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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Keel drop!

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Ben Towery
Deckhand

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3 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/18/2011 : 21:21:31

After launching my buddies C-25 SK, the keel cable broke and the keel swung down in dramatic fashion. We are definitley taking on water, about 100 gallons over 2 weeks. I'm scubu diving in to replace the cable.

After a search of the forum, I could fins penty of experiences with cable failure, but I can't find anything about fixing the leak. He has the dinette model. We can't see any ingress of water but its obviously damaged. Our fear is that the damage is under the floor or behind the seat box. Are we going to have to cut up the floor? Are there any drawings available for the keel trunk in the dinette model?

Thanks!

Edited by - on

TCurran
Admiral

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USA
588 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2011 : 03:47:53

Ben, I glassed over the trunk above the the floor. Although I saw no apparent cracks (was able to pull the boat w/in 2 hours), we did see a couple of areas that looked like glass damage. If you haven't looked at my thread about the keel winch failure, take a look, there is a good comment and picture of a repair job. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2011 : 04:24:45

Ben,

You could contact Kent Nelson, an engineer at Catalina in Woodland Hills, CA. He will offer information about the repair. Be sure to include the year and hull number.

kent@catalinayachts.com

Edited by - OJ on 05/19/2011 04:25:41

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2011 : 05:31:34

Look up Dragon Tail (boat name) in Tech Tips. There are pics of his keel trunk repair - dinette model.
Also check out my keel trunk repair thread. If the damage is not too severe, the keel trunk can be repaired by adding several layers of glass cloth over the trunk. I was lucky, my leak was only about a gallon per day through a hairline crack.
With the dinette model, you will likely have to cut away part of the forward dinette seat to reach the keel trunk, as Dragon Tail had to do.

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2011 : 05:44:17

[url="http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/tech/tech25/dragn2.asp"]Swing Keel Trunk Repair[/url]

Edited by - on

Ben Towery
Deckhand

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3 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2011 : 06:12:06

Thank you all very much. Great info.

Is the damage most likely contained to the trunk under the seat, as shown is the repair job link? Or is there something under the floor we should worry about?

Edited by - on

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2011 : 06:26:53

There's a good chance the damage is centered around the aft, vertical portion of the keel trunk, since that is where the keel will strike the trunk. I expect you will need to haul out the boat, repair the trunk first, then inspect the hull looking for additional cracks. Find a good fiberglass guy for this work. Good luck, and keep us updated. I forgot to take "before" pics, so all I've got is the "after" shots.

Since you have the dinette model, your boat will not have the 2 pieces of wood.

Edited by - dmpilc on 05/19/2011 06:32:49

frog0911
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1349 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2011 : 08:50:07

Have you notified your insurance company yet? If your deductable is not to high it might help in your decision making of DIY or hiring a professional. The orginial Pretty Penny, 79 SK, had the same thing happen to the orginial owner and his insurance paid to have it move to Tampa and have a wing installed by Catalina.

Edited by - frog0911 on 05/19/2011 08:50:38

Ben Towery
Deckhand

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3 Posts

Response Posted - 05/24/2011 : 15:24:22

So, we get down to the boat yesterday and guess what? No water! Last week when we saw how much water was in there, we unloaded everything from the boat. the assumption is that the boat is now sitting higher than the hole in the trunk?? At least we know she's not leaking from the bottom. Will dive down to replace cable later this week or next then haul out to inspect and repair.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9089 Posts

Response Posted - 05/24/2011 : 19:05:20

It is possible to have a crack that is closed when the boat is at rest, but opens under the forces from the keel when heeling. If you find water after your next sail, that could be it.

Edited by - on

BeardedLady
Deckhand

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USA
3 Posts

Response Posted - 06/22/2011 : 07:43:50

So I made my purchase of a 1985 swing keel in pretty decent shape and attempted to move out of the slip the boat was purchased from. All lines are free and motor in reverse and not moving. An attempt to bring the keel up, if needed, results in a cable snap and resulting crash of the 1500 LB keel, no immediate damage is noticed. Over the next five days and realization that the bilges are filling up gives rise to purchase of 500 GPH auto bilge pump in the larger forward bilge and more immediate plans to get the boat on the hard as was expected for keel inspection and bottom job. So what now, how do you get the keel raised again? Panic!!! Buy lot's of misc. junk, build a new cable with dogs attached and new loop? Rent SCUBA gear?

SOLUTION: Use 9 gauge galvanized steel wire threaded through the volcano to attach to keel and keel winch, I did it blind folded with a couple of friends on the boat and me down below, about 12 deep breaths and a mask, my Tevas to balance on the bottom of the boat as I was triple wrapping and doubling up the wire over under and through the clevis that was left on the keel, yes the cable broke above the fork in what I have read is a very common area for a cable break.

I now have Bearded Lady on the hard out of harms way and can thank many of my new friends at the Buccaneer Yacht Club Mobile, AL for their help and support. I do have damage from the keel drop that is fixable and now my journey begins.....

I will look to this and other valuable forums/blogs for future assistance and had to share my experience knowing that some other person may agonize as I did over this same event, but may also be relieved as there is a solution, one that I had not read about or thought of...

Michael

Edited by - on

John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 06/22/2011 : 10:15:06

Welcome Michael. Congratulations on your boat. It seems there has been a rash of keel drops this spring. Reinforces the need for preventive maintenance on those things. Glad yours is repairable.

Edited by - on

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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.