After a lot of banging and working at it, we've managed to mostly free up a rusted frozen swing keel on a Santana 21. We've removed a bunch of rusted metal from the space between the keel and the hinge. We have also removed the pivot pin and we're trying to drop the keel to inspect the cable and pulley, clean everything up repaint and replace. But we can't get the keel to drop out. Any suggestions? Our last session we worked at it for 4 hours, removed a lot of rusted metal, but it won't move more than a couple inches in any direction round the pivot hole.
swing keel will not drop on Santana 21
- Thread starter sailingwithquestions
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Good idea by @rgranger but further details are needed.
First let’s start with the premis that the boat is out of the water either in a yard lift close to the ground with no one underneath or on a trailer with blocks underneath that will keep the keel from falling again no one underneath the boat.
First did you look for kelp, seaweed, barnacles , etc.?
Salt or fresh water?
When was the hull last cleaned?
Is the key uphaul line or cable stuck?
Please advise
First let’s start with the premis that the boat is out of the water either in a yard lift close to the ground with no one underneath or on a trailer with blocks underneath that will keep the keel from falling again no one underneath the boat.
First did you look for kelp, seaweed, barnacles , etc.?
Salt or fresh water?
When was the hull last cleaned?
Is the key uphaul line or cable stuck?
Please advise
@Crazy Dave Condon Thanks for the questions. The boat is in my buddies driveway on sawhorses. This is a DIY project. She was in salt water, trailered for we don't know how long, months or years, the cable is loose, have no idea regarding last cleaning but there are no barnacles on the hull, and we have worked for hours moving the keel up and down, removing rusty metal inside the space where the keel pivots inside the hinge (if that is the right term?) We have gotten the keel to swing down as far as it can until it comes in contact with the wooden support we built to hold the dropped keel. I guess there could still be rusted metal holding it in place but with the amount removed, the daylight we can now see on either side of the keel and the weight pulling down, it doesn't make sense this thing is not coming down. @Granger I would like to better understand your idea, because we have done A LOT of sledge pounding to free this thing to no avail. We were wondering if we're missing something specific about this Santana 21 keel design where there is something we need to finesse to get it released? On the PDF instruction manual I have seen they talk about dropping the keep by removing the entire hinge that attaches to the hull. but we are hoping that we can not go that deep. We would prefer to drop the keel, inspect and replace cable and pulleys as needed, grind all the rust from all surfaces, repaint (keel and bottom), put together and get this boat in the water.
@rgranger I don't like where the boat is, so will have to get back to you on pics. @LloydB I am not sure what you mean by a misplaced locking pin? We were able to successfully remove the bold on which the keel swings. The only one I am aware of? The keel will now move slightly forward, back or down from that position, but only by a couple inches at most, where it seems it should just release to the ground, right? The cable is slack and this thing weighs 500 pounds.
The red line represents the rebar inserted through a hole drilled into the top of the keel trunk. Wack that with a sledge to knock your keel out.
Well I looked at the Schock pdf and apparently there isn't one on the drawing maybe you don't have a locking pin as some smaller swing keel boats do. It can keep the heavy swing keel deployed in the case of a roll over from slamming back down into the keel boot and possibly damaging the hull.
schock-santana-21-manual%20(1).pdf
schock-santana-21-manual%20(1).pdf
Before you do is there any indication on both sides of the keel housing any signs of a bolt or any cap covers
Your keel setup is not altogether unlike the one on my Sirius 21, and I'm having the exact same issue. My boat spent the last 10 years sitting on the trailer, and the cast iron keel began to flake and swell around the pivot point of the keel trunk. Best solution I've found thus far is to slowly and meticulously chisel away the iron flakes with a thin straight pry bar and hammer. I'm probably about 75% of the way up to the pivot and hoping to hit a point where the remaining flakes will give way to the weight of the keel when I try to lower it next time.
I think we got this... Un screw this hose clamp...
and slide the hose off of the cable hole. You should then be able to see the top of the keel. Take a piece of rebar and place it on the top lip of the keel and whack the rebar with a sledge hammer. Gently at first... if you feel it slip, you are on your way. If not, then something is still pinned in place. You might also be able to squirt some PB blaster or WD-40 between the keel and the trunk but I would avoid that at first... it is just one more thing to clean up before you restore the keel.
There are a lot of threads here where people have restored keels and if you don't find what you need, post again and I'm sure you will get more advice than you want.
and slide the hose off of the cable hole. You should then be able to see the top of the keel. Take a piece of rebar and place it on the top lip of the keel and whack the rebar with a sledge hammer. Gently at first... if you feel it slip, you are on your way. If not, then something is still pinned in place. You might also be able to squirt some PB blaster or WD-40 between the keel and the trunk but I would avoid that at first... it is just one more thing to clean up before you restore the keel.
There are a lot of threads here where people have restored keels and if you don't find what you need, post again and I'm sure you will get more advice than you want.
I looked at your pic some more and I have another thought.. What the heck are these bolts holding?????
It is possible that your keel pivots inside of a steel bracket and the bracket is bolted to the underside of the trunk.
If the rebar whack does not produce any slippage, then I think the the next thing you try is to remove those keel bolt nuts. But before you do!!!! Jack up the keel from underneath. You will probably need to soak those nuts in PB blaster a few days before you can losen them. And you really don't want to strip those so get a snug fit on the socket and a large breakout bar. And soak them in PB blaster... I have also found that if you rap the bolt with a hammer you can losen the rust in the threads... just be sure not to damage the threads.
It is possible that your keel pivots inside of a steel bracket and the bracket is bolted to the underside of the trunk.
If the rebar whack does not produce any slippage, then I think the the next thing you try is to remove those keel bolt nuts. But before you do!!!! Jack up the keel from underneath. You will probably need to soak those nuts in PB blaster a few days before you can losen them. And you really don't want to strip those so get a snug fit on the socket and a large breakout bar. And soak them in PB blaster... I have also found that if you rap the bolt with a hammer you can losen the rust in the threads... just be sure not to damage the threads.
These bolts hold the “hinge” that the keel is attached to via pivot bolt. Here is a photo of a removed hinge.
Attachments
Oh that is a little different than the Sirius 21 keel then. On the Sirius, the keel pivot bolt is just attached through the fiberglass up in the trunk itself. No separate hinge.