Catalina 22 swing keel up or down

[Doug4bass]

I think everyone from our generation has that image permanently burned into their brains. It's unfortunate because the true ukulele virtuosos go mostly unknown and underappreciated. I'm currently digging Shaun Reyes. It's a custom Fender Jazz bass in the works: Paulownia body with blue on black burst finish, maple neck, Seymour Duncan pickups, massive bridge. It should rock if I ever get it done. The build was interrupted by sailboat projects. We now return you to our regularly scheduled thread already in progress...

It had better be fretless!!

 

[Gene Neill]

I'd be very interested to hear from someone who has sailed with their swing keel raised.

I accidentally sailed mine with the keel up for about half an hour. I was "racing" another C22 at the time, and I was surprised how little difference it made when I realized my mistake and lowered the keel. We were more or less neck and neck whether my keel was up or down.

But this was a beautiful 6 mph day on a calm lake. I think it might go differently under other conditions.

 

[Slogfish]

Wow Gene thx. I couldn't imagine not knowing that the keel was up. I had to look into the hull difference between Sirius and Catalina. Turns out, I can see a huge difference and it makes sense. So my experience on my boat isn't a good comparison to the C22. The Catalina looks like it has a shoal keel with a centerboard extension that comes down. So you still have a keel even with the extension up. I can see how u could sail on light air without issues. My Sirius is almost flat on the bottom when it's up. The entire keel cranks up into the keel trunk with only a few inches below the hull and only 1' draft. When down, the 500lb keel drafts 5'. I should've looked at this before i posted earlier. But at least i learned something today.

 

[JoshuaKairo]

Hello, I have actually read in more than one place that the Catalina 22s can sail with their keels up. In lighter air I would assume its fine to be up, but I'd say best to keep it down when sailing. I am a new Sirius 21 owner, and I need help with operating the swing keel. How do you lower the keel? I was able to crank up the keel slightly before launching the boat in the water, but now when I turn the winch the other way nothing happens. the winch handle simply rotates freely with no tension on it at all. Is there some kind of clutch/brake or a lever that needs to be moved? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Leeward Rail]

I am a new Sirius 21 owner, and I need help with operating the swing keel. How do you lower the keel? I was able to crank up the keel slightly before launching the boat in the water, but now when I turn the winch the other way nothing happens. the winch handle simply rotates freely with no tension on it at all

This question really should be in the Sirius 21/22 sub forum. That way other Sirius 21 owners can help. Sirius 21/22

That said...
- is there a keel lock preventing it from lowering it ?
- is the cable tangled on the winch drum ?

 

[JoshuaKairo]

This question really should be in the Sirius 21/22 sub forum. That way other Sirius 21 owners can help. Sirius 21/22

That said...
- is there a keel lock preventing it from lowering it ?
- is the cable tangled on the winch drum ?

Thanks for getting back to me so soon, I didn't know there is a sub-forum for the Sirius 21, I'll have a look at that. The way it is set up is a winch with a larger gear on a shaft, that gear spins a smaller gear which is on the same shaft as the handle. There is a small part that is encased therefore I don't know what's inside, but I'm assuming its a clutch or brake system maybe. When you crank the keel up, it does tick every once and a while locking the keel at that point so to your first question, I'm assuming yes. The cable did not appear tangled.

Now to follow up from that, I did actually further test it today and got the keel working although it does not seem very reliable. Cranking the keel up is no issue, but the winch handle is threaded onto the shaft... so when you rotate the handle the other way, it seems to want to unthread itself rather than actually rotate the shaft CCW. I would assume that there needs to be more friction between that handle and the shaft?

 

[Leeward Rail]

. I would assume that there needs to be more friction between that handle and the shaft?

No idea. I own a Catalina 22 not a Sirius 21 which would likely use a different winch.

Some winches are design that the handle partially thread itself backwards and then eventually turns the shaft.