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My 26x dagger board wont go down. I've heard it mentioned that the boards have holes in so they fill up water. Meaning they wont go down if the holes are blocked as board just floats. Is this correct about board needing to be able to fill with water?
If so then blockage is quite possible as she's on a tidal mooring & sits down on silt seabed every low tide.
If there are holes in board, are they accessible to unblock when boat's on trailer?
Thanks

26X here. Sometimes growth on the board will cause it to stick in the centerboard trunk. I have found lightly reversing the boat will allow some water to flow into the trunk and pull the board down. It really just takes a few seconds of reverse to start the process. If that doesn't work easily I'd pull your boat and inspect it. Was your CEnterboard pulled up when the boat was experiencing the tides?

It's possible silt has clogged up the trunk also. Sitting on the bottom at low tide is likely allowing silt in there and causing it to stick. I'd pull the boat and inspect.

It sounds like you have something in the centerboard trunk. Silt or marine growth would be a good guess.

If you have the boat on the trailer you may not be able to lower the centerboard more than a couple of inches. It really depends on how the board lines up on the trailer cross-members. It's worth a try putting the boat on the trailer and trying to lower the board. In any case you may be able to see what is blocking it from moving.

If you find that you can lower the board while the boat is on the trailer you may consider rigging a line or temporary cross-member to keep the board from dragging on the pavement if it should come down while you are going down the highway.

I knew all that thanks. So no one knows about holes in dagger boards ?

yes holes in the centerboard too allow it to go down. its hollow.

Cheers

The centreboard is quite heavy and should drop even if the holes are clogged.

The other users suggestion sounds likely.

Mine jammed because the PO padded it out at the pivot pin with plywood to stop the rattle and used a bolt and nut instead of the pin.
The plywood swelled and jammed the board from dropping.

pobinr wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:47 am My 26x dagger board wont go down. I've heard it mentioned that the boards have holes in so they fill up water. Meaning they wont go down if the holes are blocked as board just floats. Is this correct about board needing to be able to fill with water?
If so then blockage is quite possible as she's on a tidal mooring & sits down on silt seabed every low tide.
If there are holes in board, are they accessible to unblock when boat's on trailer?
Thanks

THe daggerboard does have holes in it to "sink" it. However, I have found that with any forward movement of the boat (and probably aft movement) the pressure of the water pushes back on the board and jams it. Solution, stop moving forward or even reverse briefly. My board does take a little while to fill with water and drop. On the other hand it can be quite heavy to lift up as it is full of water that takes a while to drain out of the holes,

PS: I would not leave the board down it there is a likeliehood of the boat settling on the bottom. Hate to think what would happen as the boat lowered down on the daggerboard, jammed and then either tipper the boat on the side or snapped the daggerboard.