Columbia 26 Mkii Keel Help From Anyone

[seascoutship27]

HELP
How do we remove keel.
Sea Scout Ship 27 was "given" a Columbia 26 MKII in very rough shape. (beware of strangers bearing gifts) We can not do anything with it. We do not have a trailer capable of supporting it with the keel to haul to dump ( I hate doing that). If I can drop the steel keel out of boat I can haul it off on my Laguana windrose 24 trailer. Any one know how hard it is to remove keep while in water. If I unbolt keep and hammer on bolts will it drop off ? We could then pull it out of water and strip it for parts for sale and refitting any of our other boats. I have 10 days to complete this .If anyone wants this boat they can have it.
We are on Lake Lanier in Georgia. email me at peewee1760@hotmail.com

 

[CloudDiver]

If you drop the keel while in the water you will begin to sink, water will rush through the bolt holes.

 

[seascoutship27]

That could be a good thing., the idea has occurred to me.....

 

[31seahorse]

Maybe you could "give it back" !

 

[Calif. Ted]

Out here in the western states anyone coming around with a free horse or sailboat gets run off with a shotgun, oh well, too late.
Any chance you can convince a local scrap metal guy it's worth his time to drag it up a ramp and break it up ?

 

[seascoutship27]

Out here in the western states anyone coming around with a free horse or sailboat gets run off with a shotgun, oh well, too late.
Any chance you can convince a local scrap metal guy it's worth his time to drag it up a ramp and break it up ?

Nope, Price of steel is way too low for the effort. I checked with magnet- steel keel

 

[CloudDiver]

After a decade in the US Navy, I'm familiar with local, US, and International regulations on 'dumping' equipment overboard. For the most part anything made of steel is technically biodegradable since it will eventually rust away to nothing. Heck, we sink old Navy ships on purpose to dispose of them since sinking is cheaper than cutting them up for scrap.

So for the steel keel, since pulling the hull out of the water with the keel on is out of the question... yes, if you can pull it off tow it out to the deepest part of the lake, back off the keel bolt nuts and hope the keel drops off. Have a bunch of tapered plugs at the ready to bang into the holes with haste. You might have to hammer on the bolts from the bilge to get it to separate because of the adhesive.

In my book, this would be called 'Black Ops'... I wouldn't want anyone to see me doing it. I'd also be wearing a wetsuit with flippers and floatation at the ready and a manual bilge pump at hand... the boat empty of everything except the few tools required for the job. You could easily call this "RedNeck Engineering" or 'just plain stupid'... but it could work.

 

[Captn TJ]

After a decade in the US Navy, I'm familiar with local, US, and International regulations on 'dumping' equipment overboard. For the most part anything made of steel is technically biodegradable since it will eventually rust away to nothing. Heck, we sink old Navy ships on purpose to dispose of them since sinking is cheaper than cutting them up for scrap. So for the steel keel, since pulling the hull out of the water with the keel on is out of the question... yes, if you can pull it off tow it out to the deepest part of the lake, back off the keel bolt nuts and hope the keel drops off. Have a bunch of tapered plugs at the ready to bang into the holes with haste. You might have to hammer on the bolts from the bilge to get it to separate because of the adhesive. In my book, this would be called 'Black Ops'... I wouldn't want anyone to see me doing it. I'd also be wearing a wetsuit with flippers and floatation at the ready and a manual bilge pump at hand... the boat empty of everything except the few tools required for the job. You could easily call this "RedNeck Engineering" or 'just plain stupid'... but it could work.

Better take the mast off before you try it or you'll have an unpleasant surprise.

 

[Ron20324]

How about just towing it out of the water with a line or chain in whatever postion it may take to slide it? Like on it's side? Chain saw away the hull around the keel, then whack the rest of the boat into dumpster-size pieces.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

seascoutship27

contact me thru the forum email and include your phone number . I will call as I was a former sailboat dealer but now a volunteer at scout camps repairing sailboats. There are a few suggestions but lets talk. Since you do not know me, just ask the folks on the small hunter forums who I am..