C 22 Sport Swing Keel and leaking problems

[Rileyjr]

My newly purchased 2021 Catalina 22 Sport Swing Keel with very little prior use takes on a significant amt of water when sailing & some while docked. I'm going to dry dock boat on jacks & inspect/repair swing keel equip but need ideas on any possible source of the leak (s) based on others' experiences?
Any ideas of how water could be coming in thru the swing keel? The hose thru wh Dyneema keel cable runs doesn’t show water coming thru. Thanks much.

 

[pgandw]

On my ODay 25, I got significant water into the cabin twice, each from a different source.
1. The head sink has a discharge just above the waterline on the starboard side of the boat. No seacock, just a thru-hull with drain hose attached. On one occasion, the hose popped off the thru-hull while we were on port tack and the boat heeled enough to immerse the thru-hull. That put about 8" of water above the cabin sole during spirited sail. And I didn't know where it was coming from. Told the wife to turn to a reach and run the boat aground at the nearest sandbar/key (Marquesas Keys, Florida). I was bailing with a bucket like crazy. I started catching up because we were no longer heeled enough to put the thru-hull under. Once reasonably caught up, started looking and found the hose popped off the thru-hull.
2. Surfing on big waves on a broad reach from Little Abaco to Spanish Wells. Again, cabin sole had water on top. Found this one right away, there was a gap between the top of the centerboard pennant tube and the pennant block in the cockpit. Surfing down wave fronts was generating enough pressure up the centerboard pennant to overflow into the cockpit AND at the gap in the tube in the quarter berth area. Reduced sail to slow down a little, and temporarily resolved the "leak". Later added and sealed a piece of plastic pipe at the gap.
3. I have observed on other Mariners (ODay 19) with the iron centerboard that there are sometimes leaks around the pivot bolt (usually right at waterline). Other problem areas include the cockpit drains, hoses, and through-hulls. And of course, where chainplates pass through deck, although this is usually quite minor and can be seen by streaks on the hull below the chainplate.

If it is swing keel, you might find it while on the hard by squirting high pressure water up around the swing keel with an observer inside.

 

[LakeShark]

My newly purchased 2021 Catalina 22 Sport Swing Keel
Any ideas of how water could be coming in thru the swing keel? The hose thru wh Dyneema keel cable runs doesn’t show water coming thru. Thanks much.

That's a very new boat to have water coming in. Did the keel cable snap and or is there damage to the keel trunk? the boat did not originally come with Dynema for the keel cable so perhaps a PO had an incident?

To better assess some pictures and additional details would help. How long has it been a problem, have you checked the through hole, keel lock down bolt, etc..?

I did once have a leak form some failed sealant on the lower rudder gudgeon. The leak only occurred when we were all in the cockpit but was a fair bit of water. You'll likely need to do more investigating.

Start by removing the bilge access boards and taking some sidewalk chalk to the inside of the hull. Launch the boat and see where the chalk is washed away first. Then you'll know what direction to start looking. Common leaks are the keel boat in heavy sailing, the volcano tube where the keel is lowered and a leaky drain / through hull.

Please let us know what you find.

 

[Rileyjr]

That's a very new boat to have water coming in. Did the keel cable snap and or is there damage to the keel trunk? the boat did not originally come with Dynema for the keel cable so perhaps a PO had an incident?

To better assess some pictures and additional details would help. How long has it been a problem, have you checked the through hole, keel lock down bolt, etc..?

I did once have a leak form some failed sealant on the lower rudder gudgeon. The leak only occurred when we were all in the cockpit but was a fair bit of water. You'll likely need to do more investigating.

Start by removing the bilge access boards and taking some sidewalk chalk to the inside of the hull. Launch the boat and see where the chalk is washed away first. Then you'll know what direction to start looking. Common leaks are the keel boat in heavy sailing, the volcano tube where the keel is lowered and a leaky drain / through hull.

Please let us know what you find.

Thanks. Good suggestions for what to do/look for when i get boat up on jacks. During rough weather (14 kts & 3' seas 3 mi offshore) sail from Marco Is to Tavernier/Key Largo on 1/14-16 including nites (yes scarry) after i picked up boat from seller we took on lots of water & bilged/bailed the whole way. Arrived at slip & pumped 8+ more gals of water out with portable bilge pump drawing from under cabin floor after removing cover plates next to keel housing. Still taking on water but slowly at slip. While bailing in cabin on trip water seemed to be coming in around keel housing but hard to tell since that's the low point & water flows there anyway.

 

[Gene Neill]

Dang it man. That's a long sail from Marco to Largo! A lot longer when you're leaking like a sieve the entire way, I imagine. Well done, sir!

I don't know the anatomy of a Sport very well, but the infamous keel lockdown pin comes to mind. Is yours present and intact?

 

[LakeShark]

@Rileyjr if it’s the keel trunk I would be checking the keel pivot pin hangers, lock down bolt, and trunk to hull seam. In heavy weather the boat will flex a fair amount. The Sport is not too much different in keel design than the earlier models. In fact as I understand it was produced by the factory as the urging of the Catalina 22 National Sailing assiociation as a boat that could race more inline with the OD of the original. The hull and keel layout are identical to earlier models. The main difference is your keel is faired and enclosed in fiberglass making it better than the older cast iron ones.

I would be very interested to learn what you find. I work a lot with the Catalina Association and have never heard of such a large leak on a newer design. Also don’t forget you can always call the factory direct and talk with them as well to help you better understand what you find.

PS: being in Florida if you need parts you can also get them directly from the factory and don’t have to just use Catalina direct (a non Catalina company).