I am having problems with the keel sticking up after launching from the trailer. We are able to lie alongside a jetty to put the keel down after launching. The first two times were fixed with a block of wood and a few very firm application of a club hammer. As soon as it moved it became completely free. I then, with the keel right down, cleaned as much of the old grease off as possible and re-greased with a teflon based waterproof grease - UKK! Next time I launched the keel stuck and needed even more brutality to get it started! When the plate was down I added more grease to the recommended areas but I’m not totally certain the plate will slide down as it used to do. The only possible change that I can identify is that I had a new trailer towards the end of last season. I am fairly certain that the rear support is marginally lower, perhaps a couple of inches. Having said that the keel is resting on the trailer and there is still a little slack on the eye of the safety wire with the metal tube pushed in. Does anybody have any thoughts on what's happening or suggestions on how to cure the problem?

Robin Cooter P235 11 Ossie.

Robin I occasionally have a problem with my keel sticking up. I keep my boat on a drying mooring and on 3 occasions I have had the keel on my 235 stuck Up - I am unclear on what is causing this but have found that lifting the keel a couple of centimeters beyond its usual upper position clears the problem. I do this by anchoring the upper block of lifting tackle to a temporary point above the deck( two pieces of wood with a bolt between to hang the block From) this allows me to pull the keel right up to the mechanical stops within the keel Box. I have never used grease on the keel system and just spray everything with dry silicone spray Hope this helps

Hi Robin;

I had this challenge last Spring.

The boatyard lifted my boat on a cradle so that I could lower the keel and antifoul. It got stuck about half-way down and no amount of banging and brute force could shift it. It transpired that a ‘bolt’ – I know not where it came from - was stuck part-way down, which eventually fell to the bottom. However, we still could not get it out.

The eventual solution, (similar to Zander's), was to put a small block of wood on the ground, then lower the boat so that the keel was pushed a little further up and the offending piece of metal could fall out.

Greasing - I do – but if you look back at previous posts, I think the jury is out!

Good luck

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