Ahh the trials and tribulations of jambing the M15 centerboard. It took me a long time to figure out why my M15 centerboard kept jamming. If I did not wash the sand and gravel out of the cockpit with the board down before I retrieved the boat the pea gravel would vibrate down the drain hole where the CB pennant goes. The pea gravel would then have 200 to 500 miles of travel to wedge itself in. There is almost no way to retrieve the bolt so be prepared to push the CB down the next time you launch. I had drilled a hole through the bridge deck and the lower splash board so that I could slide a 5/16 wooden dowl down to the board and push on it. This worked out well for a while but then the dowl broke off inside the CB trunk. The dowl floats and would not wash away with the boat in the water as there is no way for it to escape. I did not realize this at the time and the CB kept jamming. I then moved up to a piece of iron 3/4 inch square ( slightly smaller than the width of the drain hole) and about 3 inches long. In order for this to work I had to loosen the splash board to get the iron rod down the hole. If I made a square hole through the bridge deck I think I would have weakened the deck to much to safely stand on. The iron rod worked well for several years until last January when we were racing in heavy winds and waves and the piece of wooden dowl managed to jamb the board in the down position and I could not get it on the trailer. Brute force eventually got it on the trailer but it cost me $300 for the sailboat shop to hoist the boat and drive the CB down. Good luck PS Keep the winter sticks and leaves from going down the drain hole. Doug "M15 G #310 "Seas the Day" On Wed, Apr 9, 2014 at 12:52 PM, Thomas Buzzi <thomaspbuzzi@gmail.com>wrote:
Go with the fellow who has the M15 experience. And try to fish that bolt out before you jam it between the board and the cb trunk. Good luck.
On Wed, Apr 9, 2014 at 1:37 PM, Kearns, Kevin P <kkearns@pitt.edu> wrote:
I read on one of these posts that the drain leads directly to the center board slot in the keel and that things that stuff that finds its way through the drain hole can end up wedging between the centerboard and the keel trunk. One fellow said that he even puts stainless steel mesh over the drain to prevent that from happening. Too late in my case. If that is not the case, I'm delighted.
-----Original Message----- From: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto: montgomery_boats-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Thomas Buzzi Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2014 12:40 PM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: M15 Centerboard
Seems that your cockpit drain would not have anything to do with your centerboard well. You may want to remove it from your drain though. It will just catch more and more crud down there and eventually you won't have any draining done.
On Wed, Apr 9, 2014 at 9:07 AM, Kearns, Kevin P <kkearns@pitt.edu> wrote:
I just dropped a bolt in the cockpit of my M15 and, of course, it found its way down the drain. It is on the trailer now, so I can't check to see if this will jam the board...I'll have to wait till I launch it. Does anyone know what my chances are of this jamming the board? Nothing I can do now, but I would appreciate some experiences. Darn.
Kevin Kearns, M15 #518 Pittsburgh