Refurbish the DS2 Centerboard

[boone]

<P><IMG SRC="/daysailer/photo/images/cb/cb_full_sb.jpg" BORDER="0" ALT="Starboard side">

<IMG SRC="/daysailer/photo/images/cb/cb_full_pt.jpg" BORDER="0" ALT="Port side">

<A HREF="/daysailer/photo/images/cb/cb_top_sb.jpg"><IMG SRC="/daysailer/photo/images/cb/cb_top_sb_tb.jpg" BORDER="2" ALT="Starboard side, top"></A> 
<A HREF="/daysailer/photo/images/cb/cb_mid_sb.jpg"><IMG SRC="/daysailer/photo/images/cb/cb_mid_sb_tb.jpg" BORDER="2" ALT="Starboard side, middle"></A> 
<A HREF="/daysailer/photo/images/cb/cb_mid_pt.jpg"><IMG SRC="/daysailer/photo/images/cb/cb_mid_pt_tb.jpg" BORDER="2" ALT="Port side, middle"></A> 
<A HREF="/daysailer/photo/images/cb/cb_pin.jpg"><IMG SRC="/daysailer/photo/images/cb/cb_pin_tb.jpg" BORDER="2" ALT="Gaskets and pin"></A></P>

<P>Hi all. Well, while doing some spring cleaning on my DS2, I took another long look at the centerboard.
It was ugly looking up in its slot and it gave me trouble during my sails last year. Plus the gaskets
were leaking. So I decided to pull it! I have found along the way that the DS2 centerboard was not
designed with easy maintenance in mind.</P>

<P>I got into the inspection ports and removed the pin and gaskets. The old gaskets were a mess. Next it
was time to lower the board. Unfortunately, to remove the board, you must cut the wire leads that are
used to raise and lower the board. So I cut those. Now, I didn't have a way to turn the boat over, so
instead I put the DS in shallow water off the trailer, put on my dive mask and retrieved the board.</P>

<P>Now the board was free, and it was ugly! It took some effort to scrub the algae and scum off of it.
It's still ugly! I assume this is the original centerboard. It appears to be made of wood with a
fiberglass coating, and a weight of some sort is embedded in the center. To my dismay, the wire leads
are embedded in the board, which is going to make replacement tricky.</P>

<P>So now, it's time to refurbush the centerboard. How to do it? It looks like I need to remove that old,
splitting fiberglass coating and replace it. What materials and tools will I need for this? Then, I
have to replace the wires...does anyone have more detail about how that wire is embedded in the board
and how it can be replaced without destroying the board? Maybe that hole near the wires is involved.
And then finally (hopefully), I need new
gaskets. Do I get 'real' gaskets from D&R or will something from the hardware store work as good or better?</P>

<P>Have a look at the photos, make your diagnosis, and thanks for your suggestions.</P>

[Guest]

Hi. I had to remove my CB to fix a crack in the hull and found that the cable had been "glued in" using fiberglass resin. It actually drilled and chipped out fairly well and so I replaced it (a new wire) with the same technique. Glass work is not too bad to learn. Get a basic book from the lib. and don't be afraid to get down and dirty with the resin. Buy disposable buckets and brushes and "wet down" the glass on a cut open plastic garbage bag, taped to a plywood table over saw horses. Cleanup is not worth the two dollars in throw-away tools per days work. Practice glassing up a 2x4 before attacking your CB. It's fun stuff to work with. When it's almost completely set you can work it (fair it) with a plastic, auto-body putty file!

Emak (Emak41-at-excite.com)

[Guest]

All things considered, you might be better off just buying a new centerboard, both D&R and Cape Cod Shipbuilding sell the centerboard for the DS II, it is not cheap (about $200) but you will get a good solid fiberglass centerboard that you can rely on. Fixing it yourself will not be hard, it will certainly be cheaper, but will require a bit of learning and trial.
I don't think that you really needed to cut the wires (too late now!) my centerboard control line and wire
were fairly easy to detach. The wire to pull the board up was fastened to the board with a stainless-steel tang attached by 3 screws. The line to pull the board down was knotted into a pocket filled with a polyester putty (easily chipped out).
You don't say what year your boat was built, but either you have a VERY early DS II (like 1971) or your boat has an owner rebuilt or replaced centerboard by the looks of it. No matter what you ultimately do, I'd recommend giving Rudy at D&R Marine a call for advice, he may be able to provide a better idea for fixing your boat.
The gaskets, those are really just rubber washers, D&R has them but you could probably make new ones.

Rod Johnson,"SUNBIRD" (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)

[Guest]

The photos of your centerboard show me that it is not the orginal board. Somebody made a wooden board, in a hurry, and covered it with fiberglass. The DS II's had a solid glass board with a much better shape than the one shown.

The orginal DS II boards where made in two half's and then glued together. I have seen many that have been damaged, soaked up water and froze and that slit them open at the glue seam, it's easy to fix, but if you raise the centerboard BEFORE you hit the beach those boards should last foreever.

Like Rod Johnson said "All things considered, you might be better off just buying a new centerboard, both D&R and Cape Cod Shipbuilding sell the centerboard for the DS II."

Gus Heismann (gheismann-at-hotmail.com)

[boone]

Thanks for the info guys. FYI, my boat is a 1972 DS2 model. I did think the centerboard looked a little "home made", but I didn't know what a vintage '72 board would look like. My boat didn't appear to have many alterations made except for a hole cut and refilled to replace the metal loop in the bow.

I might consider a new board but they sure aren't cheap. The D&R page at this site lists a DS2 centerboard for $345. Cape Cod's site lists theirs at $195 but their stuff typcially is for the DS1. I've sent them an inquiry and I'll give Rudy a call.

I suppose re-glassing the existing board still might be a good project for learning fiberglass work.

[Guest]

Mike, I looked at the CCSB parts list, and I stand corrected....it does not appear that they have the DS II centerboard. I'm sure that they would build one for you, and even with it being a "semi-custom" order, I would think that they could do it for less than the price of the DS II board from D&R. Just be sure to accurately measure the locations for the pivot bolt and the down-line connection. On the otherhand, building a new board from marine plywood covered with fiberglass cloth (use Epoxy resin) is not an impossible task and will certainly cost less than the D&R board. Shipping costs will add to the cost of a purchased board, a factor that I often forget....easy to do since I live less than 35 mile from D&R and about 45 miles from CCSB (and moor my boat about 2.5 mile from CCSB's dock).

ps: I'm still jealous when I look at the pics of someone's tour of CCSB!

Rod Johnson,"SUNBIRD" (rjohnson24-at-juno.com)

[Guest]

I'll 2nd the notion that its not an original board. At first (and now 2nd) look I think it resembles a Blue-J's CB and that would also be a touch small!

MAKurtis (Emak41-at-excite.com)