love the boat, hate the swing keel

[Manureva]

i really like my san juan 23, but the darn swing keel is driving me nuts, i am on my 3rd cable and trying to fix it using an old shroud has gotten me a boat that had to come out today with yet an other swing keel fun, it is now jamed up because the shroud end is about a hair to big for the slot,

the boat is a san juan 23, now lets brain storm at how i could leave the stump keel on and add a real fin keel end under it ....i know i know lot of trouble ,sell the boat and get an other one, too much money invested , i like a challenge and have the tool and space, i just need some idea on ataching it, the stump keel would be the base, it filled with 950 pound of lead shot and has a 1/2 inch slot 4 foot long in the midlle.

 

[SycloneDriver]

Build your keel extension with a 10 inch tall tab sticking out the top and insert it into the centerboard slot. Then drill and counter sink some bolt holes throught the stub keel and tab. Add bolts and fairing compound, finish with paint.

I wouldn't do it to my SJ23.

 

[Tom J]

You might be able to add wings to your stump keel and still get decent upwind performance. Years ago, I looked into the possibility of adding wings to my O'Day 23 keel when the centerboard was giving me problems. I was able to locate several add-on kits in sailing magazines. That was before I knew about the Internet. By the way, the wings on my shoal-draft Catalina work very well.

 

[Fly_H23]

Fit it with a centerboard?

 

[Benny17441]

Accordying to the specs the SJ23 does not have a swing keel but a swing centerboard. The ballast of 960 lbs sits on a short fixed keel with a slot for raising or lowering the board and reducing draft. The purpose of the board is to provide upwind pointing ability. The purpose of the ballast is to keep the boat upright. You would not want to add more ballast weight as you would be altering the builder's designed stability. The boat would sit lower in the water, be heavier and less responsive, etc. My recommendation would be to meet the challenge to come up with a good working solution to fix the board so that it can be operated as intended. With enough money anything can be done to a boat. You may structurally modify the hull and bolt on a full keel but I think that to try and pair your current ballasted short keel with a fixed extension would be a mistake on either weight or strength. Wing keels are mostly used to add ballast without adding draft and you do not have a problem with ballast so them would do nothing for you. Take the challenge and fix it; the SJ 23 is a very nice sailer.

 

[Ray Bowles]

Benny is correct. I also am currently sailing a 82 SJ23. The lead shot in the short fixed stub keel is the actual ballast and the center blade is for stability and doesn't add a great amount of ballast.
I just serviced my swingkeel and replaced the cable. The padeye on the aft side of the keel allows the fitting of a 1/8th inch stainless steel cable with a small thimble and then clamp it with a 1/8th inch oval sleeve. This is a crimp or crush type sleeve.
I additionally added a swivel on the cabin end of the cable where it attached to the tackle for raising the keel.
This set-up should work for you without any problem of clearence ,unless the inside of the swingkeel housing is fouled with shell life. It is possible to ridgidly mount a blade in lieu of the swing keel but that is frought with problems.
There is a SJ23 web page that has the complete procedure for repair of the cable and if you don't have the address I'll find it for you.
Good luck, Ray

 

[packman]

cable woes

having to redo the cable over and over indicates to an old worn out aircraft rigger (Me) that the problems could be A. cable not flexible enough for the bend radius B. inadequate or faulty fairleads. Not having a good picture of the problem my advice is probably worth what it cost.

 

[Ray Bowles]

Packman, The servicing of my keel cable assy was the first time since 1982. I bought the boat5 years ago and thought it was time to look at the assy and replace the cable while I was there. I think the problem mesange is having might be where he clamped his cable eye and the size of that clamp. If not done cleanly with a small oval sleeve it might cause it to hangup in the housing. The SJ23 swingkeel is totally problem free. There are 6 23's here where I sail and there has never been any problems.
Just my thoughts after being up close to the keel assy.
Ray

 

[Manureva]

when i bougth the boat, the swing keel was bent, after lifting the trailer of the boat and grinding 2 day on the new board , i replaced it , put a new cable and got it working for the summer, at the end of this summer the aluminium crimp had melted and i got stuck with the keel down once more. i was unable to find some stainless crimp for the cable, so when the diver came to replace the cable i used the top end of my shroud cable to replace the cable ,it was just a bit shy of 1/2 an inch , but when i pulled it up it got stuck half way, so being this late in the season and wanting to go hunting not friging around with the boat i forced the keel in by taking the boat out on the trrailler.

now the reason i am considering changin to a fix keel is also because i find the boat easy to lay on the side, i would like to be aqble to keep her up more with more sail and be tiny bit faster