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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

broken keel bolt

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jvockley
Deckhand

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8 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/14/2008 : 10:04:04

Last weekend I was sailing my Cat25 in the Chesapeake Bay. I had my sails up and my keel down. All of a sudden I heard a loud bang and the boat shook. At first I thought that I hit something, but when I dropped sails and raised the keel, there was no tension on the keel cable winch. I thought that I broke the keel cable. Upon inspection (once back on the trailer), I saw that it was the bolt that holds the keel cable onto the top of the keel that sheered off at the head of the bolt. Now, I have a bolt in my keel that is flush with the top of the keel. I bought an "easy-out" bolt removal kit from the hardware store and have been spraying down the bold with penetrating oil for a week. I read on line that removing a bold in this manner is risky business and usually results in the bolt removal device breaking instead of the bolt coming free. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thanks.

Edited by - on

sweetcraft
Admiral

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USA
816 Posts

Response Posted - 05/14/2008 : 13:18:36

Wonder why the loud bang? If you had the keel all the way down or was it hanging on the cable? But that doesn't matter as getting the broken bolt out is the problem. How much room do you have to work? Drilling a SS bolt requires pressure with a high speed drill at low rpm. Practice using a SS bolt in a vise to get experience is OK. Center punch if possible reduces the chance of the bit walking. Using an easy-out means using the correct size drill and then keeping the wrench in-line and not over torque the easy-out.

Another method is to drill and tap with threads the broken bolt to secure a smaller bolt with a locking nut to turn the bolt. An attempt to break the broken bolt lose with a cold chisel is a good practice.

A metal saw cut across the top of the broken bolt for a wide blade of a screw driver is another technique and it gives a target point for the cold chisel which will cut the bolt after many hits.

I installed the upgrade from CD which prevents the bolt holding the pin bracket from turning out of alignment and binding until breaking off. My 79 keel required some cutting of the cast iron for the upgrade and I still use the Permatex #2 to seal threads. The boat will be 30 next season and these are some of the things that have worked. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Edited by - on

Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1181 Posts

Response Posted - 05/14/2008 : 15:38:11

Joe,
Jim gives your some great advice. The easy-outs are good for bolts that are not frozen but will break easily if you try to exert enough pressure to free up a frozen bolt. If you use an easy-out, hold the ratchet directly over the easy out and not at the handles end. That way if the bolt is frozen you will not exert enough pressure to break the easy-out. If you have to drill the bolt use a carbide-tipped drill. S/S is hard stuff! If the bolt is flush to the keel you will not be able to use a hack saw to cut a notch. You can drill a small hole towards the outer perimeter of the bolt so you can use a punch to try to back out the screw. If none of this works I would call a professional or drill and tap a new hole adjacent to the old one. I don't have a swing keel so I will let others chime in on the feasibility of that. PB Blaster is considered the best penetrating solution for unfreezing a bolt. You can find it at auto parts stores.

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jvockley
Deckhand

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8 Posts

Response Posted - 05/15/2008 : 06:00:49

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm preparing to try some of them out. I'll know within the next day or so if I need to get the help of a professional. I guess the good part is that the boat is on a trailer and can be easily taken to a marina with the proper facilities. I'm also going to investigate the CD upgrade to keep it from happening again. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 05/15/2008 : 07:57:46

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by jvockley
 All of a sudden I heard a loud bang and the boat shook.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Joe,

Since it's out of the water, you might want to take a peak at the forward keel trunk.

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jvockley
Deckhand

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8 Posts

Response Posted - 05/15/2008 : 10:39:33

Thanks for the suggestion about the keel trunk. I think that the loud band and shake were the result of the keel being winched up a couple of turns when the bolt broke. The keel hit with some force, but it didn't fall very far. I looked at the trunk and I don't see any damage. I'm sure that visual inspection is not the most effective way to determine if there is damage, but it is all that I have.

WRT the quote, "all of a sudden I heard a loud bang and the boat shook"....well, I could have hit a submarine or a submerged car. It might have had the same result. Maybe I'll rename my boat with the quote as the name...either that or how about "another problem" for a name. I can see it now, the boat begins to take on water and I call the Coast Guard saying, "This is the sailing vessel "another problem", I have another problem." Should go over well.

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sweetcraft
Admiral

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USA
816 Posts

Response Posted - 05/15/2008 : 12:22:39

I just reread the thread and looks like your going to do good. I would get the upgrade fitting from CD and you will see that it uses the same threaded hole which is in a notch in the outer edge of the keel. It keeps the fitting in line so it hangs on the cable and through a brass ball with a groove. The hose has to be removed to replace the cable making the job an out of the water job. The brass ball can wear a flat side which keeps it from turning and the drag increases on the winch. You might be prepared to replace the ball and SS pin which is removed to make the cable replacement much easier.
When reinstalling the ball be ready to retrieve it if it gets away
from you either in the brass pipe or clear to the ground. The threaded hole in the keel is placed to keep everything in alignment and it should be a 3/8 NC bolt. It sure looks undersized but it isn't if kept torqued. Chasing the threads is a good practice before final installation with a thread lock.
Hope this helps. CD has this information also with the upgrades. Check the trunk and replace what is necessary.

Edited by - on

vagabond II
1st Mate

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USA
42 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2008 : 11:56:25

If you have the room to drill out the old bolt. You could investigate drilling and tapping for an EZ-Lok stainless steel threaded bushing with threads the size of the bolt your are trying to remove.
This item could be obtained at a machine shop, Mac Master's industrial supply catalog, or industrial supplier. You have to have enough meat on the sides of bushing's tapped hole to accomadate this bushing

Edited by - on

jvockley
Deckhand

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8 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2008 : 14:38:53

Here is an update on my progress with the broken bolt. I came to the decision that I would go the drilling and tapping route...almost immediately after I broke the E-Z out bolt remover in the pilot hole that I drilled into the bolt to be removed. Practicing didn't help because once I got into the bolt to be removed, it was impossible to drill into the center of it due to a slight slant left after the break. I couldn't test drill into a broken bold because I didn't have a broken bolt to practice on. I like the idea of the EZ-Lok stainless steel threaded bushing. The problem will be matching up the threads with the threads on the replacement bold sold by CD. I think it would be very difficult to figure this out by looking at a catalog. I'll see if I can find a local alternative once I have the replacement bolt in hand.

Edited by - on

jvockley
Deckhand

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8 Posts

Response Posted - 05/29/2008 : 10:01:38

My repairs are complete on the keel. I ended up drilling out the old bolt, tapping and going with the new bolt and upgrade from CD. Everything is like new. Thank you all for your advice.

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