swing keel maintenance

May 18, 2013
5
Oday 25 Prices Bend ( Eaton's Neck) NY
I have a 25 ODay with a swing keel I have the boat on a Mooring in Northport Long Island. When we hauled it it appears that the keel slot has something growing in it as we were not able to retract the keel fully. I haven't had a chance to get up there to see what it is yet. I assume the growth can be removed, the previous owner said they didn't think anything such as barnicles would grow in the slot. Should I use bottom paint in the keel slot?

Jim Morcerf
 

Tom J

.
Sep 30, 2008
2,325
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
Wishful thinking on the part of the previous owner. All kinds of stuff will grow in the slot if you don't get any bottom paint in there.
 
Jun 2, 2004
1,952
Oday Day Sailer Wareham, MA
YES, you do need to paint both the Centerboard (IT IS NOT a "swing-Keel", that is a totally different type of setup, what you have is a KEEL/CENTERBOARD, aka: a shoal keel that houses a lightly ballasted or unballasted CB.) and the inside of the centerboard trunk in the keel. However, I would think that if you were able to paint the whole CB and at least as much of hte slot as you can easily reach with the CB at least partway down, it will be enough. Be sure to clean out as much of the fouling and junk from hte inside of hte CB trunk first, powerwashing the CB slot may help, although it may drive the gunk deeper. I remove the CB from my DS II every few years to give hte Cb and inside of hte CB trunk a real good cleaning and at least one good coat of paint (2 coats is better, but don't build up too many coats over time). Removing hte CB from the 25 is not terribly hard from what I've heard (not quite as easy as on my boat....but not really all that much harder).
I keep my CB up most of the way while moored and that seems to reduce fouling as well as preventing the CB from banging back and forth as the boat rolls. I use a thin piece of metal strapping to scrape between the CB and the sides of the CB trunk each Fall to try to clean out as much gunk as possible before it dries (OK, I haul in October, and the CB is sometimes still damp in April when I go to paint it). That helps to keep the CB free of jamming.
 

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Nov 5, 2010
99
Oday 23 Stonington, CT
Agree with Sunbird. Because it gets little light, less weed grows but you should drop the board out every 2 or 3 years, and paint up in there. Use a good multi year ablative, I like white because you can see better what's going on up in there. When you haul the boat in fall, let board down while boat is up in slings, and gently scrub out slot (I have terry cloth taped to a dowl) with plain garden hose pressure. Don't let them pressure wash up in the slot because it takes off all your precious ablative paint! Unless of course you're gonna drop the board anyway. There are pics on my page.