Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 32.2 Lift Keel - To dry or not to dry?

J

joybennett

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 Jul 2007
Messages
116
Location
Somewhere away from the sea
Visit site
We have a Jeanneau 32.2 with a swing (lift) keel with twin rudders.

We have asked Jeanneau who have assured us that it is perfectly safe to dry out (with the keel lifted) and balancing on the rudders.

Does anyone have any experience of carrying out this? We have doubts regarding stability as we don't know the contours of the sea bed within a harbour - obviously on a sandy beach, we wouldn't have too many concerns but in a drying harbour (like Barmouth) we are concerned that we may list dangerously one way or another!
 
drying out Jeanneau

Never had the luxury of a lifting keel, but I feel that if so designed there should not arise much problems over and above fixed keel, i.e. if you come down during swell created naturally or by other fast craft, it will be problematic. So you do depend on the behaviour of other boaters. That idyllic spot could become untenable very quickly by others barbaric behaviour. Hopefully if you cruise or sail in a community that respects the needs of all types of users, this scenario will not arise.
issues:
mud in slot,
stone in slot,
damage to keel/rudders when tide recedes/returns.
neaped.
hard to scrub properly on a tide,

positives:
idyllic pools and beaches,
not having to go ashore in wet dinghy in No.1's
lift keel if you get it wrong.
poss of keeping boat on cheaper mooring.

Good luck with it, guess I'll find out more if i ever own one!

Good sailing and boating to all!
 
I have a Beneteau First 29 swing keel twin rudder boat which is probably pretty similar. The rudders have big soft rubber boots on the bottom edges for hard surfaces. I'm on a drying mooring on softish mud, fairly level, and have dried in a few other places too. OK so far.
When I got the boat 18 months ago it had been on a deep mooring with the keel left down. On survey I noticed that the keel didn't go quite flush with the bottom of the keel. First time she dried the keel was pushed up all the way and it jammed up because of corrosion etc on the sides of it - had to remove blade and have it gritblasted, so keep an eye on the state of your blade and exercise it all the way regularly.
Certainly a stone jam in the slot is a risk but hasn't happened to me yet.
 
joybennett said:
We have a Jeanneau 32.2 with a swing (lift) keel with twin rudders.

Does anyone have any experience of carrying out this? We have doubts regarding stability as we don't know the contours of the sea bed within a harbour - obviously on a sandy beach, we wouldn't have too many concerns but in a drying harbour (like Barmouth) we are concerned that we may list dangerously one way or another!
Click to expand...

I have a beneteau 331 with the same arrangement.

Anything more than a 5 degree list is worrying, although she has remained upright at 15degs. It is essential you know what the bottom is, pref firm sand, small stones or firm mud. Large stones may damage the rudder protection. I've never had a stone jamb.

I've never tried settling in soft grunge - not much of it here. I'd like to know what happens to you?
 
I have laid one up for about the last 6 years and it seems to sit very happily on keel and rudders. Obviously we can see the state of the ground but as long as it is reasonably lat I don't see a problem.

Yoda
 
Hi, I've got a Benny 323 with lift keel. I think others have confirmed that your boat will take the ground. One key issue is if you're anchoring and planning on taking the ground, check the forecast for the sea state and wind direction. Not only is bouncing up and down against the bottom whilst taking the ground bad for a good nights sleep, this is where the rudders will most likely sustain damage.

Re listing, through a cock-up at East Head last year, we ended up at 50 degrees to port across a steep contour (we ended up sitting in the tender tied to a guard rail with a flask of coffee and books!) and she didn't go over. The CoG is still right at the bottom of the boat so you're unlikely to have any issues.
 
Jen 32 is not the same as Bennies.

The Jen has small bilge strakes either side of the swing keel, and sits a whole lot easier on the beach.
I have the Jen 35, which is the same as the Bennies with a Wing keel and twin rudders. I dry out a lot, but only where I know the surface to dry on.

Jen 32 is a lot more tolerant of uneven surface though.
Leave the keel 4 or 5 turns wound down, and then the keel will work itself each tide, and not just bung and stick in the box.
When you lift out, make sure the jetywash bloke does a thorugh job of blowing the mud out of the box, because if allowed to dry, it turns into concrete, and is a bugger to move with a sail batten up the gap in springtime.
 
joybennett said:
We have a Jeanneau 32.2 with a swing (lift) keel with twin rudders.

We have asked Jeanneau who have assured us that it is perfectly safe to dry out (with the keel lifted) and balancing on the rudders.

Does anyone have any experience of carrying out this? We have doubts regarding stability as we don't know the contours of the sea bed within a harbour - obviously on a sandy beach, we wouldn't have too many concerns but in a drying harbour (like Barmouth) we are concerned that we may list dangerously one way or another!
Click to expand...

Our boat does not have wings on the keel - it is about 12" wide and is just a stump. there are no shoes on the rudders either. I will try and post a photo to the site so that you can see our dialema.
 
Hopefully it looks like this.....


gp237a.jpg



the 35 is like this.....

P1010028.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top