We dry sailed our 235 last year but have splashed out on a mooring for 2014. I therefore had a quick look at our forward keel roller at the weekend (moving part, made of metal and about to be immersed in salt water for 6 months). All seems well but no sign of grease or anti fouling. The manual recommends grease. I'm tempted to drop the roller out to ensure all thoroughly coated with ramanol and also, because I will be able to grease the bolts, be sure it can be got out next year as well. The easy and less risky option option though would be to just squirt lots of grease in from below and whizz it round a few times. Does anyone have any experience that would point me to the right option ? Many thanks if so.

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Hi Mike,

There has been a lot of chatter about the keel; eye bolts, rollers etc. Lots of talk as to whether or not to use grease, ‘let the water lubricate’ etc.

My experience:

I have now had my boat for 3 seasons – it spends the summer on a mooring in Poole Harbour and the winter on its trailer in the boat yard.

At the start of the season, the boat yard lifts the boat so that I can drop the keel to antifoul. As the keel is wound back up I then slap lots of grease around the front of the keel and roller.

When it goes back into the water, I drop the keel and with a brush on a long pole get carried away with the grease again. So far, touch wood, no probs but I suppose only time will tell

Good luck

John

Diamond
P235/7

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Hi Mike,

I am very interested in this one too. We have a swinging mooring for the summer and I have the boat booked for the hoist to inspect the keel in a week or so. The keel on our 235 is incredibly heavy to winch and seems to put an enormous strain on the winch itself - not to mention me! I have not yet inspected further than opening up the top inspection hatch - glued and screwed shut for some reason. There appears to be a great deal of heavy grease on the case and the sliders and I wonder if this has gone 'sticky'. It certainly does not look like graphite grease or the 'water pump grease' recommended in the manual. I haven't really looked at the rollers under the hull yet. Members at my sailing club with larger Parkers have recommended removing all the grease and spraying liberally with silicone lube then letting the water do the rest. Has anyone else tried this on a 235?

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There was a discussion on keel rollers about a year ago - see here 

And an older one here 

On a previously owned 235 I found grease went claggy in salt water and caused as many problems as it was supposed to solve.
The keel hoist system on both that 235 and my current 27 needed careful checking to make sure all the rope runs ran true - ie not touching (even slighty) each other or any hole edges, sheeve edges etc, and that the runs through blocks were over the centre of the block and not to one side. The slightest contact raises loads dramatically.
I also changed the blocks on the 235 to Harken ball blocks and made sure the two blocks had their axles at 90deg to each other and the runs of rope did not touch each other. The BB do not flatten as the keel was normally left on the deck pin whilst parked. My P27 has had the same careful checking, and an additional block fitted in the keel itself, and on the keel box, hence increasing the purchase so I can now pull it up without a winch(just!) - note that P27 keel is a mere 375lbs unlike the 235 which is around 700.
Another problem here on the Blackwater is the mud which works its way into the box over successive tides (half tide mooring). This can be removed by pouring sea water down the keelbox when afloat then raising/lowering the keel. this seems to help lubricate/liquify the mud and move it our of the box
Best wishes
Chris Nichols
P27 Artemis

Chris, Interested in your reply. I have a 10 year old P235 (#29), and have never greased. There was grease there initially (and still is) but does not seam to cause a problem with raising the keel (unless I am stronger than I think). I have replaced the lifting bolts, and rope a couple of times but was not aware that there was a roller, I thought there were just two nylon blocks. Is a roller a later mod?

Also I was interested that you rigged the blocks at right angles. Mine came rigged in line and it does cause the blocks to twist/missalign, though not enough to cause the ropes to drag. Does rigging at right angles stop the twist? Is there a a special way of rigging the blocks (I think I have three sheaves in each block)?

Presumably it is the bottom block which has to be twisted as the top block aligns with the raising rope, so either the eye has to be screwed in, stopping at right angles or an extra shackle has to be added.


Reagrds
Jim Hamilton, Sandy lady

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Hi Jim et al

I have been trying to find the post that I or Ken (can't remember) did about changing the format of the keel block arrangement. No joy.

Essentially Bill Parker pointed out that the old system of having 2 triple blocks with a becket causes much more friction than a newer development which I thought was standard on 235s. This new system has a triple block at the base running up to a double block at the top. The clever bit is that it ends in a stopper knot which is tied above a hole strategically drilled in the keel box cover. By doing this the blocks are held much straighter and friction between the ropes is much reduced.

If you already have this then my point is academic. However for 275 owners who used to have the the old manual block system, changing it to the new system has reduced risk of hernia!

Tim

Try googling 6 part purchase - you should find info like this:-
http://www.tpub.com/steelworker2/59.htm 

This shows the right way of reeving a 6 part purchase. This is the reeving that Chris Nichols was referring to. If your reeve it up with the axles of the two blocks parallel, it won't work well.

Dick

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