centerboard line fitting

Posted By: Seth Dabney, 2023-C, Oxford, MS
Date: 3/17/08 7:30p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Grrr...photos of centerboard lifting line/leak repair wanted, etc. (Paul Germain, 2023 C)

Paul, I think the center board line runs through the air chamber on my C but may be attached further up the centerboard and pass through the water ballast tank on an A, which has a longer cockpit. My line attaches very near to the bottom of the centerboard. The photo below shows the through-hull after removing the step support. A mirror in the access port shows the discoloration of the underside of the sole indicating leakage around the fitting. My fitting had been damaged when I beached to boat on some hard soil and torqued it to get it off again. I removed the fitting and drilled out an annulus around the through hull location without cutting through the centerboard trunk (replaced the fitting for the photo). Then I removed the through hull, taped over the hole from below, filled the hole with thickened epoxy, and re-drilled the hole for a new through hull. I also made a vain attempt to seal the only part of the centerboard tank that I hadn't completely covered with glass and multiple barrier coats (the "pi" cut). Then I added some reinforcement to the centerboard trunk... and installed the new through hull bedded in 5200 By the way, if you air chamber has been flooded, the one behind the bulkhead 4 feet further aft may be flooded as well and will take some time to drain if you don't drill a hole and pump it out. I also reinforced the area where the cabin step was attached. My effort inside the ballast tank was thorough. I had multiple layers of glass on the bulkhead and over top of the wooden cleat where the bulkhead met the cabin sole. Only the place on top of the centerboard trunk itself wasn't covered with glass. But it still leaked or seeped along the wooded cleat, so I installed a bilge pump. I ran the wires and reinforced hose to a hole cut through the sole inside the starboard cabin seat, sealed there with 5200, then forward to the area under the sink. I put an upward pointing loop in the hose to prevent backflow. It seems to work, but I don't have a picture. I am amazed that the sink through hull is nearly at the waterline. I wired the pump to an extra circuit, and leave it on when I leave the boat in the water for extended periods. I envy Gary his dry air chamber. I don't know why my aft bulkhead leaks because the forward one has always been dry. Seth