Not everything works straight out of the box so to speak. Especially if you built the box… Since launching the centerboard has been getting harder and harder to move. Last year after launch I removed it and sanded off the paint on the sides to make it a bit thinner in the hope that it would be sufficient. But on our latest trip last weekend I found it would not go down and we tipped the boat over and although with the leverage of the tip of the centreboard I could slide it down, it was clear that there wasn’t enough space at the opening.

So I decided that I will remove the centerboard and tip the boat over to find a way of filing the centerboard slot a little wider.

I tried to see if I could do it all on my own. So I figured it was possible with the beach rollers that are really effective.

I then tipped it over ont a foam mat to protect the rail and used blocks to hold it up by the bilge stringer. This allowed me to work at eye level at the keel slot and will be a good system for the time I need to repaint the underside of the hull.

What I found, was that the centreboard well was fine, but it was at the keel wood that things got narrower and one side for some reason was toed in so it was not parallel with the centerboard well.

I then used a Japanese shinto rasp to file down the section that toed in so that it was parallel with the centerboard well and provided ample room for the centerboard to slide down.

I then sanded it and applied a layer of epoxy with a little graphite powder to seal it back up. It is a hard spot to get to so hopefully this repair will last a long time.