Hi experts! How far is too far to crank up the keel? I'm not an avid gym-rat anymore, so know I am not considered "strong" - but still am no "fragile female". After cranking up the keel until it goes "thunk thunk" (maybe into its housing?)- how much further should I crank it? Catalina's 1977 manual says that basically when it "stops" cranking or becomes hard to crank - stop - don't crank it up anymore or the keel housing can be damaged. My Cat's a 1972. Sometimes I notice it can be cranked up a several more rounds more (by me - after the "thunk thunk", and then some), so I do until it won't go anymore. I'm worried I may be pushing it too hard. Sometimes it seems to "stop", but then I can crank it again a round or two more. How sensitive is it? I don't want to hurt the keel cable or keel housing, but I also don't want to hurt the keel if it's not up enough to load back onto the trailer. Thanks in advance for answering my "novice" question! BTW- Happy Holidays! And Happy Sailing! Lisa
- Status
how far???
When your keel goes "thunk thunk" stop cranking. You don't want to put too much pressure on that cable.
When your keel goes "thunk thunk" stop cranking. You don't want to put too much pressure on that cable.
Stop at the Thunk !
Hi Lisa, Yes by all means stop at the thunk, as you have arrived !!! meaning the keel is up as far as it will go. Now then the extra turns you are making is in fact only taking the slack out of the cable on the winch spool, tightning up the cable itself on the spool which can wedge itself. In some cases can get stuck with too much pressure on the cable on the spool and you play hell geting it to release so you can once again lower the keel. So once you here it make contact with the hull it's a pretty good bet it's against the bottom snug enough to launch or retrieve your boat. Happy holidays to You and Yours Dave LaPere
Hi Lisa, Yes by all means stop at the thunk, as you have arrived !!! meaning the keel is up as far as it will go. Now then the extra turns you are making is in fact only taking the slack out of the cable on the winch spool, tightning up the cable itself on the spool which can wedge itself. In some cases can get stuck with too much pressure on the cable on the spool and you play hell geting it to release so you can once again lower the keel. So once you here it make contact with the hull it's a pretty good bet it's against the bottom snug enough to launch or retrieve your boat. Happy holidays to You and Yours
Dave LaPereTried the advice but couldn't load onto trailer.
Thanks for advice. This morning I tried only cranking the keel until the "thunk thunk" (love these technical terms..) but then couldn't load the boat onto the trailer so pulled the keel up some more and heard another little thunk (like she was up that time). Guess this will be a trial and error thing, with hopefully no major errors! Too bad Catalina didn't put a "dummy" light on that shows when the keel is up! Happy Holidays! Lisa
Thanks for advice. This morning I tried only cranking the keel until the "thunk thunk" (love these technical terms..) but then couldn't load the boat onto the trailer so pulled the keel up some more and heard another little thunk (like she was up that time). Guess this will be a trial and error thing, with hopefully no major errors! Too bad Catalina didn't put a "dummy" light on that shows when the keel is up! Happy Holidays! Lisa
- Status