Swing Keel Rope Replacement

[Seahorse24]

I am interested in finding photos of the swing keel on a Yankee Seahorse 24. My son and I are restoring a forty-year-old sailboat and we need to see where the rope connects to the swing keel. The boat is currently on a trailer with the keel up and we can't lower it to look at it. If we had a photo or drawings, we could determine where the rope connects to the swing keel. My son wants to cut a hole in the top cavity from inside the cabin so we can replace the rope with a stainless steel cable and connector, then patch the hole with fiberglass so it won't leak. Does that make sense or would the boat likely leak around that patch?

My son and I want to learn how to sail this boat. We hope to have it ready to go by next Spring. Once launched, we have a boat slip on the lake where we can keep it. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DHaranSailor]

Can't help you with the swing keel, but welcome to the forms and sailing!

Have a great time with your son!

 

[Seahorse24]

Thank you, DHaranSailor. I appreciate your support.

 

[Ross]

A properly made patch on fiberglass is as good and as strong as the original.

 

[Johnb]

It appears you boat has a "trunk" that the keel swings up into. On my Clipper Marine 23 there was a pulley (sheave) right above the point at which the lifting cable attached that made it easy to asses where the attachment point was. That was by design above water level. The cable then went to a winch accessible from the cockpit for raising the keel.

I actually lost the keel when it swung down out of control, broke off and was gone forever - 600 pound of cast iron. I built a new one out of a sheet of 2" thick steel with lead cheeks, all wrapped in glass and resin.

It would be valuable to be able to know the condition of that lifting system. It has to hold the keel up while you get the boat off the trailer and if it fails you could be in a world of hurt. Unless you get the boat safely lifted for you there is no way to get at it without risking life and limb.

I wish I had thought of your idea back then. As noted fiber glass can be repaired very successfully. I once took a fiber glass canoe out into the surf (young and stupid) and it got folded up and broken into two. We matched the pieces together and re glassed and used it for years.

One more thing - after my boat had been on the trailer for a while the keel tended to stick in the trunk. I would make sure the lifting cable was almost tight and then strike the trunk with a rubber mallet and it would drop slightly and then be ready to lower.

Good luck.

 

[31seahorse]

Welcome to the SBO forums!

Adding a few pictures to your post would help members make specific suggestions to answer your question. As Johnb mentioned it would be wise to know how the board is lifted prior to cutting into the centerboard trunk. If that cut is done above the waterline and done small enough maybe a round, threaded inspection plate could be positioned in a way to do your repair and allow future access.

Does the weight of the boat preclude lifting the boat off the trailer to lower the keel/centerboard? (and....as the hull is lifted the centerboard might lower and stay on the trailer) There have been several discussions of that activity. You could probably find those discussions by using the "Search" portion at the top bar of the page.

Best Wishes!

 

[Seahorse24]

A properly made patch on fiberglass is as good and as strong as the original.

Thanks, Ross. That makes me feel better about cutting that hole in the boat. My son was not concerned about patching the hole, but I wondered how much pressure might be on hull at that point.

There is no bilge pump in the boat, but I plan to add one just in case we ever do have a leak. The boat had been in the water for seven years, but the bottom of the hull was completely dry when we went to haul it out of the water.

I did find a drawing of the Yankee 24 on the Internet today that shows where the cable is connected, which is right at the top of the swing keel when it is in the down position. In the up position, where the keel is now, that connection ends up right next to the area where the cable goes through the hull next to one of the bulkheads. We may be able to open up that area where the cable goes down through the hull. I'll show the drawing to my son and see what he thinks. The rope appears to be in good shape, but we want to change it to a stainless steel cable and stainless connector at the keel. If that swing pin ever came loose the rope would not be strong enough to prevent the keel from going to the bottom of the lake, where the steel cable could easily support the 250 pound load.

One photo in the Yankee 24 brochure shows the boat on its side in shallow water after being pulled down by placing a rope at the top of the mast and pulling it from the side. I guess that would be one way to get to the swing keel and get it out, assuming we don't swamp the boat in the process.

Here is the link to the Yankee 24 brochure:

http://www.dolphin24.org/images/yankee24bro.pdf

 

[Seahorse24]

Welcome to the SBO forums!

Adding a few pictures to your post would help members make specific suggestions to answer your question. As Johnb mentioned it would be wise to know how the board is lifted prior to cutting into the centerboard trunk. If that cut is done above the waterline and done small enough maybe a round, threaded inspection plate could be positioned in a way to do your repair and allow future access.

