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.
First of all I have recently acquired a Catalina 25 swing keel. (It's australia made formerly know as Boomaroo also I am based in Australia. :) )
My scenario is that I will be constantly planning to anchor in shallow waters then I have been thinking about to add an extra safety cable in case the main one fails.
Has someone done something similar? Also just wondering how often you guys lift and set down the swing keel?
If you maintain the lifting hardware I doubt that you would have a failure. In addition, if you are anchoring in less than 5' of water the keel would hit the bottom and most likely wouldn't cause hull damage.
I owned my C25 for ten years. Docked in saltwater all year long, the entire time. Keel up because of shallow water at my home dock and never experienced a problem. I replaced the cable and turning ball every two to three years.
Davy J
2005 Gemini 105Mc PO 1987 C25 #5509 SR/SK Tampa Bay
tks Davy for the info. I am going to dock in salt water all the time as well. I noticed there is not a turning ball on mine. and how often did you check the pin that hangs the swing keel?
The turning ball is located in the tube that the cable exits the hull thru. You would need to remove the hose clamps and hose to see it.
I just visually checked the front end of the keel, looked at the bolts closely. As far as the pin, if you start to detect excess "clunking" of the keel from side to side. It might be a good idea to investigate it further.
Davy J
2005 Gemini 105Mc PO 1987 C25 #5509 SR/SK Tampa Bay
The turning ball is located in the tube that the cable exits the hull thru. You would need to remove the hose clamps and hose to see it.
Welcome, Rafael!
Remember the turning ball is below the water line, so you should have the boat out of the water before removing these hose clamps.
We store our boat at the dock with the keel raised a small bit to shift the balance of gravity aft, just enough so that the cockpit drains after it rains. If the keel lifting cable breaks, the keel does not have too far to fall, and therefore should not break the keel trunk housing.
We raise the keel nearly every time we take a multi-day trip and anchor out. We prefer to anchor fore-and-aft with the bow toward land. Anchoring with the bow toward land protects the rudder when we anchor very close to shore, with only a foot or so of water beneath the boat.
Hi , I to have a Boomeroo version of the C25 and have for 7 years . I moor it on Lake Macquarie in Salt water . I have changed the ball once about 5 years back but it hasnt worn to note since . I inspect with an enderscope attached to my phone ( $ 20 from china ) I leave my keel down and raise it 8 turns as I enter shallow water then another 8 when in shallower water . I may see you around .. Graeme
I managed to inspect the ball and it has signs of wearing off and according to this I am lifting the boat in my backyard and do an inspection in the swing keel pivot. Also to complete the scenario the eye bolt broke. I will have to do some work to replace it. I will place a few photos of the keel and the structure to lift her off the trailer.
Hi Graeme, I live in south australia. Bought mine from Lake Macquarie in Dec/2017.
Hi Raf , I saw the add for one in morrisett area on trailer Very good price. You can contact me on my email gbishop1@bigpond.com. I have modified my cable attachment to a large Gal shackle and have no problems . On the pivot pin I have clunk from worn hole in keel but only when keel is rased about !/4 way and above . When down I have very snug keel case which hold keel tight and spreads keel load. Just pulled the Winch out and found it badly corroded but welded a new core into rusted area and cleaned up years of grease etc . now works much better. This site has great info
I found your post with the photos of the D shackle. I do believe it makes life easier. I managed to remove the broken screw and the keel hanger plates.
Solution to remove the broken screen was welding a nut on top of the broken thread.
I noticed my hanges they are a bit smaller than the new ones sold by CD. Below a photo of my hanger plates:
HADA1980 cat 22 that needed all new parts for the swing keel. Ordered the keel hangers from both catalina direct and catalina yachts. the hangers from catalina yachts were a better fit. sent the catalina direct ones back.
Ken Chenango~ 1990~TR~WK~C25~#6022 Candlewood Lake, Ct
CD does offer a nice improvement for the cable attachment, but Australia is a long way from California. I think a quality shackle would work quite well, but I would add an annual check of a galvanized fitting to my maintenance schedule
Dave B. aboard Pearl 1982 TR/SK/Trad. #3399 Lake Erie/Florida Panhandle
I meant to mention that I added a thin, polished washer on the hanger side and a thin nylon washer on the keel side of the pin on each side so the rough cast iron isn't grinding the bronze every time I raise or lower the keel.
Dave B. aboard Pearl 1982 TR/SK/Trad. #3399 Lake Erie/Florida Panhandle
I have ordered a stainless steel 316 eye bolt load rated. Unfortunately they havent got the bolt in imperial so I will have to get it to the engineering shop and have it threaded.
Dave, tks for the tip. I will add this nylon washer. ;)
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.