I am trying to help a friend replace the steel cable that raises the
swing keel on his old San Juan 21. Do any of you have a drawing or
can you describe how the cable runs. I thought that it would run
straight from a winch at the aft end of the centerboard trunk in the
cabin down to the aft/lower end of the swing keel. But, from what we
can see so far the cable runs forward from the winch. This would only
make sense if the cable runs to a block forward of the keel and then
is attached to the aft/upper end of the keel. Since the keel is about
500 pounds, that would seem to be an unnecessarily straining design.

We have also looked at another SJ 21. Amazingly, its keel winch is at
the forward end of the centerboard trunk.

Thanks for any help you can give us.

Lee Huddleston
s/v Truelove