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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Keel trunk issue

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HudsonM1
1st Mate

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USA
41 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/06/2005 : 21:57:05

Hello all.
I'm a new C-25 (1981 swing keel #2531) owner and am turning here for some advice. I've only owned her for about three weeks. I motored down the Chesapeake Bay (zero wind) from the Annapolis area to the Rappahannock River two weeks ago, have been on a few day sails and now I have her out of the water for some TLC (the previous owner hadn't hauled her this season so new paint, etc are due). I really love the boat so far, except....

......when under the boat inspecting the hull this weekend, I found two cracks at the forward-most end of the keel trunk, running forward from the corners about 2 1/2 inches. Both are fairly thin. There's no other visible damage. Last season the PO had the keel pulled and all pivot hardward replaced and he says that the cracks were not there then. He also says that to his knowledge the keel has never broken free and swung forward. There is a small amount of water in the bilge (1/2 inch), and the really bad part is that there's a very slow drip of bilge water coming out through the cracks - ugh.

The marina's glass guy is going to look at the problem and give me a repair estimate this week (and I'm expecting it to be a really big number). My questions are these: Have any of you had this problem before or know of someone who has? If so, how was it repaired? Any ideas about what caused it? What's the right way to fix this?

Any and all thoughts will be appreciated, positive, encouraging ones in particular.

Thanks,

Hudson

Hudson
'81 SK/SR #2531

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 06/06/2005 : 23:50:40

It seems hard to believe that a shop would replace all the keel hardware and not mention the damage to the PO; unless they caused it. Col Mustard in the library with the candlestick.

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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 06/07/2005 : 00:06:01

Hi Hudson, welcome to the group.

Swing keel pivot and trunk repairs have been discussed here in the past. Since you're new here, instead of all of us yelling in unison "search the archives!" (a standard welcome message heard on every BBS on the Web

), I've dug up a few representative posts from the past to give you some indication of the results available using the [[url="http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/search.asp"]Search[/url]] feature.

[url="http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=5857"]TOPIC_ID=5857[/url] keel trunk repair from the interior.

[url="http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=6868"]TOPIC_ID=6868[/url] A really long ramble about keel trunk and pivot work.

[url="http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=6921"]TOPIC_ID=6921[/url] Really good, long rambling discussion of trunk flex and repairs.

[url="http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=6288"]TOPIC_ID=6288[/url] Long technical discussion of keel bolts.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">There is a small amount of water in the bilge (1/2 inch), and ... there's a very slow drip of bilge water coming out through the cracks ...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">I take this to mean that with the boat hauled out, and water is seeping out from the bilge to the underside of the boat. Well, the good news is you know where to start looking for the problem. If you could post digital photos of the damage, it would help us steer you in the right direction. (Or at least reduce the likelyhood of us steering you in the wrong direction!

)

-- Leon Sisson

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 06/07/2005 : 00:14:18

If the PO is being honest with you about the cracks not being there previously, I would suspect that the shop somehow had an "accident" with the keel during the removal or re-installation. Unfortunately, there's no way to prove anything now. You will probably have to bite the bullet and absorb the cost of the repair, unless your own insurance will cover it, and pray that the crack haesn't propagated too far away from the origin point. Did you have the boat inspected by a licensed and bonded marine surveyor? If you did, then he was negligent in not finding this damage and you probably have grounds to file a claim with his bond carrier. If you didn't have the boat surveyed, then it's "let the buyer beware" and you may have agreed to waiver the PO of all future liability when you signed the purchase agreement (depends on State contract, DMV, and liability statutes, which are of course different in every state).
If the repair estimate is for more than about $2500~$3000, you might want to consider doing the swing-to-wing conversion. This costs about $4000, and you will never have to worry about swing keel problems again.

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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.