Centerboard jambs going down and up

[hectoretc]

Greetings all,

Still tied to the dock finishing up a couple rigging items before our first sail, but as I was working on the boat this weekend, it occurred to me that I've not run up/down the centerboard yet. Another fun and interesting experience to add to the list.

I uncleated the uphaul line and nothing much happened, so I gave a tug on the downhaul line... and nothing much happened. A few more increasingly firm pulls (with appropriate salty language) on the downhaul, and I decided something was wrong. My recollection from when I pulled the board last fall to repair it, was that everything seemed to move freely, but at that time the boat was on it's side in the grass, and I don't think I can count on laying it on it's side (at least on purpose) every time I want to put the board up/down.

Anyway (making a short story long), I removed the uphaul surface mounted pass through block from the top of the CB housing, and could see the CB fully retracted into the housing. I tried a few gentle taps on a dowel against the board and it wouldn't budge. Finally I put a large bladed screwdriver down along the side and pressed a bit while pulling on the downhaul, and it slid down (obviously had been binding).
But when I then pulled on the uphaul, it only went in about 2/3 of the way before stopping, and no amount of pulling (or recycled salty language) was going to get it to move up any further.
I guess I'm OK with it like this for sailing this year. I imagine when I go to put it on the trailer, the rollers will "help" the CB back into it's housing and I'll just have to reproduce the the pry-bar downhaul trick to get it out again, unless there is a topside fix that anyone can suggest. I for one can't imagine anything that could be done.

I would certainly welcome any suggestions though...
Thanks

[mike31416]

I found a post that says:

"The typical problem is that the slack cable sags between the board and the trunk and gets pinned. A few years later, O'day began installing a shock cord to keep tension on the cable at all times. "


http://forum.daysailer.org/forum/viewtopi ... 84db9632ec

Mike

[gmichaela]

my cb has stuck a few times -- mainly due to barnacle growth though I believe.... This year I made sure to get into the cracks with a plastic putty knife and a wooden shingle to clear any old barnacles off... antifouling paint on the board and inside the lower part of the boards area is probably a good idea?

on the water, when its been stuck, I've shifted my weight on the boat and rocked it as if I was skulling -- this action sometimes free's a board thats stuck too... other than that, going for a swim and trying to figure out whats wrong is all I've tried.

[hectoretc]

Not sure what I did that fixed this, but suddenly today, the board goes up and down easily... Things almost never fix themselves... (almost)