Well, you will be thrilled to know that I decided not to tempt the fates. Instead of building a homemade boat lift and incurring bodily injury, I had the little 17 lifted by a pro. The centerboard is out and awaiting its fate. The trunk looks perfectly smooth and unswollen. the board on the other hand is in serious need. I got the price quote everyone is waiting for. A silicon-bronze replacement comes in at $15-1600. A "naval" bronze around $900. Hot dipped galvanizing ranges wildly. All quotes I was given are not by size but by weight of the item being galvanized, 26 to 45 cents per pound. Around eighty dollars to galvanize the board sounds good! None of the galvanizers had heard of differing galvanizing schedules or standards. They all also said that the thought that an item could be double or triple dipped was absolute bunk! Now I have to figure out if the bronze pivot and stop pins would adversly affect the galvanizing. Should the newly plated surface be painted? I think I still lean toward a glass or plastic board! Oh, the decisions one must make. Dik Lang Sweet Pea M-17 _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself with MSN Messenger 6.0 -- download now! http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/tracking/reach_general