Swing Keel rope replacement

[Dougiestyle]

I replaced my centerboard about 6 months ago and sealed it with 4200 on both top of the washer and bottom of the washer. Now I am sanding the bottom for bottom paint. I thought I could drop the CB for painting the waterline inside the trunk and replace the CB rope with a low stretch rope. Now the CB does not easily drop out. Hmmm? I will be working on that soon.
I might use butyl tape?

[Jimmyt]

I replaced my centerboard about 6 months ago and sealed it with 4200 on both top of the washer and bottom of the washer. Now I am sanding the bottom for bottom paint. I thought I could drop the CB for painting the waterline inside the trunk and replace the CB rope with a low stretch rope. Now the CB does not easily drop out. Hmmm? I will be working on that soon.
I might use butyl tape?

Is your supposition that you glued the bracket in with 4200? If so, once it sets up, it's a pretty fair adhesive. I use it to glue in things I want to stay put, but might need to remove. You want to make sure not to apply it too liberally or you will have a mess on your hands trying to get things apart in the future. Hopefully that's not the case.

That hole is above the water line, so you could use butyl tape I guess. It doesn't need to come apart very often though. Maybe the X owners will render an opinion on butyl tape there.

[Tomfoolery]

That hole is above the water line, so you could use butyl tape I guess. It doesn't need to come apart very often though. Maybe the X owners will render an opinion on butyl tape there.

I had included butyl tape when I composed my last post, but took it out. Above the water line, but lives in the water, and I don't know how reliable it is over time in that sort of application. 4200 I know. Butyl tape I use for deck fittings and such. So I don't want to be the guy who suggests something totally unsuitable, especially if I know that I don't know.

[Dougiestyle]

I did not seal the bracket to the trunk. I just sealed the washer on the topside of the trunk, but im sure some 4200 went down into the hole.
I agree with tom on the 4200. I will go lightly, and prevent the 4200 from going into the trunk hole next time.

[Starscream]

Whew, I just got the centerboard back in.

Actually not so bad. Definitely was convenient to have a second set of hands in the cabin to thread the nut a couple of turns when the hanger comes up through the hole.

I used no sealant from below on the outside. I might use duct-seal on the inside, or silicone, but I think 4200 might be overkill and make things hard next time (18 years from now I hope).

The hanger slipped right into the hole on the second try, very straightforward. Lying on your back underneath the boat you can just see enough beside the centerboard to aim the hanger threads at the hole.

I copied the original knot exactly, and melted it just slightly at the end. It was really hard to get the line through the centerboard hole, I needed a pair of needle nose pliers to get it done. No wonder I couldn't do it holding my breath underwater last year.

I haven't run at full throttle without ballast for years because I was worried about the centerboard line. Maybe this year I'll get to give it a shot. With the VC17 and a smoothish hull, I'm curious about the max speed.

[Starscream]

There. Done.



That's about as sanded as the bottom is gonna get. In some places I sanded all the way through the barrier coat trying to remove the old anti-fouling. It was good stuff, it seams, and I'm not gonna touch the inside of the centerboard trunk. There are still some red spots in the barrier coat in places, but passing a sander 50 times with 80 grit doesn't take it off.

Now I have to figure a way to get the butt end up off the trailer so I can sand the back half.

[Tomfoolery]

I noticed your CB is down a little, in front of the cross member. Mine did that when I did the Mac Bump® with the CB not quite pulled up as tight as it should be. I once had it jammed so tight I had to drop the CB just to get it back into the slot.

So I added this little bunk on a scrap angle iron bracket. Now it can't get stuck unless I bump it so hard I fold the winch tower at the bow.

Yours:



Mine:



Preventive Measures:



It's especially useful when loading the boat, as I need at least some CB to be able to steer at low speed. But I sometimes forget to pull it up once on the trailer, and the 'bump' seals the deal. Not any more.

[Starscream]

Good call...something worth checking for everyone!

Actually I had to take off a cross-member from the trailer to get the board out, there's an additional beam that goes across the middle of the board and would prevent it hitting the road. And the trailer is moved back a few inches in the photo: usually the tip of the board can rest nicely on the cross beam in the photo. Didn't plan it like that, it's just how the trailer guys happened to make it...perfect.

