26s Stuck Keel

[lawton005]

Greetings all,

This is my first post to the group, so hello! We have had our MacGregor 26 s for a couple of years and occasionally have trouble with the keel dropping down from the up position. We put the boat in for the first time this year over the past weekend and again, it would not descend. I have previously (unfortunately) had to fix this by scuba diving under the boat to manually pull it down. Is there a better way? Does it just need to 'soak' in the water to get heavier after several months on the trailer? I'm hoping that someone has some advice that may prevent me from strapping on a tank in relatively chilly water.

Many thanks,

John

[lawton005]

Well, I figured one way out of how to fix it... Dive mask and a crowbar. Not preferred though. Also learned that sticking something down the hole where the keel's cable goes (in this case a flexible metal rod), will not work. It did make its way all the way out out of the hull, but I later saw that it's located at the front of the keel (toward the bow). That wouldn't really help.

Again if anyone knows of other ways to get a stuck keel to unstick... I'm all ears.
Thanks

[Ixneigh]

I think that issue needs to be addressed when the boat is out of the water. The board is obviously deformed possibly because of water intrusion.
Easy way is to sand it down so it's thinner but that's just a quick fix. If it's a progressive problem the only way to correctly fix it is to either replace it or grind out the problem areas and reglass it.
Ix

[danc1957]

Greetings,
I had the same issue on my and it was due to marine growth in the trunk.
It was a bit of a challenge to get it cleaned out and it slides out nicely now.
Also I believe the keel needs to be flooded to help it to go down since the one in my
has a cavity in it, otherwise it wants to float. I may take a lesson from Knot Shore and put a few pounds of lead shot in it.