Alternative Swing keel replacement
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 9:12 am
Has anyone replaced the Iron keel with something else?
My keel was hauled two seasons ago and coated liberally, any yet it is already swelling in size again
Lead has a greater density and was thinking of something with a lower half of lead and wood/epoxy upper¿?¿
The lead also will not rust.
I am also interested in knowing numbers on knockdown force-- how much lighter could the keel be if the bulk of ballast was more condensed towards the bottom of keel?
My M22 seems to groan from the weight of the massive chunk below. Also because of a thinning around the bolt, it "cants" under tack resulting in a truely disturbing crunch. I fear if i shim it out it will swell and get near impossibly stuck as it was before.
It's a 34 y/o boat so I am not going to be too harsh. But can you imagine how much more reliable at the cost of a few recycled car batteries?
My keel was hauled two seasons ago and coated liberally, any yet it is already swelling in size again
Lead has a greater density and was thinking of something with a lower half of lead and wood/epoxy upper¿?¿
The lead also will not rust.
I am also interested in knowing numbers on knockdown force-- how much lighter could the keel be if the bulk of ballast was more condensed towards the bottom of keel?
My M22 seems to groan from the weight of the massive chunk below. Also because of a thinning around the bolt, it "cants" under tack resulting in a truely disturbing crunch. I fear if i shim it out it will swell and get near impossibly stuck as it was before.
It's a 34 y/o boat so I am not going to be too harsh. But can you imagine how much more reliable at the cost of a few recycled car batteries?