Bottoms Up

Swing keel, before
Original lift bolt and cable, grooved/bent guide bolt above

  With plenty of work to do, I opted to start at the bottom, with the swing keel. First order of business was to remove and replace all the fasteners related to the keel. There were five: the pivot bolt, lock bolt, lift bolt, and two guide bolts for the cable. 

I started with the lock bolt, 1/2" diameter and 4-5" long. Thankfully, it came out without incident. Next up was the most-critical pivot bolt, 5/8" diameter and also about 4-5" long. After scraping off the mountain of clear sealant encasing it, I was able to remove the nut without too much trouble, but the bolt wouldn't move. I stuck a breaker bar on it and applied quite a bit of force, to the extent the breaker bar was flexing enough I was afraid it might break. Thankfully, the pivot bolt slowly started to turn. I paused to stick a jack under the front of the keel to keep it from dropping too far once the pivot was free. It was a guessing game of how much pressure to put on it. In the end, I opted to leave it a few millimeters below to compensate for my weight in the boat compressing the trailer suspension. I then set to work attempting to get the pivot bolt free, using a large hardened steel punch and 3-lb mini sledge hammer, due to the fact that space was cramped as it was accessed through a storage hatch in the forward port dinette seat. I used enough force to deform the end of the bolt, but it didn't move. Frustrated, I left it for a bit and moved on to the others.

I discovered the lift bolt was going to be blocked from removal by the sides of the (partial) centerboard trunk. Fortunately, I have a 42" 3.5 ton farm jack. Making sure the keel winch was loose, I jacked up the stern of the boat a few inches until the lift bolt was clear on both sides. I put blocks near the rear of the trailer bunks to take the load off the jack while I worked. While initially stiff, after a couple whacks with the hammer and punch, the lift bolt popped free. To remedy the issue of the keel lifting off-center, I decided to add a bridle made of a 12" length of 1/4" 316-stainless-steel chain. The new lift bolt also got a thorough slather of Lanocote to hopefully prevent corrosion against the cast iron.

Finally, the guide bolts came out relatively easy, but the lower one was a shocking sight. The steel cable had worn a groove 2/3 of the way through the bolt and it had folded into a v-shape under load! I figured this would be less of an issue once I replaced the already-fraying galvanized cable with dyneema.

After talking with my brother, he suggested trying my air chisel on the pivot bolt. I tried, but it was nearly impossible to keep it centered and get the leverage needed in the tight space beneath the seat. Ultimately, I kept rotating the bolt back and forth with the breaker bar, until it gradually became noticeably easier. Then I tried the hammer and punch again. It moved! I got it most of the way, but I realized I had mushroomed the threaded end too much to fit through. I hammered it back into original position and grabbed my angle grinder with a grinding disc which made quick work of the deformed metal. Trying again with the hammer and punch was a success!

As for the keel itself, I opted to wait on fairing it until next season. I have enough to do already. I chipped away the loose fairing with a chisel, hit the rusty areas with an angle grinder wire wheel, and treated the remaining rust with Ospho rust converter before a quick prime with Rustoleum Primer, topped with blue Seachoice Ablative Plus antifouling paint. I carefully transcribed a line 3-inches above the top of the existing bottom paint, since the hull showed staining suggesting it was too low and I hate having to clean growth off bare gel-coat. The rest of the bottom got a quick cleaning, light wet-sand, and the same antifouling paint.

Swing keel after rust treatment and paint
New lift bolt w/ chain bridle, dyneema cord, and new guide bolt



New pivot bolt and lock bolt

Pivot bolt and nut, inside seat


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