Salt Water Swing vs. Wing in Water Year Round

[jimmcgee]

I started out on a 1994 C22 wing keel on the Delaware River many years ago, before going to a 1995 C30 wing keel sailed on Barnegat Bay for ~20 years. Now I live in the Keys and am looking to downsize back to a C22.

The water here is SALTY. Everything corrodes. It can also be thin, and like my old sailing grounds on the Barnegat the sand bars move around with the storms.

I'm leaning toward a swing keel so that when I eventually ground I can lift the keel and back out. I grounded our C30 wing keel once or twice in sand and was able to back off, I'm not sure it would be so easy on a mud flat down here.

That said I'm really concerned about a swing keel kept in the water year round and how well the cable connection, keel and pivot will hold up.

Are there any salt water sailors on here? How about Florida sailors who stay in year round?

What has your experience been?

 

[Benny17441]

The main reason for swing keels is to make the boats easily trailerable; it is not so that boats can be stored on the trailer and it is not so because they would be easier to get unstuck in a grounding. I have a bunch of reasons why a sailboat should be kept in the water in order to be fully enjoyed. Now keeping a swing keel boat in the water does come with some challenges as a result of the design compromise. Now do you keep the keel up or down, in any instance the load will be fully borne by the lifting mechanism, the pivot pin and the keel trunk on the boat. Keeping anti foul paint on a swing keel and the cleaning of the boat's bottom is more complicated. Have seen keels that refuse to go down because of marine growth and also some that refused to go up when the boats attempted to be loaded on the trailers. We had a trailer boat for many years and it was kept on the trailer because that boat was only used to take trips to different sailing venues all over the Country for trips of 10 to12 days. It was a Starwind 223 with a combo keel, it had a short fixed and ballasted keel of 18" and a light weight swing centerboard for pointing ability. The boat could be sailed with the centerboard up all the way in skinny waters. It had a bilge which might be lacking in some swing keel boats and it was a dry boat. I have seen too many boats that are stored in trailers fall into disuse because the owners got tired of the hassle of trailering and rigging every time they wanted to go out and ended up making weather or other excuses to themselves for why they should not go out. On the other hand keeping a boat in the water is an invitation to go out for a short sunset sail.

 

[Gene Neill]

We sail the gulf of Mexico with a swing keel, but the boat lives on a trailer. You CAN leave a swing keel vessel moored in the brine, but only if you are willing to do the maintenance. I've never met such a person, or seen such a boat. Every salt-moored swing keel boat I've ever seen was in pathetic shape. Never mind the cable and the pivot, it's the keel itself that suffers most. The other items are quick, simple, inexpensive replacements.

You could always bust out a couple boat bucks, and pick up one of the new fiberglass-encapsulated lead keels from the Catalina plant in Largo. It's only money after all.

 

[jimmcgee]

It's only money after all.

Gene if you knew what it cost to build a house in the Keys you'd understand why we're downsizing !

 

[jimmcgee]

Keeping anti foul paint on a swing keel and the cleaning of the boat's bottom is more complicated. Have seen keels that refuse to go down because of marine growth and also some that refused to go up when the boats attempted to be loaded on the trailers.

Hmm. I've never had a swing keel, I didn't think about growth in the keel trunk. In the warm water here growth can start in as little as 24 hours and boats that aren't run often have bottoms that look like a reef. Thanks for that reminder.

On the other hand keeping a boat in the water is an invitation to go out for a short sunset sail.

That's the plan, she'll be living on a dock behind our house.

 

[Gene Neill]

Gene if you knew what it cost to build a house in the Keys you'd understand why we're downsizing !

That's why I live in a 33 year old doublewide trailer in Ocala.

 

[...3TacksontheWater]

We sail the gulf of Mexico with a swing keel, but the boat lives on a trailer. (Snip)...

You could always bust out a couple boat bucks, and pick up one of the new fiberglass-encapsulated lead keels from the Catalina plant in Largo. It's only money after all.

This is excellent advice. Another thought, is to invest in an EZ Dock or, another type of boat lift. That's exactly what's on my radar as I will be in mostly fresh water and in the long run it will be less work and expense to keep the hull out of the water on a lift as opposed to scraping and painting on an annual or semiannual basis.

George