Fitting The Centre Board Pendant Sheave

I decided to fit the centre board pendant sheave next. This has to be complete before the deck panels are installed, so it can't be postponed.

And I am going on vacation soon and this is a relatively small task that I could complete before leaving.

First, the starboard shim was glued in place. Here it is.

There is very little room for clamping inside the centre board case, but a couple of spring clamps did the job.

Then the port shim was installed, as here.

There was even less room in the slot now, thanks to the first shim. I only realised this after I had glued up the port shim, but luckily a pair of smaller spring clamps were to hand!

I aligned the shims with an old bolt while they were glued up, and removed it before they had fully cured.

Now came the installation of the sheave itself. This is the installation kit.

You need an 8mm twist drill to clean out the bolt hole; a spanner to tighten the nut; and a piece of wire twisted around the sheave to allow it to be positioned easily.

I did the latter after dropping the sheave through the centre board case a couple of times!

This is the sheave in place with the wire still attached.

And here is the bolt in place.

You can see the small recess that I made on the inside edge of the cleat to ensure that there is plenty of room for the stainless steel washer. There is.

And here is the acorn nut in place, with its own washer.

Finally, here is the finished article.

The sheave runs freely on the bolt, so all is well. I will seal the nut and bolt with marine caulk when I install the centre board inspection hatches.