Mostly, the first job after unlocking the hatch on Andiamo is to wind the keel down. I had an experimental sail about in the creek last weekend, however, and tried sailing with the keel wound up. It was calm water, about 10 knots of wind and I found that my Seal 28 Mk 1 (shallow keel and lifting rudder blade) was making about 10 degrees of leeway when going to windward. This didn't seem too bad to me. Are there owners who don't bother winding the keel down at all? Especially with Mk 2 boats which have the deeper keel? I was also interested to see that the balance changed quite a lot too - keel down = neutral helm; keel up = weather helm.

Neil Sinclair
Seal 28/27
'Andiamo of Exe'

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Hi Neil
Hope you have had a good season so far.
Yes I am basically lazy and because of the type of area here in the Thames I often used to potter out for an hour or so and would not bother to lower the keel.
I would agree with your findings, marked increase in leeway, generally less response to the helm, although I do find it difficult to steer with the rudder blade up it is possible if the heading is "easy" with relation to the wind.
Even now with the electric keel I am conscious not to be too tempted to over use the keel winding mechanism because it still operates through the same screw and bronze nut. If conditions are bad, I am racing or on a long passage I put the keel down. I service it normally every other year.

Mike Edwards
Seal 28 "Aztec"

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Hi Neil,

I've read your posts of sometime ago regarding your keel not seating right and clanking, how did you resolve this in the end?

Cheers

Matt
Seal 28 Gair Na Mara

Thankyou, Mike, its not been the best Summer but we've been out and about most weekends and even made it over to the Isle of Wight. I haven't had the number 2 out of it's bag at all.

I will try sailing about a bit more with the keel up and the rudder down - it maybe that in stronger winds the leeway will get less as well. The drop keel does need to be used quite frequently to keep the mud out of it, though.

I am starting to think about maintenance jobs now, even though the crane doesn't come for us until 27th Oct.

Matt - I don't remember having clonking trouble with the keel. It got jammed fully up in the first season we had Andiamo and so I learned to leave it wound down a few turns - so that when a stone got jammed in it you could wind it up a little to free it. I replaced the lifting wires and overhauled the mechanism that Winter. I found that on a drying mooring regular use is necessary otherwise the keel case fills up with mud and jams up the keel. The keel does seem to be getting stickier going up and down this year - there is definitely a tight spot about half way. I have never painted the drop keel so perhaps the rust is building up.

Gair na Mara is a Mk 2 boat with a slightly deeper and heavier ballast keel than Andiamo. Your drop keel weighs about 500 lbs whereas mine weighs about twice that. I'm not sure if there are any differences in the lifting mechanism between the earlier and later boats but this is how my keel works.

There is a large nylon guide piece bolted onto each side of the keel. These run in slots in the side of the keel case. When the keel is down, the guide pieces should rest at the bottom of the slots and the keel can't move. I guess that your lifting wires are a bit short and don't allow the keel to descend fully. The guide pieces therefore don't rest at the bottom of their slots and don't lock the keel in place. You could check this by removing the saloon table top to see if the wires go slack when the keel is fully down - they should. If they don't, you will need to get some slightly longer replacements made.

Neil Sinclair
Seal 28/27
'Andiamo of Exe'

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I have just measured an old wire strop for the keel on Aztec and the length is 1378mm from the load bearing point on the eye to the load bearing point on the swaged end that goes in the bronze nut.
I dont know if there is any diference in length for a Mk 2 Seal 28

Mike Edwards
Seal 28 "Aztec"

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I know you posted this a long time ago.

I have just come across this and would thank you for the info.

Having bought Sealoner (Seal 28) recently I was surprised to find mud on top of the keel.

But having read your forum page I am relieved to see I'm not the only one who has this problem.

Although now I have a deeper mooring it should go away.

Thanks again

Ray

All the Best with Sealoner, Ray! I am just along the coast a bit in Chichester.

I replaced Andiamo's keel lift wires for the second time this year - I find I've owned her for eleven years!

It was interesting re-reading these posts, because I have developed a preference for sailing with the keel half way down, now. I find that progress to windward is almost as good as with the full keel and the helm balance is almost neutral. You only have to turn the handle 75 times too! I don't have problems with the keel banging, either.

Neil

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Hello,

Sorry for asking newbie question in the old thread.

After having Mera for two years now, still not sure which keel position is best for her on the deep water swing mooring.

The first year I kept her on the mooring with the keel up position and noticed that she is swinging, pitching and rolling excessively and keeps different angle to the tide/wind directions than nearby boats.

After some consideration that keeping keel down will reduce the wear of the mooring equipment and lifting mechanism as keel weight would be supported by the hull, last season I kept her all the time with the keel down position and lifted it only to pass draft restricted areas.
She definitely behave much better on the mooring.

What are the best practices in relation to the keel position?shall I keep it in down position all the time or if there are any other considerations I am missing?

Thanks and best regards,
Dmitry

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I am a naturally lazy person, so if I had a deep water mooring and most of my sailing was in deep water, then I would keep the keel down. Only to save on my energy and also ware and tear on the winding mechanism.
But it would be a good idea to raise the keel from time to time to help ensure it is free to move for when you may need to lift it in an emergency.

Mike

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Thanks Mike,

Will keep her with keel down than without further concerns.

Best regards,
Dmitry

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