Broken Keel Wire

[Rich]

Lo and behold I went to go sailing this weekend and discovered my keel wire had broken (I swear I checked it in the spring!). Besides having it hauled out (I am on a mooring) has anyone been able to fix this while still in the water?

 

[Tim Pinkham]

How long can you hold your breath?

Hi Rich,I replaced mine while laying on my back in my driveway. It took about 10 minutes and didn't require much for tools. Doing it underwater would be a little more difficult but if you could film yourselfdoing the job you might be able to pay for the new cable from sales of the video.Go for it!-Tim

 

[Michael halliday]

One word -- SCUBA

And a PIA at that..MIke

 

[Frank]

Did it.

I changed mine while snorkeling. I could not get to the boat ramp and trailer because it was too shallow.It is very easy. There is only a pin and a cotter key. In the first breath I took the old one off. It had broken right at the swage.Then got out, dropped the new one down the hole and fixed it to the wench.Second breath put cable and pin on but no key. It took me about 10 tries to get the key in and was eventuall succesful.Mine was in winter with about 60 degree water. I was freezing.Make sure not to hold onto everything.

 

[Aldo]

Congratulations!

Frank: The next time you have the bottom painted, and the keel is down and on land, you should check to see that the wire went on the correct side of the ball. There's ball which acts as a pulley, and the keel wire runs in a groove in it. It is possible to be on the wrong side of the center of the ball. The wire belongs on the aft side of the ball, not the bow side. (There's a nice drawing of this in Catalina Direct's Handbook). If you have your's wrong, you'll be OK for the rest of the summer, but this is something you should check to make sure that it is correct, otherwise, when you winch the keel up and down, you will be cutting into the fiberglass and the pipe that the wire goes through. Congratulations! Aldo