1987 Catalina 22 inspected to buy

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TimG

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Aug 31, 2019
6
Looking for a Catalina 22 Catalina 22 Maricopa Az
Hello everyone new here, I am new to everything about sailing and sail boats, I went to inspect a 1987 Catalina 22 yesterday. The owner actually took me out for a sail with it. Thank goodness for this forum , I was able to with the knowledge I have received from this forum find potential problems, The said in the beginning that there is leak under the table where the lock for keel is located, I have read ,that should be easy fix, I was somewhat comfortable with that , But after returning to the dock and attempting to load back on trailer,
I noticed the keel guide on the trailer was bent way to one side.
This almost 1/2 inch steel that holds the 4x4 ,
So if the keel hit it so hard to bend this steel over , could the keel trunk be damaged? Should I run away from this boat ?
Thanks for any feed back
 
H

Hardhead

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Apr 11, 2017
571
Catalina C22 Solomon's Island, MD
Welcome - I'd really want to determine exactly where the leak is coming from. It could just be the keel lockdown bolt leaking (fixable), or it could be a small crack in the keel trunk, from hitting the keel guide on the trailer. (Major pain) Hard to say, but if it's a crack in the keel trunk, I'd keep looking. If you are serious, can you ask the seller to float it again, so you can determine for sure? What is the owner saying happened to the trailer keel guide?
 
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TimG

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Aug 31, 2019
6
Looking for a Catalina 22 Catalina 22 Maricopa Az
The owner has lent the Catalina out to a friend in the past , He seemed to be surprised when him and I noticed the keel guide bent like that,
The marina sailboat shop has serviced the the keel and painted the bottom with VC 17 paint , which is pretty well scratched up , maybe a picture or two Thanks for the reply
 

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rpludwig

rpludwig

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May 23, 2016
1,024
Catalina 22 #12502 BSC
Welcome, and +1 to HH's advice. That big port side scrape on the bow is concerning. Even though the keel guide is off center, you don't "drag" these boats onto a trailer like a powerboat, you float them on, so can't imagine that was caused by retrieving unless the "borrower" didn't know what he was doing. Could be by a collision/scrape with a pile of rocks or something, hard to say.

Have a friend who was in your shoes not long ago with no C22 knowledge. We had the marina pick it up with their travel lift, lower the keel, we inspected underneath, trunk, cable, keel, attachments, etc...I'd recommend you do the same....if all is well, have the owner fix the trailer & the scrape as a condition of sale...looks pretty clean from your limited pics...good luck and keep reading on the forum, best C22 resource is right here...
 
T

TimG

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Aug 31, 2019
6
Looking for a Catalina 22 Catalina 22 Maricopa Az
Thanks
rpludwig said:
Welcome, and +1 to HH's advice. That big port side scrape on the bow is concerning. Even though the keel guide is off center, you don't "drag" these boats onto a trailer like a powerboat, you float them on, so can't imagine that was caused by retrieving unless the "borrower" didn't know what he was doing. Could be by a collision/scrape with a pile of rocks or something, hard to say.

Have a friend who was in your shoes not long ago with no C22 knowledge. We had the marina pick it up with their travel lift, lower the keel, we inspected underneath, trunk, cable, keel, attachments, etc...I'd recommend you do the same....if all is well, have the owner fix the trailer & the scrape as a condition of sale...looks pretty clean from your limited pics...good luck and keep reading on the forum, best C22 resource is right here...
Click to expand
 
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TimG

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Aug 31, 2019
6
Looking for a Catalina 22 Catalina 22 Maricopa Az
Thanks for the reply, yes I did witness the owner power boat drive it up on the trailer as I was standing there, not good, I will check with owner ,do the repairs before buying
 
H

Hardhead

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Apr 11, 2017
571
Catalina C22 Solomon's Island, MD
TimG said:
The owner has lent the Catalina out to a friend in the past , He seemed to be surprised when him and I noticed the keel guide bent like that,
Click to expand
That's like the famous old joke about 3 guys walking into a bar... there's probably a part 2 to the story waiting somewhere..

The boat does look clean from the photos - but with that obvious big impact on the bow, and the severely bent steel on the trailer, and then - the seller having a habit of ramming the boat up onto the trailer under full power - could mean a leaking crack in the hull somewhere. Of all the problems with a boat - I'd put that right up there with the worst to deal with. I might tell the seller I was interested, but I absolutely need to determine the exact location of the leak before buying the boat. It's a real gamble otherwise. I also have a 1987, and I highly recommend the C22 - but a unknown leak in the hull is a pretty aggravating problem to address, if you are not sure what you are dealing with. I'd really want to see the boat floating again - and have the owner point out exactly where the leak is coming from. Bring a big roll of paper towels with you. It's a big gamble I think otherwise - put the burden on the seller of proving what it really is. Good luck - and feel free to ask questions, etc.
 
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kclancy

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Jul 25, 2016
197
Catalina 22 Sacramento
I fixed both a leaking keel locking pin and crack in the keep trunk. It took some time, but it is definitely doable. Just finding the crack in the keel trunk took a lot of time and was a major victory when I found the leak. I am not very handy and this boat stuff is all new to me. That is one of the reasons I bought a Catalina 22 - to learn how to do all these tasks. You can probably do it too. If you decided to go forward and need to make these repairs, there are lots of videos on YouTube. I also did a PowerPoint presentation of the repairs I did on my boat for our sailing club. I would be happy to share that with you. Cheers, Kevin..
 
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TimG

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Aug 31, 2019
6
Looking for a Catalina 22 Catalina 22 Maricopa Az
Thanks Kevin, Yes I am somewhat handy to a fault sometimes, (Oh I can fix that) I just don’t want to get into a position that I have to take it to a marina for a repair to a keel trunk Other than the small leak in the compartment where the lock down bolt is ,I really like this Catalina 22
Thanks guys
 
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Hardhead

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Apr 11, 2017
571
Catalina C22 Solomon's Island, MD
kclancy said:
I fixed both a leaking keel locking pin and crack in the keep trunk. It took some time, but it is definitely doable. Just finding the crack in the keel trunk took a lot of time and was a major victory when I found the leak.
Click to expand
Kevin - how did you eventually find the leak? I remember the thread, and it seemed like a very tough problem to pin down. Great job with the whole repair-
 
K

kclancy

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Jul 25, 2016
197
Catalina 22 Sacramento
Hardhead said:
Kevin - how did you eventually find the leak? I remember the thread, and it seemed like a very tough problem to pin down. Great job with the whole repair-
Click to expand
I eventually became so frustrated that took my mask and finish and inspected the bottom. I saw a very fine line of bubbles in the jeep trunk. Then, at home on the trailer I hacked her up and eventually saw the crack, but only after blowing up pics I took with my camera. It was very dangerous having the boat so high off the bucks. I had some protection, but be very careful. I'll post some pics tomorrow.
 
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