Inflatable Keel

S

SmithCreek

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Feb 25, 2007
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25320
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I bought a boat with an Avon 3.41 Rover dinghy. It's probably 10 years old, and I have no manual or instruction book. It has an "inflatable keel." My question is what to do with the inflatable keel? I have never seen one before.

I pumped up the dinghy and the inflatable floor...everything looks good, but what do I do with the inflatable keel? Does it go under the floor? And if it does, what would hold it down and what good does it do?

Do I need the keel at all?
 
If you are serious, then you should know that the inflateable keel is not a separate part of the boat, it is a keel built into the bottom that inflates.

Look for a valve in the floor and inflate it.
 
Hogan, That's not the case. It is not "built into the bottom".

If I wasn't serious, why would I bother. Are you this tough in real life?
 
Avon has manuals online - http://www.avoninflatables.co.uk/page/downloads

Are you saying you actually have a separate piece for the keel.

As Hogan said, normally inflatable keels are a separate compartment between the inflatable floor and the bottom of the boat which gives the bottom a certain amount of 'v' shape which improves handling and makes the bottom more rigid. It should be connected to the bottom, and the valve would be accessible through an opening in the inflatable floor. That's how it works on my Mercury 340 at least.
 
Your question is rather unusual. As John said most dinghy keels are attached to the inside of the dinghy bottom.
 
I also have never heard of an inflatable with a completely separate inflatable keel. I'm not saying they don't exist. If the item you are asking about is tubular, about 15" diameter & about 2' long, then that is an inflatable seat that goes athwartship.

Al
 
Some dinghys have a separate "inflatable thwart". What I would expect is that you have a built in inflatable keel, and that the separate piece you have is a thwart that would be inflated, and placed in the center, going from side to side. It would also act as a seat.

Your mileage may vary.
 
Thanks JohnC...Yes the keel is completely separate - It has its own valve. After I inflated the boat, and then the floor inside the boat, I still had the keel and couldn't figure out what to do with it. I have never had an inflatable before. Normally, you think of a keel being below the water line, but obviously that wasn't going to work.

So I think from what you are saying is the keel goes under the floor and I suppose it makes a V-shape of of the boat bottom to reduce sideways tracking. There is a whole in the inflatable floor that would allow the valve to the keel to come through.

I will take a look at your link...Thank you for your help.
 
I have a used boat with three parts and one of them I don't know what to do with and so I ask on a forum. That is what a forum is for. If this is just a social hangout for you guys you need to just ignore people with simple questions.

Thank you sincerely Radioactive and JohnC. Your responses are certainly what I was looking for.
 
SmithCreek:
HOGAN is very well respected on this forum and has a vast amount of boating knowledge...You on the other hand have only had 2 postings..I would walk softly and you will get the help that you are in search of..Getting knowledgeble boaters on this and any other forum pissed off will get you nowhere.
 
SC, I deleted my post, as it was a duplicate of what JohnC provided ( I did not read all prior posts; my fault ). Glad you found it useful.

Happy, safe boating!
 
"Do you need the keel at all?"

Need? No. Want? Likely.

I do know that I spent at least half of my time sliding sideways in my inflatathing. Everytime I tried to change direction, all that happened was that the boat rotated on its axis, but kept going the same direction till I powered it around. A keel/skeg of any sort would have been a welcome blessing.
 
I think that is the purpose of the inflatable keel - to give an inflatable rib-like steerage. And since the inflatable has some age and wear on it it may be that the attachments that would be intended to hold it to the boat under the floor are missing.

Believe it or not guys I have been a boater for my whole life and have never seen an inflatable keel. Now if that makes me ignorant, so be it. Anyway....I think I understand the concept of inflatable keels now and appreciate the help. When I posted this question I wondered if this forum would be active. I guess I have my answer now.

Hogan, you didn't intend to help, but Thank you for getting the thread going for me. By the way...I am at 10 posts now. I'm gonna catch you soon :)
 
SmithCreek, I had an inflatable, not an Avon, and it had a seperate inflatable keel as you describe which went under the floor, where it had a valve that poked up through a cut-out in the floor board for inflating. It ran right down the middle of the boat. When inflated, it was the keel...
Is this like your set-up? Hope this helps.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Reel Antsy

SmithCreek, I had an inflatable, not an Avon, and it had a seperate inflatable keel as you describe which went under the floor, where it had a valve that poked up through a cut-out in the floor board for inflating. It ran right down the middle of the boat. When inflated, it was the keel...
Is this like your set-up? Hope this helps.

Click to expand...


That is it exactly. The valve on the keel is in exactly the right place to face up through the hole in the floor. I believe there are two plastic loops that will hold the keel in place.

Since I haven't used it yet it didn't really make sense to me what the keel would do. But I guess it would force the floor below the inflated floor to become V-shaped. As soon as it's not so cold I will find out, but I think this is what it must do.
 
Some of the inflatable keel chambers are attached pretty loose between the floor and the boat bottom. When inflated they give the otherwise flat bottomed boat a slight "V" that improves handling.

The Achilles boat I have has the same thing. I've seen similar chambers in the Avon boats.

The important thing to do is never over-inflate these inflatable keel chambers. That's easy to do. They are glued together and can separate and leak, Not easy to glue back together and usually easier to buy another.
 
quote:
Originally posted by yzer

The important thing to do is never over-inflate these inflatable keel chambers. That's easy to do. They are glued together and can separate and leak, Not easy to glue back together and usually easier to buy another.

Click to expand...


That could be what happened to the previous owner. This one is new and is a different color that the boat.
 
[/quote]Since I haven't used it yet it didn't really make sense to me what the keel would do. But I guess it would force the floor below the inflated floor to become V-shaped. As soon as it's not so cold I will find out, but I think this is what it must do.[/quote]

The inflatable keel may have been spot glued into place when it was new. It's like blowing up a baloon between the floorboards and the inflateable's bottom material, which will stretch to simulate a "keel", and create some tracking ability for your new used boat.

Also, if you use a footpump made for inflateables, they usually will only put out the proper psi before popping out of the valve or just becoming impossible to step down on.
 
Grady, that safety valve works for the main chambers that run a higher PSI than the inflatable keel. Best to stop foot pumping a keel when you just start to feel some resistance.
 
The purpose of the keel is to help keep the inflatable tracking straight. The reason it is removable is for use in very shallow waters. If you are only using the dinghy for short distances between your boat and the shore, then you may not need to use the keel al all.
 
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