Would it be possible to get the steel ballast out with a magnet so you won't have to enlarge the hole? Just a thought. I have a fixed keel so I don't know exactly what you are looking at. Eldor M17 Motu iti -----Original Message----- From: Earl Landers <elanders@bak.rr.com> To: Monte mail list <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tue, Jan 11, 2011 11:59 pm Subject: M_Boats: Decisions, decisions, or The further adventures of 373 Readers, My centerboard is no longer stuck. In fact it is no longer attached to he boat. I cut an access hole about 3" below the pendant port and used a ong punch to get the board moving. After the first three inches, the board falls reely. You can see and feel ballooning in the starboard side of the trunk ust above floor level as the board moves past that area. There was an existing FG patch to he keel trunk right at floor level so I cut that out. There was no pparent reason for it to be there. I need to stop here and explain that a previous owner had emoved the cabin floor, giving access to the ballast. I have removed the teel punchings on the starboard side of the trunk down to about five inches. There was ome swelling putting pressure on the trunk, but clearance in the upper ortion of the trunk has gotten quite a bit better. I think at this point I could e-assemble everything and the CB would function correctly. At this point, I need to decide whether to just re-assemble everything, r to continue and remove all the steel ballast once and forever. One eason I am being Indecisive is that I know I can't get all the steel out from the top, so hat means cutting more holes in the boat L I am leaning toward removing it ll, once and done. What would you do? Earl PS, I assume that this list doesn't support attached pictures, is that true? _______________________________________________ ttp://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!