Does the weight of the boat preclude lifting the boat off the trailer to lower the keel/centerboard? (and....as the hull is lifted the centerboard might lower and stay on the trailer) There have been several discussions of that activity. You could probably find those discussions by using the "Search" portion at the top bar of the page.

Best Wishes!

Thank you, 31seahorse. I'll try to figure out how to post photos in my posts. Do I just paste them inside the post box?

The boat weights 2900 pounds and we can lift it with hydraulic jacks, but I doubt we can get it high enough to safely get under it to remove the keel. We may build supports out of four by four wooden posts that could support the weight. We plan to place the boat on a modified boat lift which will expose the swing keel once we place it on the lift, but that would be over water several feet deep.

I did find a drawing of the Yankee 24 on the Internet today that shows where the cable is connected, which is right at the top of the swing keel when it is in the down position. In the up position, where the keel is now, that connection ends up right next to the area where the cable goes through the hull next to one of the bulkheads. We may be able to open up that area where the cable goes down through the hull. I'll show the drawing to my son and see what he thinks. The rope appears to be in good shape, but we want to change it to a stainless steel cable and stainless connector at the keel. If that swing pin ever came loose the rope would not be strong enough to prevent the keel from going to the bottom of the lake, where the steel cable could easily support the 250 pound load.

One photo in the Yankee 24 brochure shows the boat on its side in shallow water after being pulled down by placing a rope at the top of the mast and pulling it from the side. I guess that would be one way to get to the swing keel and get it out, assuming we don't swamp the boat in the process.

Here is the link to the Yankee 24 brochure:

http://www.dolphin24.org/images/yankee24bro.pdf

 

[Seahorse24]

It appears you boat has a "trunk" that the keel swings up into. On my Clipper Marine 23 there was a pulley (sheave) right above the point at which the lifting cable attached that made it easy to asses where the attachment point was. That was by design above water level. The cable then went to a winch accessible from the cockpit for raising the keel.

I actually lost the keel when it swung down out of control, broke off and was gone forever - 600 pound of cast iron. I built a new one out of a sheet of 2" thick steel with lead cheeks, all wrapped in glass and resin.

It would be valuable to be able to know the condition of that lifting system. It has to hold the keel up while you get the boat off the trailer and if it fails you could be in a world of hurt. Unless you get the boat safely lifted for you there is no way to get at it without risking life and limb.

I wish I had thought of your idea back then. As noted fiber glass can be repaired very successfully. I once took a fiber glass canoe out into the surf (young and stupid) and it got folded up and broken into two. We matched the pieces together and re glassed and used it for years.

One more thing - after my boat had been on the trailer for a while the keel tended to stick in the trunk. I would make sure the lifting cable was almost tight and then strike the trunk with a rubber mallet and it would drop slightly and then be ready to lower.

Good luck.

Thank you, Johnb. That fiberglass patch is sounding better every minute. My son thinks it would be much easier to do than trying to lift the boat or finding a place anywhere close that has a crane that can handle the boat. The swing keel had been in the down position for seven years before we pulled the boat out of the water. It cranked right up with no problem, before we placed the boat on the trailer, but part of the rope had been in the water for that seven years.

The boat has been sitting in dry dock on the trailer for two years now. I hope the keel is not stuck in the up position. We may lift the boat four inches upward on the trailer to see if the keel will still move downward. We can lift it with hydraulic jacks, but I am afraid to lift it too high without Jack Stands to place under it.

 

[31seahorse]

Nice find to come up with the brochure! I like the stub keel with its weight internal and the the swing keel for deeper draft and pointing ability. The "pop top" on the cabin will be a plus for headroom at anchor. I suppose there is (or you can make) an enclosure to snap around it and to the cabin top. Go for a True Classic set up and haul the boat and trailer with the station wagon shown in the brochure! You might look at archived material in Old Boat Magazine (might be Good Old Boat currently) and I think there was a Trailer Boat publication too. Enjoy your project.

 

[sailaway78]

If at all possible

I have only had one boat with a swing keel, many years ago. A Chrysler 22. But I would highly recommend using stainless cable, as opposed to rope if at all possible. Smaller diameter, and much less chance of chafe.

 

[Johnb]

Having the ballast attached to the hull instead of in the swing keel is excellent. After I lost the keel that one time I never had total confidence in my Clipper Marine.

There were a lot of things I liked about my trailerable - the cheap haul outs and the ability to take it to different waters. The fact that we could lower the mast to go under bridges or raise the keel in shallow waters.

We did eventually settle on keeping it in the water and I think that contributed to getting much more use out of it. Although only 23 feet we spent a lot of nights on board with 2 kids and 2 dogs. It was what we could afford and we had it for 16 years.