Association Forum - Bilge full of rust ...Keelbolt replacement?

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

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.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Bilge full of rust ...Keelbolt replacement?

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

rs-nhs
Deckhand

Member Avatar

1 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/03/2007 : 18:53:27

I recently bought a wonderful C25 with a fixed fin keel. She had 5 or 6 gallons of water to pump from the bilge and various compartments at the start of cleaning out the cabin. She has been sitting on the hard for a few years having received no attention. I discovered that the bilge was full of both water and rust. The keel bolts are badly corroded and I cannot even find a nut on some of the bolts! The keel to hull joint on the exterior of the hull looks great but I think it's got to be time for a reistallation of keel bolts.

Does anyone know how well the kits from Catalina Direct work and/or how much of a job the replacement of 6 bolts actually is? Are there less costly alternatives to Catalina Direct's keelbolt kits?

I have not yet determined if she has a cast iron or lead keel but will do so when the yard reopens in a few weeks. It would seem that a lead keel would be a bit easer to work with since the lag bolt holes do not need to be tapped. The extra expense and the prospects of drilling and tapping 24 inches inches of cast iron is daunting. I wonder if my cordless heavy-duty drill is up to the job without making multiple trips to the yard.

Many thanks in advance to those of you who can share your experience and wisdom!

Edited by - on

John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2007 : 21:47:36

Popular issue. Check out this link.

http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14167

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2007 : 23:33:01

Welcome, Bob, and congratulations! There are several threads on this topic in addition to what John pointed to... You can use the Search function, looking for "keel bolts", to find them (and lots of other stuff you'll be learning about).

The short answer is if you have rusty bolts, you have a pre-84 fin, which has a cast iron keel. Adding bolts (they can't be "replaced") is discussed and debated on several threads--you can get the whole story there.

Edited by - on

Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1181 Posts

Response Posted - 01/04/2007 : 12:15:37

You might want to check this posting:
http://sailing.cnchost.com/board/?topic=topic3& msg=248
It sounds a lot like what Jim Baumgart talks about. One thing of note is they mention you should not place stainless studs in a cast iron keel. This would seem to agree with what others have said on this forum regarding the use of stainless hardware. The writer recommends galvanized bolts. The Catalina Direct kit provides stainless bolts.

Edited by - Sloop Smitten on 01/04/2007 12:16:36

oldsalt
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 01/04/2007 : 22:37:06

I wonder if having a bilge full of water for so many years can cause other structural problems such as delamination of the laminate, freeze damage, rotten wooden members which are imbedded in the core to secure the keel and so forth?

Dave, lead keels with stainless steel keel bolts replaced cast iron/mild steel bolts in the '83 model fin keeled boats.

Edited by - oldsalt on 01/04/2007 22:45:10

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 01/05/2007 : 07:53:10

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by oldsalt
 I wonder if having a bilge full of water for so many years can cause other structural problems such as delamination of the laminate, freeze damage, rotten wooden members which are imbedded in the core to secure the keel and so forth?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Could be... but many of these boats have a little "moisture" down there most of the time. Is there in fact a wood core in the stub? I never saw evidence of that, but I never took the keel off...

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Dave, lead keels with stainless steel keel bolts replaced cast iron/mild steel bolts in the '83 model fin keeled boats.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Sorry--I thought a friend's boat with a cast iron fin was an 83... Anyway, the difference is easy to spot--a non-metalic, glass covered surface outside and shiny bolts an nuts in the bilge.

Edited by - on

oldsalt
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 01/06/2007 : 09:06:40

Dave, I'm not certain that there is a piece of encapsulated structural wood in the keel stub but I believe there was a keel bolt replacement post on this forum that stated there was.

It stuck in my mind because I thought it was so strange when I read it.

Honestly, I don't think there is one on my boat but I could be wrong, and the wood, if present at all could be present on certain model years.

Does anyone know?

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

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.