The Carter33' is a very beautiful boat, but when we aquired her (for
almost nothing) she was land sinking and had water & mold in her for at
least 3 years- after being abandoned. We had to redesign the entire
interior, so it's very customized - not much original structure is left
in the interior. The hull and the deck were in superior condition, but
the cabin top was soaked under the fiberglass to the balsa wood core.
We had to completely make a new cabin top core from the inside of the
cabin. My husband is a mechanical engineer- and quite handy with
rebuilding and designing almost anything. So I have no doubts, he would
do a superior job with the shorteneing of the keel . We plan to keep
this boat for many years and many of the places we like to sail too and
anchor (at our convenience-not waiting for high tides) are tight at mid
to lower tides - where we live.
It would still be great to get some more ideas of tohers who have
attempted this kind of project and were actually successful. They're
out there somewhere. Some people have knack of accomplishing things
they get told "can't be done right.
I will look into all the suggestions.

Much Thanks!
Karolina

Steve Lusardi wrote:
Karolina,
I can appreciate the requirement. However, you had better do it right or you
will lose all the value in your boat. Please consider a Sheel keel. They are
the answer to your requirement. Properly constructed, with the correct
ballast load schedule and you will have a winner with a 4 foot draft. They
really work exceedingly well. Before doing this contract a qualified naval
architect. It will save untold grief in the end.
Steve

On Mon, 18 Dec 2006 11:41:05 -0800, KVL wrote:

The Carter33' is a very beautiful boat, but when we aquired her (for
almost nothing) she was land sinking and had water & mold in her for at
least 3 years- after being abandoned. We had to redesign the entire
interior, so it's very customized - not much original structure is left
in the interior. The hull and the deck were in superior condition, but
the cabin top was soaked under the fiberglass to the balsa wood core. We
had to completely make a new cabin top core from the inside of the
cabin. My husband is a mechanical engineer- and quite handy with
rebuilding and designing almost anything. So I have no doubts, he would
do a superior job with the shorteneing of the keel . We plan to keep
this boat for many years and many of the places we like to sail too and
anchor (at our convenience-not waiting for high tides) are tight at mid
to lower tides - where we live.
It would still be great to get some more ideas of tohers who have
attempted this kind of project and were actually successful. They're out
there somewhere. Some people have knack of accomplishing things they get
told "can't be done right.
I will look into all the suggestions.

You have a big advantage with respect to cost if your husband can do the
actual work. So use the savings to hire a good naval architect or
marine engineer to do the design work. Even an otherwise competent
engineer could screw this up without the proper training and experience.
Your husband would probably enjoy working with one of these guys anyway.
That experience alone may be worth the cost.

Naval architect and marine engineer Eric Sponberg has a similar project
featured on his website: http://www.sponbergyachtdesign.com/Magic.htm It
might be best to work with someone nearby, and/or someone familiar with
your boat.

Matt O.