Steve
Member III
Keel Stuff......................
Great food for thought and good safety reminders. Safety is not something your born with, but rather needs regular reminding. Clearly if I develop a leak or the smile returns bigger and badder.... Well down comes the keel. But until I see some movement or moisture/rust lines etc. -we'll buy some time.
With that said, please educate me further, because I'm not aware of any in-water catastrophic keel drops in Ericsons. One has to assume this is a slow failure that will show up in rust lines and joint movement long before it drops off. Cory's experience is an example of intuitive attention to the failure signs and going with your instincts.
If off-shore is your cruising grounds, perhaps regular 10-15 year PM/inspection keel drops are prudent... Maybe I'm too trusting but there are a lot of (very) old boats with the original bedded keels still hanging on. The way gov. works, if some major adverse safety trend develops, especially in such a basic component like a keel, they would legislate some time interval and certified inspection process to save lifes... perhaps a look at the future.
But like the old saying "When in doubt, let it out" rather -"when in doubt, drop it", the bottom line is you just can't be sure. from all of this I'll likely start planning on a drop next winter...
Steve
Great food for thought and good safety reminders. Safety is not something your born with, but rather needs regular reminding. Clearly if I develop a leak or the smile returns bigger and badder.... Well down comes the keel. But until I see some movement or moisture/rust lines etc. -we'll buy some time.
With that said, please educate me further, because I'm not aware of any in-water catastrophic keel drops in Ericsons. One has to assume this is a slow failure that will show up in rust lines and joint movement long before it drops off. Cory's experience is an example of intuitive attention to the failure signs and going with your instincts.
If off-shore is your cruising grounds, perhaps regular 10-15 year PM/inspection keel drops are prudent... Maybe I'm too trusting but there are a lot of (very) old boats with the original bedded keels still hanging on. The way gov. works, if some major adverse safety trend develops, especially in such a basic component like a keel, they would legislate some time interval and certified inspection process to save lifes... perhaps a look at the future.
But like the old saying "When in doubt, let it out" rather -"when in doubt, drop it", the bottom line is you just can't be sure. from all of this I'll likely start planning on a drop next winter...
Steve
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