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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Keel & boat pads, hard lesson learned the easy way

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/16/2010 : 12:36:54

I'm down to the last two pads to soda blast under on my hull. I noticed I'd been "losing ground" as I worked back. None of my pads were going all the way back up where they started. My forward pads were about 1/2-1/4" below where they started and about 3/4" or so on my center pads. I couldn't figure out why this was happening until I happened to take a few steps back from the boat and noticed the keel pad was sagging. So the boat has been sinking on the trailer each time I lower a pad.

I got my truck's jack under the keel and jacked it up till it was level again. Then I jacked up the front of the boat and was able to get the front left pad exactly back where it was supposed to be, but the right pad hadn't moved. Then I noticed that the trailer tongue was about 3" above the cinder block it normally rests on

, so the boat & trailer are pivoting on the jack point. Crap. I let the jack under the bow down, which got me back down to about 1" above the cinder block, and that's where it's sitting now. I'm taking a break over lunch and rethinking how I'm going to do this. I need to move the keel jack backwards maybe a foot, and figure out how to remove the trailer from the equation, but I'm not sure now to do that.

What I should have done was block up the keel under the pad in the first place, but it never occurred to me, and I didn't remember reading about it on here. Thinking about it now, it's a stupid thing to not have done, but at least I realized it before I broke the keel pad.

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2010 : 13:44:32

That's quite a Chinese fire drill you've got going on there David!

Juueeezz, I'm definitely going to place the telescoping jack under the rear fin of my C25 when I lower my roller trains (one at a time!)

Edited by - OJ on 05/16/2010 13:44:53

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2010 : 14:31:24

It gets better, or worse depending on your point of view. I got the trailer tongue back down, and figured I'd put some 2x6's across the trailer itself, and jack the rear up that way. It seemed like a sound plan, bounced it off my friend I bought my last boat from, I used two jacks instead of one and now...I'm screwed.

The boat sank all the way down onto the pad where it's bottomed out, about an inch or more total. Even with two jacks to spread the load I can't make the boat move without it making scary sounds and oil-canning (I can see the fiberglass bowing). To make it better, it's started thundering & lightning (very rare in the PNW), and raining (not so rare), so I've picked up all my tools and I'm ...thinking.

I am ready to throw in the towel with two square feet of boat to finish. I want to just tow it to a yard, put it on jack stands, sand the last little bit, and paint it. But I still have dings to fix too.

So-so-so frustrated right now. I want to sail this year, not fix stuff.

I don't even know if the boat & trailer are road worthy right now, and the closest yard is probably 20 miles away, mostly by freeway.

Maybe a mobile crane?

Anyone in the PNW got any jack stands you'd be willing to loan me?

How can I determine if the boat/trailer are road worthy?

Any ideas are gladly entertained, I honestly don't know what to do.

Edited by - delliottg on 05/16/2010 14:33:43

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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4382 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2010 : 14:39:12

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by delliottg
 How can I determine if the boat/trailer are road worthy?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Who's the trailer manufacturer?

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2010 : 14:53:40

Trailrite.

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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4382 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2010 : 15:01:01

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by delliottg
 Trailrite.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I would talk with Rob Herbold at Trail-Rite, 714.556.4540.

He's extremely knowledgable and helpful.

It might help to have pix ready to send to him - he receives his e-mail via Julie at bagulie at yahoo dot com

Edited by - OJ on 05/16/2010 18:37:45

Kip C
Navigator

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USA
243 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2010 : 17:27:49

David,
I'm not sure this will work for the 250 on a pad trailer. I use 4 boat stands every year so I can paint under the rollers and the bottom of the keel of my 25 on it's trailer. The trick is getting the stands inside the frame of the trailer forward of the keel.

Maybe this photo will help:

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2010 : 18:44:29

Kip,

What's your technique for raising the roller trains back into place?

I'm considering using a bottle jack.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2010 : 19:05:11

Kip, thanks for the suggestion, I wish I had the jack stands to work with, but I don't. I'm hoping someone here in the PNW has a set they'll loan me.

I'm thinking about towing the trailer to a local lake and putting the boat in the water, pulling the trailer back out, resetting the pads, and putting it back on.

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Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2010 : 20:34:01

David, I think floating the boat and then adjusting the pads sounds like a good idea.

Here is a photo of my trailer while we were working on it. Are you saying that the boards under the keel have sagged?

I once loosened the pads on my old C22 trailer and the hull oil canned a bit. I launched the boat and then adjusted the pads back and that did the trick. Vowed to never mess with the trailer pads again. It would be nice to have a set of jack stands (even one to move around). Maybe a yard in your area would rent a set??

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2010 : 21:24:19

The keel pad was sagging, but once I got the front pads up a bit, the sag isn't as noticeable. Unfortunately I've removed the keel guides, and don't have the brackets to remount the port one. I may be able to get them tomorrow though. I'm sure I can launch with no problems, but I'd want the guides there to recover.

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Kip C
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243 Posts

Response Posted - 05/17/2010 : 12:16:48

If I understand you correctly, the middle pads are down enough that it puts enough pressure on the forward pads that you can't move either? Could you use a 3 ton floor jack and a 4x4 notched to the bow, and use that to take a small amount of the weight to get the pads up? Working a little ( half turn) at a time.

OJ, I usually use blocks of wood and a 2x4, because the uprights are angled and they bind a little.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/17/2010 : 13:29:03

Kip,
That's pretty much what I did, except with an 8 ton jack under the bow, and a 5 ton jack under the keel. It's better than it was in the front, but worse in the back. However, just as I was writing this, I think I figured out why. The trailer was pivoting on the jack under the keel such that the tongue was up in the air a bit and it was quite light to move. I lowered the jack until the tongue was back down on it's cinder block, but maybe the boat was still up a bit, and squatting at the stern so that when I dropped the port stern pad, it sat down on it. Maybe that's what happened yesterday. Hmmm...have to think on that.

On a plus note, I found the U-bolts I need to remount the keel guide uprights, for $11/each in SS, ouch. But about what I was going to pay to order them from CA and I have them today instead of a week from now.

I've also got 2 2x6x12' Trex boards to use for the guides, so as long as it's not raining too hard this evening, I might be able to get the keel guides back on. That way I can more easily launch into a nearby-ish lake, reset the pads, and recover.

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