is at the top of the slope and above the waterline.

Secondly, the hole in the top of the cb trunk is in my present boat not the DS II. True however that I did use coathanger, breadknife and hand saw as well as pressure sprayer to resolve the board issue on the DS.

On my current boat (Sundance 20 Weekender) the steel swing keel was jammed with mud and gravel. The pressure washer and coat hanger got rid of most of the grundge but there were still a few pebbles jamming it, so a one inch hole in the top and a 1/2" x 8" bolt used as a punch finally releaved it. I later threaded the hole and inserter a plumbing fitting into it to which my bilge pump now drains. Should that keel ever get stuck again, I'll just unscrew the bung and give it another pounding.

[burnsbayhome]

Thanks again, Roger.

[talbot]

Just one more note. After praising the old double steel cable system on the DSII, I got my board stuck.

I freed it, and found out that with the old system, the downhaul cable can also droop down between the board and the trunk, just like the uphaul cable does. I suppose that's why they changed the configuration.

Anyway, if you have an old (pre-1975) CB system, keep all the slack out of the downhaul cable when the board is up. I don't want to use shock cord (as on the uphaul) because it would make the board harder to raise, so I just try to lift the board with one hand while I pull in the downhaul slack with the other. Switching to cam cleats for both lines helps.

[burnsbayhome]

Does the fact that I have a single cable system make it post-1975? The hull number chart is unclear as to the exact vintage of mine (3048).

Anyway, we'll soon see if I can push the CB down though a hole in the top ot the trunk. The Skipper's been on retreat but comes back tonight, the rainwater (very much rain) is bailed, and the boat's ready to putter down the creek for another try at the Bay.

Good luck with your system! I guess there's always something to keep one busy.

[talbot]

You can get date of manufacture from your HIN (Hull Indentification Number), which should be on the transom between the two rudder gudgeons. Yours probably begins: XCYD3048xxxx.
--XCYD is the manufacturer ID.
--3048 is the sail number
--The xxxx should be the month and date of manufacture.

For instance, my HIN is XCYD65460473, indicating that my hull was completed in April of 1973.

Or should have been completed. Given the amount of work I'm having to do on poorly laminated gel-coat, I have a feeling they never quite wrapped it up properly. Probably staying up late to watch the Watergate hearings on TV that spring, and weren't entirely on the ball when they got to the layup shed.

[burnsbayhome]

Success! I drilled a one-inch hole in the top of the cb trunk (forward of the curve) and used a half-inch dowel with a groove rasped out in the end to push the cb down. It moved immediately and smoothly to the down position. Closed hole with a one-inch brass and rubber drain plug. Looks fine. Thanks to Roger! My order for the book and cd is in the mail.

[adam aunins]

Whenever my CB gives me grief (first time off the trailer each season) I will beach the boat and pull it over on it's side with the mast halyard to get to the board and un-stick it.