My boat swang unto a pebbly shore during the night with bow anchor anchored on shore, and a stern anchor in deeper water. Unfortunately my stern anchor had dragged (on Friday the 13th of July). While slowly settling aground, I was able to raise the swing keel, but the last few inches felt "gritty". The boat was aground at low tide, but afloat again much before high tide. The swing keel is still stuck in the fully up position. Does anybody have a suggestion for me how to get it unstuck? I do have SCUBA gear, so I could try to pull it out of the keel if that is the best solution. Please reply. My e-mail is rwinter23@yahoo.com. Hope to hear from my fellow 222 owners. Thanks a lot. Roland
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Been there done that
I have an O'Day 192, a smaller version of your 222. My swing keel has been stuck up a couple of times. One time I was able to clear it by running a machette sp? around the keel bunk to clear all the fresh water weeds that were there. The other time was after I sailed Lake Pepin, a very wide spot in the Mississippi here in Minnesota. A bit of wood must have floated into the cavity of the swing keel and perfectively wedged the keel in the up position. It required putting the boat on the hard, jacking up the trailer, putting timbers under the boat hull and lowering the boat on the timbers to get at the swing keel in order to try prying down the keel with every tool I could think of. The benefits of a swing keel come with the problems of a swing keel.
I have an O'Day 192, a smaller version of your 222. My swing keel has been stuck up a couple of times. One time I was able to clear it by running a machette sp? around the keel bunk to clear all the fresh water weeds that were there. The other time was after I sailed Lake Pepin, a very wide spot in the Mississippi here in Minnesota. A bit of wood must have floated into the cavity of the swing keel and perfectively wedged the keel in the up position. It required putting the boat on the hard, jacking up the trailer, putting timbers under the boat hull and lowering the boat on the timbers to get at the swing keel in order to try prying down the keel with every tool I could think of. The benefits of a swing keel come with the problems of a swing keel.
More on the stuck keel
I regularly beach my 192. I do not think that the act of beaching the boat is as deterimental as the bad luck of getting something stuck in the keel trunk. If you put out an anchor to kedge you out from shore you are likely to help clear the trunk before you mess with the keel and possibly get soething stuck in it.
I regularly beach my 192. I do not think that the act of beaching the boat is as deterimental as the bad luck of getting something stuck in the keel trunk. If you put out an anchor to kedge you out from shore you are likely to help clear the trunk before you mess with the keel and possibly get soething stuck in it.
Stuck centerboard
Roland, If you can swim under your boat and use some kind of a flat tool like an old saw, or metal building square to get into the slot to free your centerboard, I think that it will free up and come down. Have someone in the cockpit ready to untie the pendant line and let it come down easy after you've cleared the obstruction and are in the clear. This would be a great time to check the centerboard pendant line and the pendant line shackle for wear, once you have it freed up. Joe
Roland, If you can swim under your boat and use some kind of a flat tool like an old saw, or metal building square to get into the slot to free your centerboard, I think that it will free up and come down. Have someone in the cockpit ready to untie the pendant line and let it come down easy after you've cleared the obstruction and are in the clear. This would be a great time to check the centerboard pendant line and the pendant line shackle for wear, once you have it freed up. Joe
Stuck Centerboard
I've had the centerboard stick up twice on my 192. Both times it was because I forgot to raise the board before putting the boat back on it's trailer. The trailer bunk raised the board for me but the slack pendant line gets next to the board and jams it in the up position. Diving under the boat (no gear, just held my breath) was adequate for the few moments it took to pry the board loose, I used a big screwdriver and pried from the back. I didn't have a second person to handle the line, so I just cleated it off at about the halfway position so that it would "catch" the board as it fell.
I've had the centerboard stick up twice on my 192. Both times it was because I forgot to raise the board before putting the boat back on it's trailer. The trailer bunk raised the board for me but the slack pendant line gets next to the board and jams it in the up position. Diving under the boat (no gear, just held my breath) was adequate for the few moments it took to pry the board loose, I used a big screwdriver and pried from the back. I didn't have a second person to handle the line, so I just cleated it off at about the halfway position so that it would "catch" the board as it fell.
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