Cat 25 Swing Keel Repair

[Mikem]

Our Cat-25 is on the hard at Yachtfish Marine, Port Orchard, Wa. And an update on the continuing restoration.

An inspection of the keel hangar assembly ( I looked at close up photos my oldest son took) revealed that the hangar assembly was installed upside down. Had it not been for the information on this forum I would not have known that. When I brought it to the attention of the yard manager he said it was installed correctly. I sent him a Catalina drawing found in this forum and convinced him otherwise.

So upon removal of the keel the bronze pivot pin was bent and the pivot pin hole in the keel was elongated as well. The yard manager agreed with my theory that the keel cable failed with the keel in the full up position resulting in the interior damage. Further, it seems as if the keel was removed to help effect the repairs in the trunk and the bent pin was not noticed and the hangar assembly was installed upside down.

I ordered from Catalina Direct the upgraded hangar assembly, new fasteners, loctite, pivot pin, pivot pin bushing, and keel centering spacers. That will eliminate the keel klunk and make the keel assembly as strong as it can be. The parts are expected to arrive 1/10/13.

 

[jrowan]

I used to have an '85 C-25 & be careful & do a very thorough repair of the keel trunk if it slammed the keel down while in the up position. If you look at the weak trunk design, if the keel slams down hard when the cable snaps, it will act as a fulcrum wedge & crack the trunk badly. Mine hard a serious seepage leak, not visible but was located down low, near where the trunk meets the hull. You cannot view it from the inside of the cabin, as the fiberglass cabin sole blocks view of the hull to trunk seams. If this is suspect have your yard thoroughly examine the trunk from the outside whe the swing keel is removed. The keel must come out if you are replacing the bearing pinion, etc. Cost me about a grand to have the whole trunk reglassed & rebuilt. We used Kevlar reinforced webbing in the repair, so you could've shot a pistol at the trunk afterwords. It really was a bullet proof repair! This area of the trunk was not built tough enough in the original design. It takes enormous stress, & the glass is only about 3/8" to 1/2" inches thick. It should have been twice as thick as this to endure the stress. No wonder it cracked on mine. BTW, just because you replace the pinion, does not mean that the clunking will stop with the keel down. The keel pocket is too wide for the keel & it floats around in the pocket, causing the clunking sound. Pretty similar noise for all swing keels. You have to shim the sides of the pinion between the keel & the trunk to fill the gap, (use large nylon type washers) & thus eliminate the play & the noise will then stop. Good luck with your repairs & watch the bilge closely for rising water after you first launch her. I didn't check mine out carefully enough when I bought her. Came back to the slip with my wife the next day after putting her in, & found two feet of water in the cabin. Not fun pumping her out.

 

[Mikem]

Thanks for the advice. When it was out I looked at the trunk from underneath with the keel removed. We have had the boat a year and it is watertight. The CD upgrade, wider hangers, new pin, keel pivot pin hole was bored and the bushing press fit, new fasteners, hangers installed upright and bedded in epoxy, and the keel centering shims installed. New cable as well. Not sure when the original damage occurred.

While it was on the hard we had new bottom paint, buffed and waxed the hull, replaced the port side deck waste fitting, tightened the motor mount bolts, installed new nav lights, and am troubleshooting the knot meter (paddle wheel now spins freely).

It is a great little swinger. I have always admired the Catalina lines.

Thanks again,

Mike