26x stuck keel?

[judyb]

I recently bought a well maintained 2001 Mac 26x and did a shake down in the water yesterday. Among some of the issues to address (and the subject of this inquiry) is that the keel will not go down when the line is released. There is simply no down tension on the line when released. The boat has been on the trailer in storage for a couple of years and the keel line pulled very tight and secured all this time. I didn’t have “in the water gear” this first time out so didn’t do an underwater inspection. After pulling the boat out and back on the trailer, inspection of the keel showed no apparent evidence of being jammed. It had a little expected lateral play and seemed free, but I couldn’t examine the vertical component because last few inches of the keel is blocked from vertical movement by the trailer cross member which supports the hull. I’m going back to the water in a few days. Any preliminary ideas to address this either in or out of the water would be appreciated.

[mackatt68]

You can remove the keel by removing the nut on the bolt that holds the keel hanger assembly. The nut will be covered in 3M 5200 so it takes some effort and imagination to get the bolt to drop down once you get the nut off. You don't want to beat on the bolt threads with a hammer. There should be several threads on this procedure. I may have used a small bottle jack back when I removed it om my 1998 to check if it was one of the keels that factory forgot or didn't position the reenforcement block for the pivot bolt. I'm glad I did as I had a large egg-shaped hole where the pivot bolt goes thru the keel. Since I was beyong the time frame when the factory was replacing them, all they could do was give me the dimensions to where the center on the bolt should be located. Once you get the hanger bolt loose the front of the keel will drop down so you can pull it from the boat. Put something under the keel when you working from inside the boat to keep it from dropping to the pavement.

[davidbagnall]

a good trick to release a stuck centerboard is to playout say 1 foot of line and then accelerate to maybe 8 knots (so the bow is lifting), stay there for a few secs and then slow down (and repeat if needed). The force of the water being pushed in the centerboard trunk simply forces it out.... It works every time for me

[Billy]

When I bought my 2001 X new, the cb would not drop; it floated. I actually dove under, pulled the cb down, and watched it float back into the cavity. The hole for the water to fill the cb had resin in it and only allowed the water to trickle in very slowly. (Made me look like an even worse sailor than I really am. Just couldn't hold the boat straight.) We dropped the cb and opened the hole by redrilling. Now it drops as soon as the line is released.
So if the cb is loose and will not drop, you may want to inspect the fill hole in it.
Good Luck.

[Chinook]

I experienced a stuck centerboard at the start of a trip a couple of years ago. I tried lowering the board right after launch, and it wouldn't drop. I ended up anchoring/shoretying the boat in shallow water. I went under the boat and was able to pry the board loose, using a metal rod I had along, in tandem with a small piece of moose antler I picked up, which served as a fulcrum. I inserted the rod into the hole which is in the bottom leading edge of the board. Once it popped free I was fine for the rest of the trip. After the cruise I had the boat in to BWY for several service items, and while it was there I asked Todd to replace the centerboard line. While doing this he spotted a chunk of driftwood which had found its way into the centerboard trunk and gotten jammed all the way up by the action of repetedly raising the board. The time it stuck, the board must have become wedged between the inside of the trunk and the piece of driftwood. Todd managed to extract the driftwood, but said it proved difficult to remove. Good luck fixing your problem. Maybe it's a piece of driftwood like in my case.

[normalfornorfolk]

We sail in water with a strong tide. We have found that if we are facing across the tide (as we often are because the boat tends to point into the wind, rather than the tide) the centreboard won't go down. I suppose it's because the sideways pressure of the tide stops it falling. We have found that motoring slowly in a circle or two usually works; somewhere round the circle there will be a point where the pressure if off, and it falls.

[Catigale]

Judy - if your boat is ALL the way forward on the trailer, the CB will clear the trailer and drop on land - a lot easier to deal with here. (If the trailer is different than my 2002, this might not be true, but I dont think this is the case.)

btw, the CB wont drop immediately when you release the line - it can take a few seconds to fill with water and sink..

[K9Kampers]

...if your boat is ALL the way forward on the trailer, the CB will clear the trailer and drop on land - a lot easier to deal with here. (If the trailer is different than my 2002, this might not be true, but I dont think this is the case.)...

But if it doesn't fully clear, gets stuck on the crossmember, & can't raise OR lower... while alone at the ramp on a cool autumn night can make for a painful & wet yet humorous after-the-fact story! Ask me how I know!

[Catigale]

IF this happens, dont fight it with the CB line....drop the boat back into the water until it floats up off the trailer a bit, then the CB will come free again...easy..... BTDT...GTTS

[Bobby T.-26X #4767]

When I bought my 2001 X new, the cb would not drop; it floated. I actually dove under, pulled the cb down, and watched it float back into the cavity. The hole for the water to fill the cb had resin in it and only allowed the water to trickle in very slowly. (Made me look like an even worse sailor than I really am. Just couldn't hold the boat straight.) We dropped the cb and opened the hole by redrilling. Now it drops as soon as the line is released.
So if the cb is loose and will not drop, you may want to inspect the fill hole in it.
Good Luck.

me too!!! my '02-X had a floating CB. I called MacGregor and they instructed me how to fix it.
it was a hassle, but i learned how to remove it.

Bob T.
"DāBob"
'02X w/ '04 90-TLDI (14" x 11 pitch)
Dinghy Motor: '06 2.5-Suzuki