C-26 Swing Keel bolts

EricBerg · Post by **EricBerg** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:25 pm

Hi folks..here's a question I haven't seen answered yet, and better find out sooner than later.

How do you get to and work on the bolts that hold the swing keel mounting brackets on the boat. Where are they, can you loosen/tighten/replace them? I've see pictures of the bracket, pivot pin, etc, but not the bolts that hold it all together. This spring I'm going to look at the bracket to check for cracks and weaknesses, and I'd like to know what I'm in for. I do have carpeting up in the cabin, and if I have to go through the sole, it would be a good time for this type of surgery.
Thanks in advance
Eric in South Dakota.
79' C-26
76 Suzuki RE 5 rotary
74 MGB GT

Guillaume C. · Post by **Guillaume C.** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:52 pm

The bolts are going vertical and the "nuts" wich are in fact threaded rectangular piece of SS are stuck in the bottom of the hull, with fiberglass then lead pellet/resin over them. Basicly you wont be able to acces this part, unless you want to empty all the lead to re-do the keel housing as I did last winter. The bolt are simply on the bottom of bracket, probably stuck in a lot of paint, if I remember correctly there are 4

This said, I feel the keel pin is probably the weakest part on the boat. I would love someday to remove the bracket, drill horizontal hole that open on both side, cover the bracket with fiberglass and make it permanant (at the same time, putting something so the hull touch the bottom,not the keel, in case of grounding) and then have easy way to replace the pin or remove the keel.... But that lots of work and probably not needed so it's not in my priority

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:09 am

As I recall 4 bolts is right, if you look on the side of the keel shoe, you'll see a couple of "cutouts" or depressions in them, the top of those is here the bolt heads are.

I cleaned my shoe down to metal, didn't find any damaged areas, tapped it with a welding hammer, checked that the bolt heads still had the shiny stainless look to them, then placed the bottle jack under the keel at the keel pin and applied light pressure to see if I could find any slack that might tell me something was amiss.

Nothing gave, so I figured good enough, as I really didn't feel comfortable putting too much pressure on that area, certainly not enought to lift the boat by the pin !

I did take some pics, will post one later

Chrysler20%26 · Post by **Chrysler20%26** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:13 am

I have ben looking for this post, for a long time. My !979 C26 has been on the traler for 17 years. But it has been used only in salt water. I have tryed to locate the bolts, but can not. What type of heads are thay, hex or do you use an allen rench. I can not tell, so I would say thay should be replaced. This is non related, but it works for me. I use an old hot water tank. A cheep 12volt aircompreser (can not contain oil) You can get a new regulater on e-bay for $35, this is the one that goes in your mouth. An some air hose. I put 70# of air in the tank. You can work on the botom of your boat with this, when it is in the water

Guillaume C. · Post by **Guillaume C.** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:36 am

They are hex type, maybe yours are simply covered by caulking then paint.

Great idea for the cheap diving regulator! I'll probably make such toy too

If someone want to make this setup, here's some rought info to estimate your need:at surface we are breathing air of about 15 psi, 3 meters down 20, if you put 80 psi in a tank, that should provide you 4-5 time the volume of the tank to breath when working under the boat. An adul walking use approx 24 liter of air per minute and 37 when mowing lawn.

Chrysler20%26 · Post by **Chrysler20%26** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:32 am

thank you, now that I know what to look for, I wiil try agin. I have a lot of rust. I have been using hamer an chisels,an certer punch. Back to my diving gear. I use a 30 galen hot water tank, an have two of use under the hull of a 54' croser. I got the idea, of puting a 15 galen new hot water tank in my boat, to be used as a preser water system. So that I have the tank an compreser on hand all the time. P B C pipe will work too.

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:04 am

Here's a pic

The rear bolt is just above/left of the jack in the pic, and the front bolt up there by the wood. (And yes, I did caulk that, and yes, that is some goopy ablative !)

Gus · Post by **Gus** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:51 am

is the centerboard necessary on the 26? I was thinking that if I ever got a 26, I might as well remove it, fiberglass the slot, and fill it with lead from inside the cabin.

Gus

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:05 am

even tho there is that bit of shoal keel, I don't think it would point well at all without the swing keel there and lowered.

The fixed keel version adds almost another 2 feet to the shoal keel (2'3" vs 3'11")

I have no experience with it, but I'm guessing the C22 doesn't either if the keel is full up, and that might be a fair comparison

Gus · Post by **Gus** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:39 am

good points, about replacing the iron centerboard with a fiberglass one, kinda like the Mac 26 uses? (and filling the keel cavity with lead as I mentioned before)

Guillaume C. · Post by **Guillaume C.** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 2:32 pm

What would be the point of such modification? The swing keel allow to lower the center of gravity

And even tough we talk about them quite a bit, they dont seem to be problematic, the only problem I have see is the guy who made a new bracket. Have there been other failure of the system?

Gus · Post by **Gus** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:00 pm

well, a fiberglass centerboard would be easier to lower and raise (and get rid of the winch) and easy to repair too. One of my friends sails a Precision 18, and that's the way his centerboard is (fiberglass and short shoal keel), no winch or SS wire that might snap.

Guillaume C. · Post by **Guillaume C.** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:50 pm

It's really not that hard to crank up the keel, it take 12 turn on the winch, my mother does it:P

Fiberglass is easy to repair but cast iron does not need repair, the wire may be a week point I agree, I'll probably boost its size next summer, a 3/8 wire should fit in the winch and will be overkill for the weight of the keel

and... If you put a fiberglass keel, you dont have place for the lead:P

Gus · Post by **Gus** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:08 pm

yeah ok, I have no problems rising the keel neither, but with a lighter keel made out of fiberglass, there won't be need for a winch, therefore, removing something from the boat that can break, that's my main point. Besides, cast iron rusts last I checked.

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 4:14 pm

Man does iron rust ! Mine was pretty pitted, but there's a lot of iron left yet, it isn't exactly a thin keel.

I would imagine substituting a lightweight glass keel for the iron one would affect the stability a fair bit.

amayotte · Post by **amayotte** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 4:30 pm

How hard do you guys think it would be to remove the swing keel and install a permanent shoal keel?

Gus · Post by **Gus** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 5:02 pm

EmergencyExit wrote:Man does iron rust ! Mine was pretty pitted, but there's a lot of iron left yet, it isn't exactly a thin keel.

I would imagine substituting a lightweight glass keel for the iron one would affect the stability a fair bit.

it could, but I noticed one time I was sailing with the keel up and it didn't heel THAT bad, and once I was sailing with the keel full down and the boat almost knocked over...

Guillaume C. · Post by **Guillaume C.** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 8:02 pm

But even with the keel up the weight is still there, for this idea to be possible you would have to add some weight by adding few inchs of solid keel, but then you save a lot of work by buying the full keel version...