San Juan 21 Class Association

To alleviate my constant dread every time I lower the keel I’ve ordered the Dutton braked winch and new winch cable. I should be getting them next week but before I mount it I wanted to explore the possibility of relocating it. The current winch is mounted on the keel trunk just aft of the inspection port. It makes entry and egress to the cabin more difficult and snags anything I try to stow down there.

I have a 1975 Mark II and the starboard bulkhead extends all the way to the mast support. The mast support is painted but appears to be teak. I’ve seen photos of other SJ21’s with exposed supports and the winch mounted there. I like the idea of opening the cabin up by rebating the bulkhead and relocating the winch to get it out of the way. I’ve read that when this location used it becomes the chastity winch but I’m willing to risk a few more knots on my head.

I suppose my question is can this be done without a major rework of the cable routing? I have ambitions of taking a sawzall to the bulkhead leaving enough material to support the chain plate and stock electrical panel. If it’s a major undertaking or if it will structurally weaken the deck then I’ll just keep bashing my knee on the winch handle.

Thanks for any input.

Kaleb

I recommend just replacing the bulkheads with aluminum plates. here is something I copied from another poster. That was 4 years ago and I have never even thought of bulkheads since. I didn't like the idea that my mast was held up by plywood.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=152

My winch cable was also on the keel trunk when I got my boat. I kept it there for some time, but finally relocated it to the mast pressure post. My post is an aluminum replacement done by a previous owner I believe, maybe stock. The mounting on the keel trunk was a modification, so putting it on the post was going back to stock, so the cable sheaves were already set up for it. As you replace the winch, I strongly recommend replacing the cable with an Amsteel rope. 1/4" ATV tow ropes work great and are cheap on ebay. I bought a 20ft one last time, cut it to length and now have a back up on board. The pressure post winch mount makes adjusting the keel that much more annoying, but it is the best place for it in my opinion.

That’s an interesting idea. I’d prefer to open up the cabin area and I happen to have about ten feet of 3” x 1/4 “ aluminum stock in the basement. I need to do some research and figure out how that goes together. Guess I could relocated the electrical panel to the projection beside the head pedestal. It’s currently unmolested but I don’t believe its water tight anyway so there shouldn’t be a problem opening it up.

And back to the winch relocation. If it’s not the stock location anyway I wonder what I’d have to do differently with the cable routing to make it work? And would I need to retrofit an aluminum compression post? That may be more costly than I’d like at this point.

The Amsteel line is interesting. Will that work with the stock sheeve?
Thanks for the response and the suggestions. The simple projects I want to do on this boat seem to mushroom whenever I read this forum.

I think your electrical panel is in a different location than mine. Mine is in the starboard box that is integral at the head of the coffin berth.

I don't think you would have to change the compression post. Pics would help. Also, since it was stock on the compression post, no knew sheaves are needed. There should be one sheave at the base of the compression post and one on the keel. the line dead ends below the compression post sheave by tying to a bolt, goes through the keel sheave, then back around the compression post sheave up to the winch. I replaced the keel sheeve just because I did a complete refit, but I used a duplicate Schaefer block.They still make the same model number and I think it was relatively cheap. Definitely can use stock sheaves with Amsteel/Dynema. Inspect it and change if needed. I thought of it as cheap preventative maintenance given the consequences of failure.

Here is a (not a great) picture of the inside of my cabin. In this picture, the winch is still mounted on the keel trunk. You can see the bulkheads in this pic. My electrical panel can't be seen, but is on the coffin berth side of the box with the wooden lid on the right. My compression post stands alone, it is not attached to the interior fiberglass liner. I know that some models do have this.

[/url]

Here is a pic of the bulkhead showing the electrical panel and sealed up box ahead of the berth where yours would be mounted. I’ve seen other interiors with those teak covers and I’m jealous of the extra storage.

[/url]

Here is the other side showing the skinny compression post. I’m pretty sure that is all stock. Even the trunk mounted winch appears to be the original location.



Thanks for posting up your photo. I can see now how those aluminum bulkheads work. I assume they are bolted into the boxes ahead of the quarter berths. It really opens everything up. That’s on my priority list now.

I am glad you posted those pics. I think the bulkhead on yours might be more structural given the size of that compression post. It is the same mold, so you could definitely do the aluminum bulkheads, but I would recommend beefing up that post. Others might have more to say who have similar layouts. That said, the bracket that holds the keel sheeves looks the same as mine, so what I said about the keel cable/line still apply.

That’s what I was afraid of. I was hoping to at least rebate the starboard bulkhead as much as possible but didn’t want to weaken to deck with only the skinny compression post. All the photos I’ve seen of the posts with winches mounted were more substantial. I don’t trust my engineering abilities to fab up something myself. I guess I’ll leave everything “as is” for the moment and keep an eye out for an aluminum post.

Thanks for the advice Kuriti.

I don't think the bulkheads provide structural support to the deck other than in relation to the mast forces. My wooden bulkheads didn't touch the underside of the deck and largely seemed to just be an anchor for the chainplates. My deck doesn't flex now because the core is sound. The compression post is the main thing, but it's purpose is to transfer the energy from the mast, so it's important to be of substantial size. Several people here have parted boats out. I can't imagine that is a common request, so it might be had pretty easy. I found a local welder who did my aluminum bulkheads for $30. If you could find similar, it might not be as bad as you might think.

My deck doesn’t feel soft but I haven’t pulled any hardware to be sure. After seeing all the re-core jobs I’ve just been too afraid to look. I’m assured by the previous owner that it was garage kept and only sailed to church on Sundays by a little old lady so it ought to be fine.
I can’t tell from your photo if your post is box stock or c channel. And is that plate welded to the top through bolted to the mast hinge plate?