Bill, The bolt is above the water line. I haul my 1997 h26 out with a travel lift and go onto jackstands. My trailer is stored, and not very near the marina, so the lift and jackstands are easier for me. Dropping the keel while in the water sounds like a lot of work. You could remove the bolt that holds the whole thing in place and the keel would fall to the botton. But the rope that operates the keel raising/lowering system must be taken off. You can't walk away with the keel without removing the rope. Also, dropping the keel is a lot easier than putting it back. In putting it back, two men have to lift and guide it while another, inside, sticks the bolt back in and tightens it. I had some minor deterioration due to galvanic action. It only took a day of patching at a machine shop to repair it. David King