My next job is sealing the keel box more so that winch rope passes freely thru a fair lead, to minimise water ingress if knocked down and add a lock down bolt or 2.
For this I was thinking that maybe place a bolt to where keel swings back with the aft bottom corner just starts to enter the box? Maybe using a 6mm 316 stainless bolt, and then a back up bolt a little further up? ( with small bungs either side of the box for the bolts to pass thru and pluggable when bolts removed?)
I have viewed and contemplated the various lock down devices on this site but keep coming back to this simple idea.
Is there any positive results of lock downs in action out there??
My thinking is that 6mm may bend or break to avoid damage to the box?
Andy
I found an old post from Wayne Hill about repeated knockdowns and successful keel locking by aft running cable etc. And also Alistairs slot stopper design, But would really like to hear of any experience with simple bollt thru the box type.
A friend has an opening keel box top like Alistair posted and its great for ducks.
Wondering if Alistairs lid leaks when the stopper is not in place?
I would only use it if things look like might get hairy, or extended cruising over deep water.
Coast around here is very shallow for a long way out
Andy
If you do a search using my name you will see a couple of photos of the top of my c/b box with an explanation. It may be under the heading Slopper Stopper. I glued a ¼” square rubber gasket to the lid and this gasket is compressed by an adjustable stainless steel lever clamp and the cover never leaked. You will see the clamping arrangement in the photo.
If you are going to do a bit of extended cruising with your RL24 make sure all the required safety equipment is onboard and up to standard. Also ensure that your boat still has the necessary buoyancy foam installed in the proper places. If in doubt add extra blocks of foam to cover the extra stores carried.
