Chrysler Sailors Forum

Just purchased a C-20 and have been lightly restoring it. It is currently on a trailer in my driveway and i noticed that I couldn't lower the swing keel by turning the winch handle counter clock-wise. Is there a lock somewhere that i should be aware of or is it possible for this massive thing to get rusted into position. The cable looks to be in OK shape from what i can see. What should I be looking out for?

Congrats, Dan! I just bought a C-20 too. Lucky us!

I am still figuring my boat out, but here are a few things to check which I know from my previous boat.

First, are you in or out of the water? The second time I had the C-20 out, the centerboard never dropped because when I had come in from the first sail I managed to load up the centerboard with weeds and then wedge them int the keel. Yes, brilliant, genius maneuver, I'll own up to it.

My previous boat was a little Pearson 12, which took out twice. The second time I took it out, the centerboard never dropped because the foam in the hull had been taking on water during the first sail, and swelled the housing so tight nothing would budge. My C-20 had all the foam removed removed, so I don't know if that's a possibility or not.

On the C-20, can you crank the centerboard winch and loosen the line? If you can, then I think your problem will be in the dreaded keel housing. There's a couple guys on here who got inventive with building racks to lift the boats and get up in the keel housing.

Let's keep in touch! There are lots of everything missing from my boat, and putting it back together is a 1000 piece puzzle. I need the picture from the box-top!

Hi Dan, congrats on your new c-20. They're great boats if I do say so myself...and I do! Did you take the winch housing off and check out the action? (if not, you may want to). My winch handle turns a bit, maybe as much as a quarter turn counter-clockwise before it actually engages to go down. I believe this is by design. It allows me to get the handle out of the hatchway if need be. The swing keel system is not very complicated on the C20, a winch and two pulleys, the second of which takes the cable from the deck straight down to the keel. Maybe the cable slipped off the track of one of the pulleys? This can happen if someone dropped the keel and allowed a lot of slack in the cable. It could also have done some damage to the cable if so. Take the wood pieces out and inspect the cable going down.


Is the shackle hanging up on the housing? If the problem is in the shoal keel housing....hmmm... that should be addressed. You should be able to put just a wee tiny bit of slack in the cable and see if you can push the keel down through the cable shaft to get it started with a broom handle or something. Its worth a try. Just don't let it drop too far, it's 400lbs of iron on a cable rated at ~750lbs if it's SS and in good shape. Check out the rest of this sight too. There's several people who have done great work on keels here.

Good Luck!

Another thought. Check the pulleys themselves and also make sure they're still mounted solidly. Especially look at the one nearest to the winch. Over the years they could have become loose and misaligned. Is the fiberglass they're mounted to in good shape? I've heard that moving these around is tricky and best left to an expert. I dunno, since this hasn't been an issue for me........yet.