greetings, we are the proud new owners of M17 "hula pie", hull # 025, built in april, 1974. she was a s.f. bay boat for many years and was even shipped to hawaii for a period of several years before returning to northern california. she had been in storage for about 18 months prior to getting wet again just two weeks ago. cathryn and i have taken her out scotts flat lake near nevada city, ca and we can't get the board down so i am tapping it down a little bit thru the pendant hole then cranking it up again to try to get it loose and also trying to slip a hacksaw blade up alongside the board while on the trailer. i have read many ideas in the archives and am currently looking for a farmer with a big tractor and three healthy sons if the simple efforts do not work. even with the board up "hula pie" is a blast! our most immediate problem is that the single 1.5 inch aluminum thruhull is rotten [the one in the cockpit sole looks good] and needs fixing. i read jerry's ideas on thruhull repairs and was wondering if anyone had tried this or any other ideas. how about the two new additional drains a couple of inches above the cockpit sole? any backflow? we are new to sailing and find the M17 to be a very kindly boat to learn on. thanks, ron and cathryn goodspeed M17 "hula pie" #025