Lowering the hull

Slowly lowering the keel base

Now began the time-consuming and toilsome work of specifying and carefully lowering the 21 metre (69 ft) long yacht onto the keel with its 9 large keel bolts.

Firstly, we had to check if all parts fitted exactly on top of one another.

During this operation, the yacht must remain absolutely horizontal in the athwart position, and once the first bolt has been reached also in the longitudinal direction. Otherwise the bolts would cant in the bore holes of the keel sole.

To the right of the bolts you can see the portal crane operator with his yellow operating console.

Underlaying the bolts

As most of the bolts were protruding underneath, we had to lay stable wooden blocks beneath the lead ballast. This way we could ensure that, on the one hand the bolts were not pressing into the ground, and on the other hand the lower thread remained intact. Most of the bolts are screwed from above and from below.

The wooden plank under the nuts is 15 cm (6 inches) in width.

Inserting the thread

We had to be very careful when inserting the thread. The slightest mistake while operating the crane would have resulted in serious damage. In such a case the entire operation would have had to have been stopped and carried out again weeks later with completely new material.

Checking

We constantly checked every detail on the keel, the hull and the bolts.
Here we decided to place another wooden block under the bolts for safety.

Here we are at the level of the stern post