Well, I discovered that my Seal 28 sailed well enough with the keel only half way down. That's ONLY 75 turns of the handle, light helm and not too much lee-way. What's not to like? I have just discovered, however, the subtle pit-fall awaiting half way down sailors. On climbing aboard last weekend for a sail, I duly went to apply the 75 turns - but the Keel lift wire almost instantly went slack. 'Stone jammed in the slot' I thought. Five turns up and then back down should clear it. No, it didn't. I tried again. The keel remained jammed, winding down just let the wires go slack. Try lifting fully up (I always leave the keel a few turns down, just to allow this jiggle to clear any stones). Oh dear! The keel just kept on lifting - a whole 150 turns! It had been fully down.

After some thought, the only solution is as follows.

The previous weekend, I had wound down the 75 turns before sailing as usual. Before going home, I had wound up 75 turns (as I thought) but - I must have turned the handle in the wrong direction, so the keel was left fully down. I didn't think that that would be possible - I have 'Up' and 'Down' direction arrows inscribed on the front of the table, but maybe my left-handedness overrode the logic of my eyes!

Leaving the keel down wouldn't be too much of a problem in a marina, but I have a drying mooring. It is comforting to reflect that the keel must have pushed it's way back into the slot as the tide went out twice each day for a week without coming to any harm!

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