How to check my swing keel is working?

[teensailer]

Just got a Swift 18 with a friend and it needs some work, we’re worried about the swing keel and whether it’s still secure. Not much of a budget for us and not sure how to check if the mechanism is working without paying the boatyard to lift it or taking it to the water (do NOT want it to drop out and into the sea!) I tried on swift 18 forum but that doesn’t seem to be very active…
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[dunedin]

What does it weigh? With an 18 footer is it not possible for a few people to (very carefully) lift it one end at a time until high enough to lower the keel. Make sure very securely chocked before going underneath.

 

[LittleSister]

Consider careening it - getting it on the ground (if not already there) and rolling it on its side. You will need to haul downwards from the top of the mast to get it over.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Consider careening it - getting it on the ground (if not already there) and rolling it on its side. You will need to haul downwards from the top of the mast to get it over.

It’s only a baby. This must be the way.

 

[teensailer]

Thanks for the replies, I could try gently rolling her over (just in the back yard) but the mast isn’t stepped plus we don’t have stays yet. Lifting by hand could work but to get the keel full way down it’s got to go pretty high (with keel draft is 3.5ft) I was considering asking a local farmer to lift with his tally handler but I don’t know how secure that is.

 

[mrming]

This kind of swing keel mechanism has two main parts. The screw jack which raises and lowers the keel, and the pivot the keel rotates around. It should be possible to inspect the screw jack - there’s usually an inspection cover you can remove. You should be able to unscrew the jack a bit to confirm it’s not seized, and you can usually grease it while you’re there.

It might not be possible to inspect the pivot with the boat on a trailer, but in my experience with a similar keel design that pivot was heavily engineered and not likely to fail. The thing you really need to check is whether the keel can move freely within the casing - e.g. it’s not stuck and can be lowered.

If you can lift the boat even a little you can check that you can move it up and down a bit.

 

[Gixer]

I jacked my Westerly Nimrod up. Front first, secured with blocks of wood, move jack to the rear and do the same. Did this a few times until I has it high enough. The yard might let you do this.

 

[mrming]

@teensailer I assume you’ve seen the photos here which give an idea how the mechanism works. From reading that thread, it seems it’s the lifting and lowering mechanism that can fail, rather than the pivot holding the keel in.

 

[teensailer]

I have looked in the inspection Hatch ( I did see the pics, found them last night) and the screw jack seems to be ok plus the braces are fastened but I don’t know if they are attached at the keel end. Also we wanted to check that it lowers all the way plus repaint it with whatever stuff they use as it’s a bit rusty and flaky from what I can see. Whilst it’s jacked up we need to fix some minor cracks in the hull so she’ll have to be securely lifted for a while.

From crawling under the trailer I saw that the keel is protruding about 3 or4 inch’s on a parallel to the Hull bottom, not sure if that is correct which got me worried.

 

[mrming]

The description from swift18.org says there is 3 inches of keel exposed when it's fully raised, so that sounds normal to me.

 

[teensailer]

Thanks, that’s relieving I hadn’t seen that