Swing Keel Stuck . . . Help, Please !

[S/V_Surya]

Originally Posted by Will11

Do you think if I go under water and clean up the hull and the keel and possibly pry it with a pry bar gently it would be a good idea???? also any feed back on puting back the locking bolt????? Or any special caulking to put the locking bolt back and keep it from getting water in????

That swing keel probably weights in at 500 lbs. I think going under to pry it loose might work, but be careful. Did you try to gently tap on enclosure to try to get it down?

I am surprized that water came into your boat through the bolt hole. The keel is supposed to be designed that it can raise and lower while in the water. I never had a problem with water like that. I would still like to see some pics.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha,
Sorry about your swing keel problems. We had the same thing happen to our West Wight Potter 19 which has about the same weight daggerboard. It stuck in the down position. Our Commodore is a diver so he donned his dive gear and dove on the the hull. He cleaned all around the trunk and then slipped an old sawzall blade between the side of the daggerboard and the trunk and went all around the daggerboard to clear out the marine growth. I was up in the cabin moving the daggerboard side to side and front to rear as much as I could with a crowbar. We finally got it to come up.
On your swing keel take extra precautions not to remove the pivot pin. Is your keel in the up position? I can't remember what you told us about that. If it is in the up position put it on a trailer and work on it out of the water.
Hope you can solve this one and go sailing.
I had an acquaintance with a Venture 21 with the swing keel stuck in the down position. She came up to a local sand bar close to a boat ramp parking lot, I threw her a line and she tied it to the bow. I put the other end of the line on my trailer hitch and slowly pulled her across the sandbar until her swing keel came up into the trunk. I had another friend with a Tartan 27 who used to get his swing keel stuck in the down position once in awhile. He used to dive on the boat and kick the keel back and forth until it freed.
Good luck and kind regards,

[Will11]

Originally Posted by S/V_Surya

That swing keel probably weights in at 500 lbs. I think going under to pry it loose might work, but be careful. Did you try to gently tap on enclosure to try to get it down?

I am surprized that water came into your boat through the bolt hole. The keel is supposed to be designed that it can raise and lower while in the water. I never had a problem with water like that. I would still like to see some pics.

Yea thats what I thought, I did not think and was'nt prepared to see all that water come gushing in like that. It came in like if I had open a faucet on full blast on both end of the holes. Will go back in a few days to try again, If not I may have to pack her up and take her out of the water for the season(did not want to take her out till the end of November). A

Anyways will let you know either way, once again thank you for your feed back.....

[1000sAreSailing]

End of last year, I used this thread as a reference point for ideas, because the centerboard on my tanzer 22 had become stuck. I tried using a rod to tap it down. I tried diving under it and trying to clear of debris. I didn't try to pour chemical in there because I didn't want to mess with that and get toxic substances in the river.

Unfortunately nothing worked, and I ended up not sailing for most of the season.

End of this winter I moved the boat back to portland and had the bottom painted. Finally fixed the centerboard.

The problem? At some point while I was moored in Saint Helens, the river got low enough my boat must've bottom out in the mud or the water was silty enough that the mud and sand collected in centerboard compartment.

Anyway, it fouled the compartment and (I believe) kind of suctioned the centerboard and held it in the compartment. Once on land, simply sliding a small knife up between the centerboard and the compartment allowed the mud to start pouring out and the centerboard was free.

I had to pull the boat out of the water for the bottom paint anyway, but just a heads up for anyone finding themselves in a similar situation: you can dive under the hull (make sure cables locked up) and run a thin knife or blade of metal between the centerboard and the housing to try clear any material that might have collected in your centerboard compartment.

[SkiprJohn]

Yes. We use a thin sawzall blade because we have barnacle and coral growth here.

[Geoduck]

I had this happen with my Nimble 20 on Lake Meade one time. I picked up an old hand saw at a junk store, dove under the boat and slid the saw up into the center board trunk and cut out all the crap and down came the board slick as a whistle - now that saw lives on the boat - just in case.

[SkiprJohn]

I wonder if the original poster ever got his swing keel to budge. Haven't seen another post about it from him?
kind regards,