Catalina 25 Keel Leak

[Paulpit]

I am new to sailing and have been restoring a 1979 Catalina Fixed Keel boat. Took her out today for my first sail... When we pulled her in, the lake is a bit too shallow, I noticed that she was taking on a bit of water in the area where the keel bolts are. Upon further inspection I noticed some water dripping out along the "smile."

Suggestions on how to repair this? What to fill the crack with? Is this common and a serious problem?

Paul

 

[Roger Long]

Is this common and a serious problem?

It is the sailing equivelant of having a loose wing on an airplane. See "Cynthia Woods" thread for links to the story of one fatality.

Filling the crack is not an option. The bolts are loose. You may be able to tighten them and that may be sufficient but you won't know if the fiberglass under the keel attachement has been cracked or damaged by the impact of the keel wobbling around during sailing and trailering under previous ownership.

Two options:

1) Just tighten the bolts. Always wear lifejackets, keep people out of the cabin underway, stay where you can reach shore or help can reach you at all times.

2) Have the boat jacked up, remove the nuts, drop the keel, check the fiberglass laminate for cracks by looking in the bolt holes and tapping. Re-attach the keel with a layer of wet resin and mat between keel and hull. You should have professional advice and help with this which may be hard to find in your area.

Try reposting this on the Catalina forum. I'm sure people there have been through the same thing.

 

[jsalley]

It's likely if you try to remove or tighten the keel bolts, they'll break off. The bolts and nuts on that year C25 are made of steel, and nearly always (especially after 30 years) are severely rusted. Catalina Direct sells a kit containing a piece of stainless steel threaded rod that can be cut to length and tapped into the keel, but as Roger said the laminate may not be in good condition, especially if you can see water coming in there. The backing "plate" on those boats was plywood encapsulated in fiberglass, so any water intrusion around the bolts will cause the backing to rot.

Spend the money and have a professional surveyor look at this. Good luck.

 

[sailingdog]

Be aware that one reason this is an issue is that Catalina used to use a plywood keel stub as part of the keel support structure on their boats. If the plywood has gotten wet and rotted away, the laminate by itself is not strong enough to support the keel safely and needs to be reinforced. The bolts also need to be inspected for corrosion damage.

The only real way to repair this safely is to drop the keel and have a surveyor inspect the keel stub and keel.