LAGUNA WINDROSE 25 SWING KEEL QUESTIONS

[mmoranton]

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN THE KEEL IS AS FAR UP AS IT CAN GO; OR WHEN IT IS ALL THE WAY DOWN. THE KEEL IS ON A WINCH WITH A CABLE AND CRANK HANDLE. THERE ARE TWO BOLTS THAT GO THROUGH THE KEEL WALL UNDER THE ARMREST IN THE INSIDE. ARE THESE LOCK BOLTS, AND DO THEY NEED TO BE USED. ANY INFORMATION ON THIS BOAT WOULD HELP.
THANKYOU

[joub]

My previous boat was a 23'' Balboa/Laguna Windrose. They changed the name somewhere along the way, but am sure they are quite similiar.
On my boat, the winch/cable allowed the swing keel to swing down until it was fully extended. You knew it was all the way down as the cable would go slack.(i.e. no more weight on the cable). However there was a position just before the keel was fully extended, that would allow you to slip a bolt through the keel trunk into the keel and out the other side to lock the keel in position. It was my understanding that this was important as if the boat was hit by a heavy gust or large wave, the keel could swing up which would exacerbate the loss of stability.

Also, without the pin in position, the cable would "sing" when the boat got up some speed.

When retracting the keel just crank it up until you can''t crank it anymore...it''s up!

It''s important to inspect the cable as if it deteriorate''s and breaks it''s almost impossible to get your boat back on the trailer with 600 lbs of iron hanging 5'' below your hull.

Hope this helps.

Jim

[tonyds]

I had to do a winch-ectomy on my boat. The thing had rusted solid and no amount of work could get it loose. But Mr. Friendly Sawzall sure did.

Now it''s time to choose a replacement. I''m thinking of getting a compact electric winch, so I can raise or lower my keel from the cockpit instead of having to jump into my cabin.

Is that a good idea or not?

In addition, all the fittings for my pop top were removed, and my mainsail sheet is rigged to the aft of the boom. How do the lines work with that kind of sheet, and what''s the best way to rerig a pop top?

[joub]

My boat didn''t have an electrical system so an electric winch wouldn''t have been a good idea. Actually, it wasn''t really a problem to crank the keel up and down.

As I recall the mainsheet was rigged as follows: A block with a becket and a cam cleat was mounted far aft on the starboard cockpit coaming. The mainsheet was rove from the becket up through a double block on the end of the boom, down to a single block on the aft end of the port coaming, back up through the block on the boom and then down through the block on the starboard side. The cam cleat held the mainsheet. The mainsheet formed an inverted vee and provided good control of the boom.

Hope this helps.

Jim