centerboard bolt leak

[warrenperk]

Are there any recommendations to prevent leaking into the bilge through the centerboard bolt holes? I have rubber gaskets and silicone sealant on each side of the centerboard trunk, with the fender washers to provide "squeeze" pressure, but on windy days the leaking is significant. Should I use neoprene washers/gaskets?

[GreenLake]

viewtopic.php?t=1256

Discusses a possible alternate source of a leak.

Unfortunately I couldn't open any of the external links, but the "nipple" fix is standard DSII lore and you should find plenty of discussions here in the older posts.

I've only ever sailed on someone else's DSII but the amount of water that got pumped along the uphaul was prodigious. Any leaks in the connection between CB trunk and the opening into the cuddy will definitely be noticeable.

Good luck and have fun spelunking in the old posts.

[Hesedguy]

Also, check your bilge drain plug. Mine looked well seated but I kept getting water sloshing around, turns out it was cross-threaded and leaking.

[warrenperk]

Thanks for the tip on the old posts. I need to check the boat but I maybe be on to something.
One more question: Do you know of any place that makes canvass covers for the day sailor? Mine is falling apart. I have used heavy plastic tarps but they don't last more than a a couple of years and it seems like a waste to keep replacing them.

[GreenLake]

Check out SLO Sail&Canvas.

https://www.slosailandcanvas.com/oday-d ... eck-cover/

[Champlaner]

Late reply to the OP--For those with the 1/2" bolt through the trunk, it is possible to achieve a dust dry bilge using SS conical washers that have EPDM bonded rubber on them. Available from Marine Bolt Supply or on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9DK14T?th=1
BUT, you should first do some of what I did last year as shown in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6942&p=42091#p42091

The key point is to use a bushing which is longer than the centerboard is thick--it should barely fit in the trunk opening. That way you can fully tighten the nut without squishing the trunk. It's possible that these washers would work without modifying the bushing, but it wouldn't be that difficult to have a plaxtics shop make you everything you need. Gotta drop the board though.

I ended up removing the 2 ugly shims in the other thread. Instead I made some washers which were exactly the right thickness to fit over the barely protruding ends of the bushing and sit flush. I got lucky with finding the right thickness plastic lying around. By eliminating centerboard lateral travel along the bushing, I was also very happy with the lack of CB wobble! No need to adhere the washers as they will be pinned in place. Part of that success might be the tight tolerance hole I made in the bushing (33/64").

The control lines now work so well that if I have my gear bucket in the way it just gets pushed over when I'm tugging on either up or down haul. While I was at it I upgraded the cleat to 2 clam cleats--one releasable. Thanks to long time poster Tim Webb for that tip! And yeah the top one is crooked. Getting less careful as I age.

CB clam cleats.jpg (61.54 KiB) Viewed 4003 times

[tedwright]

I'm preparing to install an auto-release camcleat on the DS II centerboard in a similar place to Champlaner's, but I'm leery of driving screws into the side of then centerboard trunk. How long should those screws be? Is there solid material beneath them?

[GreenLake]

The way I understand this, the CB trunk for the DS2 is enclosed by the cockpit molding, so at that point there should be a double shell structure. Anything you fix might attach only to the outer shell. (I'm not sure what kind of gap there would be between the outer wrapper and the actual CB trunk).

However, on the positive side, the loading is entirely in shear in this case and with the release cleat, there's a maximal force, even in the case of a grounding. I tend to think that this means that simply screwing into the fiberglass of the cockpit CB wrapper would be sufficient. Assuming there's a bit of a gap, you could probably also use pop rivets. At least, these options are what I would have tried in a similar situation.

Only in case of actual failure would I have started to look for additional support. An obvious solution in this case is to lay up a bit of flat panel on a piece of stiff plastic your workbench and then glue it in place as a sort of "pedestal". In a setup like on the photo, a single piece could serve both cleats. Not more than 3/16" should be enough to remove any worries about the screws (or rivets) holding. (You could even use bolts with nuts glued to the back of the plate, but then you'd need to drill some larger holes in the CB wrapper to make room for them. After that, you glue everything in place.)

Hope this addresses your question.

[Champlaner]

I used shorty screws probably 5/8 or 3/4 {oops more like 3/8 to 1/2} just through that skin with a dab of epoxy. Same screws as what held the old cleat. I adjust the cleats to the easiest setting for rudder and CB. Not worried about a false positive release. And of course I tried to tug one line while the other was still cleated on day 1 and um maybe day 2. But I really like knowing the board will stay at the angle of choice.

I also use an open clam cleat for the boom downhaul. I tried a fairlead clam cleat but it was too annoying to move quickly. The open one requires an extra little nudge or 2 to really seat the bottom end. Once again, I can live with the consequences if it slips off. I should change my username to Formerplaner.