water inside centerboard

[HGSmith]

I am re-finishing a 1979 O''Day DaysailorII. I kept it in fresh water all last summer, and it has been trailered since Sept. ''00. In removing the centerboard this week I found it sloshing with water inside. Upon inspection there is a drilled hole in a location that would not allow complete drainage of the entire centerboard, which has a hollow center. I also discovered leaking holes on the upward edge of the board where two layers were bonded during construction. In re-finishing, should I seal all holes in an attempt to make the hollow cavity watertight or seal up the edge and leave the hole as I found it?

[JohnYates]

I''m not familiar with your boat but most centerboards utilize a lead weight so that the board will drop when its in the water. Yours may use water instead of lead to assist it in dropping down when in the water. If so, you''ll need to keep the hole open. Something to think about.

[paulk]

Nice idea about water weighing the board down and helping it deploy, but once the water inside the board is ''in the water'', it will have no effect in helping ''pull'' the board down. If it did, we''d be using hollow, water-filled bulb keels for ballast. The board probably has a weight molded into it to help it deploy and provide some ballast leverage.
We had a rudder like your centerboard on our Soling. It would drip from a hole on the bottom seam for a good three minutes every time we hoisted the boat(daily, since we drysailed). I figured that carrying the extra water around wasn''t fast, and might very well promote delamination, (especially if it froze) so after letting it dry out for a good long spell (like all winter) I plugged the hole(s) with goop all around the seam. No problems for the following 15 years, at least. Might work for you too.