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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Keel Crack Repair

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JanS48
Navigator

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USA
141 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/03/2015 : 00:46:59

Greetings all, when starting to scrape the paint on my C25, I see a sizable crack in the front of the keel about 1.5 ft from the boat bottom, about 5 in long, not deep at all.
I've been told by some to just paint over it, and others say to re-glass around it by 6" or so building it up to 1/4 or so.

I've worked with glass over the years a lot on autos but not on sailboats. Regarding resin and glass is it ok to use the stuff from auto stores or should I go with what West Marine offers?

Anyone else repair a keel with a similar issue?

And a newbie question - how do I post a pic as part of a post? I've clicked the insert image button but it just inserts:
and I don't see how to input the pic?

Edited by - on

Ape-X
Admiral

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USA
662 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2015 : 05:29:22

ah. google or search for catalina smile. Not uncommon, and I had the same repair on Moe to do several times over. The repair that held for me was using G-Flex. Grind away enough to get a good surface for the new epoxy and bill in with the G-Flex. It is not a structural concern, but do check the keel bolts just in case.

G-Flex cures to a hockey puck like hardness, so flexes with the hull. G-Flex is a west systems product. When Moe returned to the marina after a year away, the repair had held for two years now.

Edited by - on

DavidBuoy
Admiral

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USA
707 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2015 : 05:33:48

Hello, welcome to the association!

First off, do you have a Fin keel or wing keel? It's helpful when getting information on the forum to have the specs of your boat in your signiture so we all know what you're working with. It sounds to me what your dealing with is the "Catalina Smile". The slight separation of the keel from the hull. I believe if you use the search function you should be able to pull up some threads where others have tackled this exact situation. I've never dealt with it myself so I will wait for those who have to chime in, but it is repairable.
To post photos you can use a hosting website such as photobucket and copy the direct link/url and paste to look like this...

See if that works and welcome!

Edited by - on

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3994 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2015 : 09:06:45

how do I post a pic as part of a post? I've clicked the insert image button but it just inserts:
The photo has to be from a photo web site like Flickr or your photo album on the forum. It won't work with photos taken from your computer or phone. I second using G-Flex. It cures without becoming brittle.

Edited by - on

ct95949
Captain

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Aruba
300 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2015 : 17:48:03

About the pics, as I understand it the photo needs to be on the internet as they are on photo sharing sites. Right click the photo and choose 'Properties' then copy the URL. In the forum post paste the URL between the 'Insert Image' symbols that you get from the top control bar.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5236 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2015 : 21:06:28

Inserting a photo - reminds me of a thread a few years back where I thought I had made up a fake name of a photo website to demonstrate how to include a photo. As [bad] luck would have it, the domain name of the fake photo site was already taken - by a less than family friendly website. Oops!

Here's what I do using my flickr account.

In Flickr when I look at my photo, I get the "sharing" box and I click on that. A dialog box appears and it gives me 3 choices:

HTML , Link , BBCode.
I click on BBCode, highlight the whole thing, paste it onto a notepad or stickynote text page, then look for the string that says:
"https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5145/5375854138_eaf24d2dbb_m.jpg"

In this case it's already formatted with the escape characters for [ img ] so it's almost a no-brainer.

Here's my example: (I inserted the "->" characters to prevent the code from being taken literally, you'll remove them to post your picture).

[->img]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5145/5375854138_eaf24d2dbb_m.jpg[/->img]
In this expression, replace the "farm6.staticflickr...jpg" with your own bulletin board code.

This results in a picture like this:

Clear as mud!!!

Edited by - Voyager on 01/03/2015 21:10:13

bigelowp
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1739 Posts

Response Posted - 01/11/2015 : 09:39:13

Interesting about G-Flex working over a couple of years. I had Limerick's bottom barrier coated and keel faired/smile repaired a few years ago. I should note that my boat spends summers on a mooring therefore taking more wave movement than if on a trailer or at a slip. The smile began to slightly reappear after the first season. Bolts are fine, bilge is dry -- so if I do it again I think I will give G-flex a shot.

Edited by - on

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.