Bristol 32 Centerboard Cable Tube

[Dcneuro]

Check the centerboard cable tube and make sure that it is not cut like the one pictured above. If the boat is on the hard, simply lower the board and have someone below make sure that it is lowering properly. Keep in mind that barnacle growth could also impede the proper lowering of the centerboard. This is a simple cleaning job.

[Ogrenaut]

To inspect the centerboard cable, I believe the boat needs to be hauled and blocked, the centerboard lowered and the cable disconnected and removed for inspection. If the boat still has the original cable, I would simply replace it at this time as a preventative measure.

Our cost was around $1700. This was to haul and block the boat, remove the damaged section of the centerboard tube, install a new section of tube (see the above pictures), replace the cable and relaunch. I would expect just inspecting the cable and/or replacing it would be significantly less.

The centerboard tube on my boat is on the port side in the engine compartment. You can see the engine fly wheel cover on the left of the photo and the cabin sole at the bottom. It's pretty easy to inspect.

When we bought the boat, there was a huge glob of epoxy putty on the tube. There was also a wet area at the base of the tube. We didn't think much of it at the time. About a year later I noticed a dripping sound in the bilge and examined the glob on the tube more closely. I found where the water was seeping through the old repair. I knew the seeping would get worse so I started posting and that's when I started this thread.

Take a look at captlar's reply in this thread. That was a huge help for me to understand what was going on.

[Snurrbart]

A repair tube with a plubing style plugged "clean out" t fitting for future snaking might have been nice. Just a thought.

[prleary]

I have a 1967 Bristol 32 keel/centerboard model, where the centerboard cable runs through a metal tube right through the center of the salon. I would very much like to move it somewhere out of the main thoroughfare, but would like to have some preparation and plans for the project before hauling the boat out to do this. I am not sure of how the cable interfaces with the centerboard inside the trunk, such that I'd know how it could be re-routed. Does anyone have this same setup in there boat? Better yet, did anyone have this set up but already perform this same alteration? This is my last big dark unsolved problem in my extensive restoration project.