Keel Guide
There are several arrangements of a keel guide for the swing keel on a Catalina 22 sailboat.
The one shown here is simple to build and easy to use.
The materials need are one piece of 1” schedule 40 PVC and one plastic V normally used as a bow guide on a boat trailer.
Attach the Plastic V to the trailer so that it will be about six inches from the end of the keel when the keel is lowered in the V.
Next cut 2 pieces of the PVC to the proper length.
Heat one end of the PVC with a torch and flatten it and bend to the proper angle to be attached under the bunk board.
Heat the other end of the PVC and flatten so that it will fit over the outer angle of the plastic V about one inch.
Now you are ready to test the loading of the boat.
With the boat in the water ready for loading, back the trailer into the water so that both bunk boards are under water.
Lower the keel about 5 turns on the winch and drive the boat onto the trailer.
Attach the winch to the bow eye and tighten the winch until the bow is in the proper place for travel.
Now crank the keel down until there is no resistance on the winch. The keel will slide down the angled PVC until it rests in the plastic V.
Now you are ready to haul out the boat, but first run all the gas out of the motor and remove the rudder.
Haul out the boat and it will be ready to be tied down for traveling.
