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From: Arild Jensen (no email)
Date: Fri Jul 04 2003 - 23:21:53 EDT
-----Original Message-----
From: Ean Kingston ]
Is a swing keel somehow different from a dingy with a dagger board? If
so, how does it work. It's one thing to tip over in a boat under 10 feet
long but what do you do with one that is 20 feet long and has a cabin
that could be filling with water?
> As for not being able to cruise on a week-end comfortably in anything but a
keel
> boat, I beg to differ on that account also.
I'm new to this. Please explain. I'm willing to change my idea of a good
boat.
REPLY
A swing keel is often a heavy weight. My Sirius weighed 2000 lbs of which 750
was the swing keel itself.
A winch like a trailer winch raises and lowers the weight using a SS wire rope
pennant.
For deep water you could actually lock it down but in shallow water I prefer to
have it adjustable.
In effect it was equivalent to a ballasted keel boat but had the advantage of
extremely shallow draft like a dinghy.
Board and rudder up, I drew 16" the hull bottom looks much like a dinghy or a
race boat with a fin keel.
With a low slung trailer I could launch and rig the boat with a friend helping
in little more than one hour.
That made week-end trawlering to Georgian Bay from Newmarket feasible. For a
week long cruise, you could trailer to the North Channel before launching.
You could also trailer south to Florida for a Christmas cruise if you get both
summer and winter vacations.
Some of my friends did both.
The keel trunk formed part of the dinette seating so it was not especially
intrusive.
I had a small galley plus a head, two Vee berths forward and the dinette
dropped down to form a double size bed.
There was also a quarter berth but it always got filled with various equipment
and left over bags of this and that.
The Coleman cooler slid under the cockpit alongside the keel trunk.
When you said you wanted to take a friend cruising I imagined you meant a quiet
sail with a special someone not just the gang and a case of beer.
In Georgian Bay, the standard cruising attire is sun block 30 or even 50 for
those sensitive areas that get less sun < wide grin>
Sandals and hat are optional. Dressing up for dinner ashore means putting
your pants on.
As for tipping over, just try it. I once got caught out while single handing
in 45 Knots of wind. I didn't dare leave the helm to reef so I just hung on.
I had a six foot rooster tail coming off my rudder. The rigging stretched enough
that I had to take a turn on the rigging turn buckles the next day.
Maximum angle of heel was about 25 - 30 degrees. Never put the gunnels under
like I have done on a Contessa 26.
BTW. the Sirius is one of the few boats built with enough foam core to have
positive floatation, if that is a concern for your.
I bought the boat when two years old for $10,000 and sold it for $6,000 when it
was twenty years old.
Not recommended for extended living aboard but great for week-ending and the
occasional week long cruise.
I had a friend who did live aboard a Grampian 26 in Keswick, right in the river
by the highway bridge.
The trouble with the Toronto scene is that you have nowhere to go except the
islands or maybe Bronte or Ashbridges Bay.
As soon as you plan a trans lake trip you do need a bigger boat.
In Simcoe or better yet, Georgian Bay you have several island destinations to
choose from. ( 30,000 at last count)
You can follow the sheltered small craft route or head out over open water to
the Bruce peninsula.
As great as the BC coastline is with its numerous fiords and islands it is
matched by Georgian Bay. The La Cloche mountains and the cliffs along the North
Channel are every bit as scenic ( except you don't get the snow caps) and of
course in hazy weather the view is shortened enough that you don't really see
much difference.
Both shorelines have a rich logging history and both have numerous little
villages in snug coves. Or you can anchor out in splendid solitude and
privacy.
Once you have cruised outside of Toronto, you never want to go back. Unless you
are a race fanatic. < grin>
Cheers
Arild
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