George was awesome enough to volunteer his Saturday to spend the day in the sun scrubbing fiberglass. Thanks George! The first item on the list is removal of the centerboard. Removing the nuts from either end was surprisingly easy as the heads popped off stripping the bolts within seconds.
This left us with a rusty bent steel pin sticking out on both sides. We tried to hammer it out but it wouldn't move, after a bout of cursing and bewilderment we tried scrapping off the backing plates, working the scrapers between the metal and the wood. George was then able to work in a screwdriver, then a chisel and soon we had removed one plate, leaving us with a workable length of rod. After a few useless bangs of the hammer and much WD40 we had to do the same thing to the other side.
The face plate and pin removed.
Front side of one of the face plates, it won't lay flat because the hollow bolt that held the pin in place is still stuck inside.
Detail of the back side of the same face plate.
Other plate and the bolt.
The wood is still in good condition. It will look even better once stripped and dried out. The hollowed Hex head and pin assembly did their job very well, even-though the pin was bent the wear and tear did not deform the hole in the wood.
Now I have to find a replacement that will work as well.
Centerboard of 16' Luger Leeward. Solid steel weighs about 100 lbs.
I just obtained a Luger 16, not sure what the year of the boat is. It did not come with the original CB, a make shift wooden board made out of plywood was included. Can you provide the length width and thickness of the solid steel board from your boat?
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