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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

1980 C-25: Bow Heavy?

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chimowoody
Deckhand

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USA
5 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/02/2008 : 13:41:37

HI, I'm a new owner of a 1980 Catalina 25 and I'm wondering why my boat is so bow heavy? Is this normal? I have a 6HP Nissan 4 stroke on the stern, a small danforth anchor in the bow trunk and nothing else right now that is very heavy anywhere in the boat. Does anyone have any suggestions or reassurances that this is the normal state of affairs for this boat? thanks for any help anyone might provide!

Woody

Woody

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5909 Posts

Response Posted - 08/02/2008 : 14:31:40

How does it appear or behave that leads you to believe that it's bow-heavy?

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dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 08/02/2008 : 15:29:09

If you have a swing keel model, it will "look" bow heavy when the swing keel is down, i.e. your waterline stripe up toward the bow will probably be in the water. Try raising the keel all the way up and you will see the difference. Too bad the factory didn't paint the stripe where it should be with the keel down. That's where it should stay most of the time anyway.

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 08/02/2008 : 17:10:35

>"If you have a swing keel model, it will "look" bow heavy when the swing keel is down"

Addendum... an early C25 will sit slightly bow down with the keel down and nobody in the cockpit.
Put one or two bodies in the cockpit and she will sit on her lines. Put 4 bodies in the cockpit and she will sit stern down. You're supposed to keep the keel up when the boat is parked. (per designers original thought anyway).

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dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 08/02/2008 : 22:29:20

After hearing horror stories about people raising the keel after docking and the cable/connection failing, followed by the 1500 lb keel to free-fall down and crack the keel trunk in the cabin causing the boat to sink, I'll leave my keel down when parked, thank-you.

I've already had one episode where I hit something causing the keel to rise and then fall again, not very much, but enough to cause a tiny crack in the keel trunk. fortunately, we were able to effect the repair from inside the boat but it still cost over $700 to fix.

Edited by - dmpilc on 08/03/2008 09:18:30

chimowoody
Deckhand

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USA
5 Posts

Response Posted - 08/06/2008 : 17:49:32

Thanks for the thoughts folks! The boat has the keep down and the water line paint is toching the water at the bow and about 12 - 18 inches above the waterline at the stern. Also, more concerning, that that the scuppers/water drain site on the deck rail are about 3 - 4 inches high leaving 2 pools of water on the deck where it molds and stains about 2 feet fore of the drains. Sounds like that is just the way it is. I appreciate your input!

Woody

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stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 08/06/2008 : 23:26:51

Welcome to the forum.

12-18" at the stern sounds like too much.
My boat sits bow down with the forward boot stripe touching the water but the aft boot stripe is just out of the water, perhaps an inch or two.

Can you take a picture?

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 08/07/2008 : 07:45:13

When a fellow C25 sailor, with a swing keel, was on the bow working on his furler, his transom must have raised a good foot out of the water. It went up so much that the last three or four feet of the hull, including the skeg, was out of the water. At the time, he didn't have his outboard on the mount.

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Chris Z
Captain

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452 Posts

Response Posted - 08/07/2008 : 08:24:08

Mine sits very little forward. About 1 inch. Keep in mind that I have a 9.9 Yamaha that weighs about 95 lbs. Also do you have water in your tanks and two batteries? You might want to also consider storing extra stuff under the aft cabin and sail locker.

Also, you might want to throw in a few extra cases of beer... ;))))

Edited by - Chris Z on 08/07/2008 08:25:01

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 08/07/2008 : 10:12:19

12-18" is too much. Are you sure there isn't a bunch of frying-pan-sized lead ingots in the compartment under the V-berth? (...inside joke.) Seriously, your 6hp is a comparative lightweight, but this sounds bazaar.

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dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 08/07/2008 : 13:18:12

Compare how the boat sits in the water with the keel up and with it down. Make sure your bilge is dry. If things still look odd, remove ALL gear and sails from the boat and re-check. Empty water tank and re-check. Then start adding gear back and see how it affects how she sits. It's also possible that a PO had the waterline stripe repainted and it was done incorrectly. With my keel down and anchor in the bow locker, the bow rides about 1" low according to the waterline stripe. Bringing the keel up will lower the stern about 1".

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Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 08/08/2008 : 14:43:11

The easy answer is empty the head tank, move the anchor off the bow put the keel up, fill the water tank, add a second battery aft and move up to a 4 stroke 9.9 hp with a 8 gallon gas tank.

The actual answer is more like what David has you do above. move stuff around to see what goes where. Empty the tanks get all the gear out of the bow. Make sure you aren't taking water in the sole around the head area or in the compartment under the forward cushions.

when looking athwartships is your mast perpendicular to the deck or does it lean a little for or aft? This won't account for a lot, but 1 lb down low is 8lbs up high...or something like that.

Keep in mind the boat is designed to sit on her lines with you and your crew in the cockpit.

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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.