My buddy had me take a foot off his C&C 30
Used a chainsaw...
First time I tried and easier than expected!
He is converting his Dorian damaged boat with no mast to a trawler
If sailing, cut lead can be poured into forms to bolt on sides of keel bottom
Saw it in an article years ago.
Who'd a thought...
Us northerners with chain saw skills 😂
Have chainsaw, will travel? That is pretty cool, Frank. I'm curious about what it was like to cut.
It was easier than expected....but slow
I found it best to not push too hard and keep rpm's up while tilting one side to the other.
Man...the "chips" sure fly!
I'd read about this years ago in a boat magazine and the guys inverting to shallower draft would make a form to reuse the cut off lead, melt and pour into, then bolt to the sides of the cut keel keeping weight low.
Nautical Architects hate this one weird trick
There was an article - maybe in PS? - about some folks who did that to their regular-draft Islander 36 - which is 6' They cut a foot off, and had tapered bulbs made which bolted onto either side of the stub. More details and pics hrre: http://www.islander36.org/boatpics/shillelagh/shillelagh.html
My I36 is teh shoal draft version, drawing 4' 9" as spec'ed. When they made these at the factory, apparently they made the keel longer to add back in the weight removed from depth. On some of the line drawings out there, you can see the shoal keel shape drawn in at the after edge of the regular keel, like below.