chris thomas
Hi, Had to free a jammed up lift keel recently (had to dive under boat and used a z shaped piece of angle iron and a 14 lb sledge ! ) When the keel was free i wire brushed all the rust off to prevent it sticking again. This leads to two questions, one, i decided to leave the keel partialy down so that as the boat grounds the keel is pushed back up into the stub keel this movement should also assist to prevent the problen reoccuring, anyone see a problem with this ?
Two, when under the boat with the keel fully down i noticed that the keel is not vertical but swept back at an angle, does anyone know if this is as designed or do i have a problem ?
Thanks Chris
Tim Owen
Hi,
If you plan to leave your keels down on the moorings, make sure you check/replace
the plastic pivot occasionally or you may loose your keel. Its fairly easy to replace with
a 1 inch nylon or PET rod, but you may need to file it down or get someone to turn it down to fit.
( I have a lathe and some rod so if you get stuck email me!)
Tim
Robin Kendall
Hi there,
Leaving your keel about a third down does keep it moving with the tide.We do this on our boat at Faversham and with regular use have had no problems with the keel getting stuck.We had quite a comprenhensive folder with our boat.Inside was a plan of the centre board arrangement it shows that the keel is angled towards the back of the boat by 70 degrees from horizontal.If you need a copy let me know.Its a bit faded but still ok.Hope this helps
Robin…..