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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

swing keel operation

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johnmcb
Deckhand

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USA
17 Posts

Initially Posted - 10/09/2010 : 14:57:27

I am a new owner and need some advice on operation of swing keel. Previous owner told me to let it down fourteen, one half turns or seven full turns of crank. Problem is with several people sailing her, I don't know if everyone counts the same or remembers to crank it up, when coming in to our shallow dock. I have searched forum and owner's manual for instructions without luck. Do you crank the keel down until you see slack in the cable and crank it up until you get additional resistance? What is the basic procedure for raising and lowering swing keel.

macsailor

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pfduffy
Captain

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USA
317 Posts

Response Posted - 10/09/2010 : 15:40:18

I crank all the way down until the cable goes slack. I crank it all the way up when returning to my marina. I believe the number of cranks in the full range is more than 7 full turns. I think it is more in the neighborhood of 25, but I don't count. You can search this forum and see many passionate debates regarding leaving the keel up or down. You should inspect the keel cable and turning ball as soon as possible and replace it if it is more then a few years old. Failure of the lifting mechanism can be catastrophic causing damage to the keel trunk Kits are available at Catalina Direct.

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johnmcb
Deckhand

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USA
17 Posts

Response Posted - 10/09/2010 : 17:21:56

Thanks for the reply. My dock is not deep enough to leave keel down, so debates about leaving it up or down are moot. Although marina is very calm. Boat was pulled for a bottom job, epoxy keel and cable replace July 09 I hope it will be ok to wait until next summer or later to inspect.

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Justincase
1st Mate

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Canada
49 Posts

Response Posted - 10/09/2010 : 19:32:36

We crank ours all of the way down until slack. I don't like the humming of the cable (reminds me of a motor;~) Ours takes 30-31 cranks from slack. We always crank up before we get to the dock (too shallow to leave it down)
Hope this helps.

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jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 10/10/2010 : 09:15:53

yup - all the way down to a slack cable and all the way back up <u>+</u> 30 cranks...

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johnmcb
Deckhand

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USA
17 Posts

Response Posted - 10/10/2010 : 18:59:44

Thanks again to all who replied. A dumb question, how do you know when it is all the way up? Can you break something by cranking it up too hard?

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pfduffy
Captain

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USA
317 Posts

Response Posted - 10/10/2010 : 19:31:59

On my boat, the winch handle is noticeably more difficult to turn when the keel is fully retracted. I would imagine that anything can be broken if you apply enough force, but you would need to be unusually strong to break something.

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jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 10/11/2010 : 04:50:10

John - it simply won't turn any further...(also you are exhausted from the exertion)...I don't think you can over crank it, but guess anything is possible.

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Unsinkable2
Captain

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USA
273 Posts

Response Posted - 10/11/2010 : 07:33:06

My dock is also too shallow - or atleast there is an obstruction near the entrance to the dock. So I crank the keel up to get in the dock, but then lower it again once we're in the slip. I don't like the idea of leaving the boat with 1300 lbs of keel hanging on that winch.
Same as others, we lower it until the cable goes slack to quiet the hum. I have a venture 21 as my first boat and the hum never went away on that boat - it turned on consistently at 3.5 knots. It was like a speedometer.
You might experiment with the number of turns needed on your winch. 25 turns is all we need to clear obstacles. But do that test on a windless day...

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pastmember
Master Marine Consultant

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2402 Posts

Response Posted - 10/11/2010 : 08:02:24

Mine was 31 turns and because of a cross bar between slip fingers I cranked 15 turns to clear the 5' deep bar. I left mine at 15 turns while in the slip, never had an issue.

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sweetcraft
Admiral

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USA
816 Posts

Response Posted - 10/11/2010 : 13:12:41

The count is good as I have 31 and when going aground I can ask for ten turns usually to get off and still have depth to get off again if the course selected is wrong. It's good to have the keel all the way up when loading so that the slack cable isn't bent against the hull by the trailer. 31 turns for us.

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dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 10/13/2010 : 13:40:58

With our fin keel trailer and strap launching, I leave the swing keel down about 1/2 to 2/3 so it will engage the keel guides properly but it is still high enough to clear the board under the keel. I found I needed only 5-6 turns lifting the keel off the board to re-launch.

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Jay Schkloven
1st Mate

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USA
84 Posts

Response Posted - 10/16/2010 : 08:33:13

I have painted a mark with Rustoleum paint on the cable so that I can tell when the keel is up to the property level. I view the painted line and stop cranking the winch. I do crank it until it stops because I think that puts extra stress on the cable.
When I crank the keel down I do so until the cable is slack and then crank it up 2 turns. I have also marked the handle with paint so that I can line up the slot on the winch drive.

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CharF
Deckhand

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USA
13 Posts

Response Posted - 11/01/2010 : 07:16:38

I don't count how many turns on the winch to raise or lower the keel. I raise the keel until it stops, and lower it until the cable is slack. I leave the keel in the down position as long as possible. I had to don my scuba gear once to replace the cable, it broke while slack because I did not replace it regularly. I am glad it did not break while the keel was up.

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.