Centerboard rope diagnosis--CUT ROPE?

[Rolf]

Made it to 2 harbors Catalina this past weekend -- only on my friend's boat. After a great week of sailing/fishing/speeding around, My cb fell down while powering fast inside LA harbor. Boat started to broach, but the bigger 90 O/b kept her steady! Anyway, this is second cb rope prob in less than a year. I pulled it up and it looked like it was cut through! Dealer Mike Inmon says these ropes are bulletproof and should last for years. He says a "flashing" underneath has probably come undone and is cutting the rope. I will take it to the Mac plant in Costa Mesa to fix, although Bill in parts dept there didn't seem familiar with this "flashing" Inmon thinks it is(I bought the boat from Jim Allred in Oklahoma so doubt if I'll take it there:). How does this sound to all you? Anyone?
Rolf

[Moe]

The only thing that could cleanly cut the rope would be where the flanges are welded onto the ends of the compression post... IF the flange was butted to the tube, and not slipped over it. But even at that, I'd expect to see fraying on the rope. Given the rope goes through the guide at the top, I would think if there is anything in the compression post cutting it, it would probably be at the bottom flange.

--
Moe

[waternwaves]

Help, Im a little slow..

Did you say the rope or the cable failed??

Mine is mostly steel cable...... I'll go out and check again in the morning but I am missing something here


darren

[Zoran]

Mine is SS cable too. rope is attached to it at the deck.

Zoran

[Frank C]

Help, Im a little slow...Did you say the rope or the cable failed?? Mine is mostly steel cable ...

Sometime in the '98 or '99 model year the factory switched from cable to Spectra(?) line. The Nov '99 change list explained that marina and moored boats were having a centerboard cable corrosion problem, solved by the use of special rope.

[Carl Noble]

Rolf, have you checked the edges of the hole in the centerboard where the line goes thru?. If the hole has sharp edges it will eventually wear and cut through even the spectra line. There can be alot of tension on the line in that area.

[waternwaves]

Sounds like someone is describing a stray current problem, not a cable problem. the regular mac has what I consider insufficient zincs for a year round moored boat....and should have augmented zincs.

If I had already experienced one line failure there, I would consider the factory design insufficient then, and provided that there were no other mechanical changes at the entry or exit to the compression pose, I would go back to the stainless cable with 2 large zincs installed in a routed channel in the CB with a lead going from the zincs to the cable....

Probably would have to replace it every three years or so... (SS is stain less not rust free) but unless there is a sheave down there (added complexity) wet ropes over metal or barnacle encrusted edges does not seem adviseable...

My boat was moored in a marina several years in the brackish flow of the columbia closer to astoria than portland.( and the PO's scary AC wiring resulted in some nasty leakage current..(but he believed in the use of large sacrificial zincs)... and I am still on the original cable...

does anyone know if there were any other changes to the bottom of the CB trunk, which would preclude a change out??

Thanks Frank!

[norbert]

the s/s centerboard cable is not in the water when the cb is up. with cb and engine up (as i always park my boat in the slip) no metal part of the boat is submerged. so far you do not need any zinc anode on a mac.

my cb cable is from 1997, the boat always has been in a slip during season (last 2 years in salt water) and the cable is as new. what happend to me last fall was that the nut of the bolt which attaches the cable to the cb loosend and felt off. have to replace it.

rolf's problem is totally different as he has the newer all rope cb line. i'd check where exactly the rope is cutted and look for a sharp edge there.

my impression from the posts on this board is that the newer all rope cb line is much more prone to fail than the old cable/rope system.

[Greg]

If the cables are more reliable than the spectra, would it be difficult to convert a later model to the cable?

Greg

[waternwaves]

Norbert
...
good point..,

I guess where I tie up at tho, I dont really raise the cb all the way up unless I am landing....since I am marina or harbor motoring, I leave the CB slightly down, for added directional control, and just have never adjusted it overnight.. Otherwise anchored or at a buoy I leave the board down to go with the current.

so I guess if others do that with the low stretch CB rope it would still present an opportunity for marine growth, I did not paint the line with bottom coat.

But again, unless all of the air is out of the CB trunk, shouldnt the bottom of the compression post be in air not water???, seems the only way anything sharp (other than a loose ferrule or guide down there maybe) could get in there would be if it was caught and drawn up during retraction of the CB... jmho

[Frank C]

I recall that the factory change list describing stray current as the corrosion culprit. But then it sounds like a spectra line would simplify the assembly process toooooo ??? ... probably added incentive to dump the cables, eh?

My spectra line looks frayed along the length where it turns across the guide loop, but it has been five years ... deserves retirement! True enough, both line and cable are subject to early failure when the board is left down. But then, if my boat was kept in the water ... I'd not want my board or its hanger bracket subjected to the constant motion of the board left in the water.

[Rolf]

Moe's answer about the flanges on the bottom of the compression post is exactly what Mike Inmon suspects. Fixing it involves a day's work, according to him, and he's trying to get me to take it to the factory since I didn't buy the boat from him, tho I gave close to 5 grand for his options. Bill at the factory didn't sound too excited or knowlegable about fixing the prob, so forget that! Inmon will do the work but I have to yell and scream. I also think my yanking on the cord against a current trying to raise cb didn't help any. Either way, 2 failures in just over a year are ridiculous. I want stainless cable! Has anyone retrofitted to this? Inmon is making it sound more difficult than it probably is. I will pay somebody like Amber Marine to do it if I have to.
Rolf

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

My '96 boat has it's original cable. I bought a spare almost 5 years ago but have yet to see any reason to replace it. BWY sells the cables. I don't think there is any difference in the design of the centerboard, hanger or compression tube between the early ones with the cable and the later ones with line. Making the change should be as easy as dropping the board while the boat is on the trailer and fishing through the new cable. Up top on deck the cable transitions to a line after the turning block for the run back to the cam cleat.

[Newell]

Just a quick note, since I've been there and done that.

I have a 96X and converted from the cable to Spectra, made the cable into a split backstay. Have replaced the Spectra once since it was fraying badly where the line contacts the compression tube. Checking the tube by feel found a rough edge. As the board swings the line is in contact with the front edge of the tube.

I did 2 things to fix. Champered the rough edge of the tube. Changed the attachment point of the line (got rid of the bolt) further from the pivot point of the CB by @ 1". This lessens the angle of contact between the line and the tube. My line goes through the board and back through another hole and stayed with a knot. Seems to work great but haven't looked at it for several years. Need to inspect it this season.

I always wonder what would have happened if I would have still had the cable installed, the day I backed out of a guest slip at Dangling Rope Marina with the CB down and caught a major cable. As it was, I lost the stop on the board but no cleats or pulley.

[waternwaves]

Rolf, I have dropped the CB while still on the trailer.. and found that other than fishing the line through you are really only looking at about an hour and a half job, and that would be doing it myself. So if you already have a line constructed to the proper length, and dont wish to get any fancier with the chamfer on the the glass and comp post an 18 " bit extension for you half inch drill and a 3/4", and maybe an 1 1/4" stone should polish it nicely with your half in drill...I knotted the end of my cb haul to let all the cable through so I could inspect it and bottom coat...and found it pretty easy...

PRobably less time than trailering back and forth to the dealer. and IF the dealers can get replacement assemblies premade...saves me the questionable eyelet crimp. might want to check here and see what the diameters of the ferrules above the compression post on the cabin top are. and if they are the same..... would be really handy.. I'll go back out and check again in the morning

good luck

darren