Swing Keel clunking sound hitting boat

[buckwhidden1]

Hello. I have an old Santana 21 and when I went to put the keel down in the water in pretty mellow lake waters there was a pretty loud banging and clunking sound of the keel. It seemed like it was hitting the hull and it was so worrisome that i retracted the keel since I thought it may damage the hull or possibly worse. The boat was free and the keel hasn't been used in years since it was sitting in my buddy's driveway. I'm worried about the long term issue and considering maybe getting another boat since I don't feel like spending lots of $ to repair it. I doubt this is normal, but wanted to post on the thread. Thanks for any info.

Buck W.

 

[Rich Stidger]

I was able to stop the clunking of my centerboard at anchor by simply raising it a little bit. Give that a try.

 

[RitSim]

Keel is probably going down at an angle. Check for wear on one side of the pivot. it wouldn't take much wear. also wear may be in keel hole or pivot pin/bolt

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I think some wear is to be expected on an old boat. To fix it would require the boat to be lifted for inspection and repair. If it was me, I'd sail it as is

 

[stickinthemud57]

It's not unusual with centerboard/lifting keel boats. Mine is just fiberglass, but if yours is, as I assume, cast iron or bronze then the clunking can be a bit more worrisome. Until you get the boat on the hard you won't really be able to do much about it, except raise the keel.

 

[jssailem]

The Santana 21 is a nice daysailer boat. The banging you hear is possibly the center board loose in the keel trunk. Sometimes the keel pivot point hole elongates. The lets th keel move about on the pivot pin. You would need to drop the keel to identify the problem. It is fixable.

Here is a link to other owners in Texas.

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