I've been wanting to lift out Issuma's centerboard and inspect it for a few years. With 4.5 tons of lead, and the ability to contain about 650 litres of fuel, it is a big job to remove it.

After a lot of calling around and talking to various boatyards and crane operators, my neighbor Tim, mentioned a crane on a barge in Ganges Harbor, Saltspring Island (Gulf Islands). I arranged with Island Marine Construction to have the centerboard lifted out.

We sailed over to Ganges Harbor, and tied up to the barge the crane was on. We disconnected hoses and removed the brackets (pictured below) that hold the centerboard down.


The next day, the crew came out, moved another barge beside us (with all the ballast in the centerboard, removing it means we have no ballast, so we needed to tie between two barges to prevent capsizing), and lifted out the centerboard.



We then painted the centerboard, the crane reinstalled it, and we fastened down the locking mechanism.