Okay, I've read numerous comments in the archives about repairing the "Catalina smile" (keel crack). After torquing the keel bolts, some folks say to fill the crack with epoxy (e.g., Marine-Tex), others say to fill with sealant (e.g., 5200 Polyurethane)... It seems to me that the EPOXY fix will be hard, and will presumably crack pretty easily again under stress. The SEALANT fix will be flexible, and should therefore tolerate some stress/flex and last longer. Isn't the objective for the repair to just keep water out of the crack (with sealant), rather than glue the keel to the hull (with epoxy). But what do I know? Any thoughts or experience on this repair will be appreciated.
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The fix
Im working on mine now . I had rotting keel stub Thanks to my PO he drilled holes in the bilge for sump pumps an never filled the old holes . So last fall I riped out the old wood and glass and let it dry all winter last weekend I glassed it up and next weekend I will bolt it back down, and start working on the out side I called catalina and they told me that I should use epoxy and filler, but I think I will grind out about 8" around the keel and glass it in and then use the filler . John
Im working on mine now . I had rotting keel stub Thanks to my PO he drilled holes in the bilge for sump pumps an never filled the old holes . So last fall I riped out the old wood and glass and let it dry all winter last weekend I glassed it up and next weekend I will bolt it back down, and start working on the out side I called catalina and they told me that I should use epoxy and filler, but I think I will grind out about 8" around the keel and glass it in and then use the filler . John
Question for John i nLG
John, what led you to find that the stub was rotted? I have hull #539 Cat 30 and would like advice on this.
John, what led you to find that the stub was rotted? I have hull #539 Cat 30 and would like advice on this.
Hi John
I was working in my bilge on my bilge pumps and when I removed the old pump there where 5 holes and one screw . bummer I felt around with a nail and it felt hollow then I tapped around with a small hammer and there was a dull sound bummer I drilled a 2" hole that could be fix easy and water came up there was a nice peace of teak all wet but not rotted I glued the boat back together last year and sailed it for the summer in the fall I cut it up with a sawszall and other tools took out the wood and let it dry.The wood was sopping wet but still in good shape I think if you have teak you could tork the bolts in the spring and slack off on them in the fall so things dont crack when they freze but I was all ready to do the job and i went for it The keel bolts where hand tight when i took them off today i torked them to 105 foot lbs and my fix looks great I used mas epoxy with slow hardner becouse there is less smell in the bilge I was down there for 5 hours I need to peel my bottom and wanted to do it this year but time is running out so i fixed the in side first.A hull# in the 500 mean you have ply wood
I was working in my bilge on my bilge pumps and when I removed the old pump there where 5 holes and one screw . bummer I felt around with a nail and it felt hollow then I tapped around with a small hammer and there was a dull sound bummer I drilled a 2" hole that could be fix easy and water came up there was a nice peace of teak all wet but not rotted I glued the boat back together last year and sailed it for the summer in the fall I cut it up with a sawszall and other tools took out the wood and let it dry.The wood was sopping wet but still in good shape I think if you have teak you could tork the bolts in the spring and slack off on them in the fall so things dont crack when they freze but I was all ready to do the job and i went for it The keel bolts where hand tight when i took them off today i torked them to 105 foot lbs and my fix looks great I used mas epoxy with slow hardner becouse there is less smell in the bilge I was down there for 5 hours I need to peel my bottom and wanted to do it this year but time is running out so i fixed the in side first.A hull# in the 500 mean you have ply wood
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