Wayne- where do you live? I know that boats stored in Minnesota and other places that freeze hard in the winter have more than their share of stuck boards- maybe because water that is in the keel swells when it freezes and gets worse as the winters go by. At any rate, I think that the problem starts when water gets in the keel and either rusts or freezes (or both). If you are lucky, it is just rust on the board. How about pulling the board and looking around? Maybe drill a few holes thru the keel into the ballast (you will obviously have to plug them later) and see if you can find any water.

I have been working this spring for Nor'Sea,. tooling the new 23, but am finished there now and plan to start soon tooling a new board, thinner (probably 3/4"), which might help, but you will still have to get the water out of the keel (if that is the problem) or a thinner board will be only a temporary fix.

----- Original Message -----

From: wayne yeargain

Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2002 7:30 PM

Subject: M_Boats: Stuck centerboard

Hate to drag up this old tired dog but my recently purchased ('76 M17) has refused to lower her centerboard.

Intrepid went on her maiden voyage, nothing went twang but centerboard was not forthcoming. Tried tapping on the

case, still nothing.

I was told it had been in storage for several years, (could be dirt dobbers or rust.)

Still sailed pretty good without the c'board.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Wayne M17 #204 "Intrepid"