"Derek Lawler" wrote
I have a 1978 Chrysler 26 that has sat on a trailer for the last ten years
after being brought back up from Key West to my house in Pompano Beach. I
intend to re-fit the boat and put it back in the water and go sailing,
however, the 1300 pound drop keel seems to have expanded with rust inside
the trunk and it won't come down.

Probably the most cost-effective way to repair this would be to sell
this boat and buy one in good working order. You're looking at a huge
hassle. Sorry, I wish I had more cheerful news...

... I have put a large crowbar through the
cable hole that I expanded some by chipping out the cement. By beating on
the bar with a sledge hammer I only managed to shake the boat on the
trailer
some without any movement of the keel. I can't be the only one in the
world
with this problem so someone out there might have a solution for me. How
can
I get the keel free? Thanks in advance.


Rust expands, so you may have a swing keel locked into it's trunk over
it's entire surface. The best way to get it out will be to saw off the
trunk, lower it out of the boat, then saw the trunk in half. You can
then sandblast the swing keel & refinish it, and fiberglass the trunk
back together. In fact you can fiberglass it back together in such a way
that the repair could not be detectable, and it would be stronger than
the original. It's only time & money!


John Cassara wrote:
I had asked the same question some time ago. The best response was to run a
saws-all along each side of the keel from below.

That doesn't sound like a good idea. The odds of damaging the swink keel
& the trunk & hull seem very high... what's going to happen when the
sawz-all brushes against solid iron instead of rust? What sort of
protective gear can your wear to ward off the hi-pressure stream of rust
& iron particles & chips of fiberglass? Are you going to trust life &
limb to the swing keel lifting cable & winch that have not seen service
in 10 years?

Anyway, not to be unduly pessimistic... I wish you luck with the
project. It's potentially a nice boat.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King