Swing Keel on a Cruising Boat

[Leither]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

Let's try not to make a habit of it Stuart!

Cam, I promise to do my very best not to.......

Stuart

[Leither]

Originally Posted by Deadeye

Sorry Stuart, new guy and all. I won't make that mistake again !

Apology accepted and my reputation (see those tatters blowing in the wind?) is secure once more......

Stuart

[cdragon]

TomL,
So you are the fellow who bought Salt!? Congratulations, she is a very neat and unique boat, I looked at her but was not able to make an offer on her. Have you changed much on the boat? It seemed to me that the mainmast was very heavy (with the added standing rigging) and made her a bit tender. I also thought about converting her to twin rudders as I found she would heel in gust and the short, single rudder would loose grip. I was very very intrigued with her, the whole design just made so much sense-strong, fast, shallow-would love to hear what you have done with her and your sailing experiences with the boat

[eric3a]

I guess I'm obsessed with shallow draft, but so many more places in the world to go to with shallow draft. Leave the crowds in deep anchorages and find safety and peace in your little shallow private bay.

A friend of mine with too much money had a beautiful 45 foot aluminium fully retractable swing keel made to his specs by a French yard (name escapes me. It was a long time ago.)
As he was preparing for his round the world escape, he'd invariably give me a call when the wind was gale force. Not a rare occurence in Southern France. So we'd go out and play, and it left me with the belief his boat was the ideal go anywhere tool.
Fast, strong. Sea kindly but still accurate and fun. We'd bring the board up downwind for extra speed. I suspect Ovnis sail like that but unfortunately never sailed one. They sure look the business and sure keep very high second hand values.

I was told at the time by the naval architect that although good paints exist, the natural oxidation was a great protector so leaving the hull unpainted made best sense.

On top of the "go anywhere" and the safety aspect of being able to take shelter and beach where many can't, there's also the easy maintenance of the underside. You can regularly brush the hull and maybe save yourself some serious money by not having to pull the boat out as often? In a tight cruising budget I suspect every bit helps.

Seems the Southerly uses the same approach and logic, just a different hull building material. Must investigate more!
Keep us posted please.

So many boats... so little time!
Eric

[cdragon]

Eric, I know what you mean-the idea of a real offshore boat that is also very shoal is very attractive. I am a big fan of the Garcia line in particular, the Ovnis are nice but the styling is a little too much for me. There are some others along those lines, Caroff and some lesser known mostly French design/builds. Not exactly "classic looking" for the most part but everyone I've ever known who has sailed one-and many have done serious offshore voyaging-love their boats. I think the 46 or 47' Garcia is about perfect for me-prefer the twin rudder version-a little short on dough, but pretty long on knowledge, experience and desire...donations anyone?anyone?....

[TomL]

Originally Posted by cdragon

TomL,
So you are the fellow who bought Salt!? Congratulations, she is a very neat and unique boat, I looked at her but was not able to make an offer on her. Have you changed much on the boat? It seemed to me that the mainmast was very heavy (with the added standing rigging) and made her a bit tender. I also thought about converting her to twin rudders as I found she would heel in gust and the short, single rudder would loose grip. I was very very intrigued with her, the whole design just made so much sense-strong, fast, shallow-would love to hear what you have done with her and your sailing experiences with the boat

Thank You, She is unique...I had a chance to sail her quite a bit this summer. She is a blast ...balance is the key and shes such an easily driven hull that there's no reason to load her up... "Reef early and often".
I have changed the rigging a bit, swept the spreaders aft, (putting in a nice prebend that the main was screaming for) and removed much stainless (weight aloft) I find I don't need to use the runners except offshore. I removed the top set of spreaders, baby stay and the upper jumpers so the top will twist off...these made a world of difference.
I am also redesigning the rudder...She had a skeg hung rudder that for some reason the rudder shaft was 7" aft (as if it where to be balanced)...every time the rudder was off center the balanced part stuck out causing drag and stalling in the heavy stuff. (loose grip ) I can't wait to sail her with the new rudder design...I also tossed the Lunenburg steering and put a conventional Edson CDI rack and pinion set up in.
As far as sailing she is just way to much fun, very easy to singlehand and fast! We had occasion this summer to run down and pass a J46 on a tight reach...in the right conditions she really goes.
If you ever want to sail her again let me know.

[cdragon]

That makes sense about the rudder-I only sailed her once but was surprised that with just a little bit of a puff and heel that the rudder stalled, maybe that was the problem? Getting a bunch of weight out of the rig must have helped a ton also. Where do you have her now? I'd love to sail on the boat again-I really think the whole concept of the boat is great and it would be very interesting to see her and sail her with the concept better executed-it sort of seemed to me in my brief sail that she was "almost there" but not quite

[TomL]

I have her on the upper Chesapeake near Rock Hall. She should be good to go early April... seriously contact me if you want to go!
Cheers,

[cdragon]

I will take you up on that come springtime-would love to see her and sail her again!

[CapnRon47]

First, apologies for hijacking the thread (sort of)
TomL, Cdragon;
I recently purchased a 35' Craig Walters Design Swing Keel model Clearwater. She was built in 1990, hull number 5 (they only built 7), and named Heron. The spec's say she draws 1'10" with keel and rudder up, but I have not tested that yet.


She was up in CT, we purchased her and sailed her to our home in NC this past fall. She handled just fine off the NJ shore in a nice breeze. We came thru Rock Hall in mid September.



I spent a few weeks with the PO (also the original owner) over the summer and he showed me the ins and outs, including how much to rack the mast back for best performance. The rudder mechanism is a piece of work, it also swings up, but I have had no problems with the helm. However, I have not sailed her much nor hard.

The shallow draft is just what is needed in the NC coastal waters where the depth is driven by the wind and can easily swing a couple of feet each way. I am working on installing an autopilot so I can singlehand her locally, so far it has been me and the admiral. She seems pretty sturdy and well made (and kept; yes, both the boat and the admiral ), but I don't know (yet) if I would truly go offshore with her. There is something about the possibility of that 4,000 lb keel bouncing around, as it does not lock down, that bothers me.

Ron