[Tomfoolery]

And the trailer is moved back a few inches in the photo: usually the tip of the board can rest nicely on the cross beam in the photo. Didn't plan it like that, it's just how the trailer guys happened to make it...perfect.

Yeah, mine's like that - the CB sits on the cross beam, but a spirited Mac Bump® will move the boat just enough forward that the CB can fall down, but the boat will settle further back thereby locking it under the beam just a little. I actually dragged it a little in a parking lot once before checking.

My trailer doesn't have any other cross members, so if it sneaks past that middle one, that's it.

[Starscream]

Interesting photos...you have that same layer of crusted freshwater slime that forms right over ablative anti-fouling, too. It looks like you have the same grey barrier coat as well?

Is that few inches of clean, unslimed hull in front of the crossbeam caused by the mac bump? I've never been able to do the bump because of my sandpaper hull...no matter how hard I jam on the brakes, it doesn't budge a millimeter.

I did a fair amount of research before deciding on the VC-17 antifouling. Seems like it's one of the few that are effective against that slime layer. We will see.

The Interprotect 2000E seems to be doing a good job of filling the scratches and divots. I think I'm gonna 220 grit it after four coats to prep for the anti-foul.

[Starscream]

The leading edge of your centerboard looks remarkably parallel to the road below.

Is that a light asphalt "sanding"?

[Tomfoolery]

Yes, and yes. Mac Bump® for the wipe, and not realizing the CB got past the cross beam with a slack line in a parking lot for the sanding, hydrodynamic ( ) leading edge.

VC17 is pretty good, and very slick, and very easy to apply, but it's not going to completely stop the slime buildup. But the slime washes off easily if you get to it while wet, if memory serves; I only used it on the keel boat I no longer have.

[ris]

We are finishing today with our new anti-foul. We built a bracket that fits the back 6 inches of the boat. We lower the front of the trailer all the way to the concrete which puts the back of the trailer up in the air. We then put our wood bracket on top of two concrete blocks,so the last 6 inches of the boat will rest on the wood. This holds the back of the boat about 26 inches off the ground. We then pick up the front of the trailer which lowers the back of the trailer until we can get our hand between the bunks and the bottom of the boat. We used the Interlux Micron CF. We traveled over 12,000
water miles since the last time we put anti-foul on the boat. After we did the back we put a much shorter bracket behind the very front bunk by lifting the tongue very high putting the bracket under the boat then lowering the trailer till we can sand, clean and repaint the area where the boat rested on the front small bunk. When we do the front bunk the back of the boat is already back on the trailer. Some folks put both ends of the boat on brackets and then move the trailer forwards 10 inches so they can do both areas at the same time. We feel safer with the trailer under the boat just in case the boat moved. This is the pic of the bracket for stern of boat.


This is a pic of the bracket that I put right in front of the swing keel.




If you have any questions just ask.
Richard

[Starscream]

Thanks for that Richard. Looks like a nice setup. My life is complicated by my trailer. It's lower than stock, has side bunks, a longer tongue, and a lot of crossbeams.

There's a crossbeam right at the stern of the boat, too. With the long tongue and low stance the butt end doesn't go very high at all with the nose all the way down. I had to jack up the trailer on each side, and pile pavers up underneath to support the boat. It's about 6" up off the trailer, which still makes it hard to reach everywhere with the sander. It's very freaky being under there, and I left the trailer, jack stands and several piles of pavers underneath to give me a fighting chance if it did fall.

I've been lying on my back for about eight hours over the last two days working at sanding the old antifouling odd. It's a freaking nightmare. Don't know what it is, but man, it is still thick and so well adhered.

Btw....40 grit. It's the only paper that makes a dent in the stuff. I only found that out after I had done about 80% of the boat with 80 grit. The 80 was so slow, the 40 made better headway.

I'm so close to being done sanding. I never wanna do that again.

[Dougiestyle]

I got my CB out relatively simple (it just needed a little extra persuasion). I should be finished sanding the bottom of my boat today. I might have good temps by the end of this week for paint. Will post photos later.