12ft oday widgeon

[Guest]

Hello
My grandfather gave me the sailboat 10 years ago and its been in storage. I believe the boat is a approx 69 model it was ought in the Fort Myers Fla area. I want to know should the centerboard have side to side play enough that you'd hear it clunk back in forth. Also I have had a leak where the floor meets the centerboard upright near the lever. Any suggestions?? I have beautiful curved wooden seats but if the boat is up on its side they don't like to stay in place any suggestions! Also I have seen on a picture of some type of braces for the centerboard toward the front of the boat. Shoud my boat have this? My son is now 5 and I want him to sail so I need to get the boat out of the shed. Please help me in the right direction.
Thanks Nathan

nathan (nathan-at-cherco.net)

[Guest]

OK, I guess I should have read your other posting first.....anyway, the centerboard on my Widgeon would clunk when not sailing if it was down all the way, my DS will do the same. The seats have (or should have) a stainlees steel angle iron bracket to attach them to the aft flotation tank/seat. Mine had a stainless steel stud welded to a SS plate screwed to the underside of each seat that fit through the angle bracket and using a wing-nut would hold the seat in place. The forward end of the seat fitted into a "slot" in a fiberglass flange under the mast partner/seat (across boat at mast). With a little thought this could be recreated. To fix the crack(s) in the hull at the edge of the CB trunk, I'd grind the "paint" (mine was kind of a rubber coating) off the area and using epoxy resin, lay in a few layers of fiberglass tape.
If I can answer any more questions, let me know!

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

[Guest]

Oh, I'm not sure what the "braces" for the CB trunk that you ask about are, but my boat did not have any they really aren't needed on a 12' sailboat that is built as strongly as tha old Widgeons were.

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