posted July 10, 2003 10:18 AM            

I don't have a diagram for the lower portion of the keel's lead screw, and I've only seen the top end while lubricating it.

Note: Just after launch each season, I lower the keel for the first time right beside the dock in shallow water. I once corresponded with a Sandpiper sailor in Europe who had purchased his boat with the keel missing. He had bolted a permanent keel to the bottom.

I don't lose sleep over the keel arrangement, I've seen many many Sandpipers and they all had their keels attached.

I think that it's a lot more reliable than the typical swing keel which depends on a rusty pivot bolt below the waterline and a piece of aircraft wire to haul it into the underwater trunk. I've often seen sailors hammering on the centreboard trunk to try to persuade the swing keel to drop while suspended by the launching crane.