I have recently purchased this Catalina 22. The swing keel is very rusty. I plan on replacing the swing keel bolt. I'd also like to somehow take the keel off and take the rust off and put some kind of paint on it. Do you have any suggestions on the best way to do this?
Catalina 22 Swing Keel
- Thread starter Scott300
- Start date
You may not like the answer, but you asked about "the best way". There is a pretty standard approach, but it's not simple. I haven't yet done my own.
@pclarksurf did his and documented it here at SBO:
The Many Stages of Keel (a photo retrospective) Parts 1-3
Was dragging through the photos looking for goodness knows what and decided there's no value in having all that data floating around -- share it: In the hope that it's useful, interesting or just a insight into my own version of C22 madness, I leave you the many stages of Keel 1) Pull it (and...
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And Stingy Sailor has a series of 5 posts starting here: Refinish Your Swing Keel for Best Performance – Part 1: Removing
There are other links and accounts, but those two are pretty comprehensive.
And I can attest to the fact that I learned how to do it from those that had gone before me-- so spending some time searching the SBO archive for "keel" and "keel refurbishing" will give you hours of material to digest.
Come up with a plan of attack that works for your budget/ resources and future plans for the boat and then ask away-- this group will definitely be here to give sage and salient advice along the way.
Come up with a plan of attack that works for your budget/ resources and future plans for the boat and then ask away-- this group will definitely be here to give sage and salient advice along the way.
This was the first improvement I made to our "Boat Angel" boat. I read all the stuff I could find. Liked Stingy's approach. Things I am glad I learned include:
1) All of the examples of how to remove the keel with the boat on the trailer were very helpful to see prior to starting the process. The C22NSA Technical Manual has some great ideas for this.
2) I challenged myself to find affordable services at a reasonable rate for the steps I could not do (or could have done better) . (i.e., used a sand blaster from the Port of Tampa that did my keel as fill-in work. They even coated it with an epoxy primer immediately to keep it rust free).
3) I agree with Stingy' s coating steps. I've read at least one post since from a guy that skipped the barrier coat and had fresh rust under the epoxy in short order after splashing the boat.
4) Found Stingy's info regarding the correct NACA foil shape to be very useful. Of coarse, the boat will sail fine without all the fairing. I figured, I'm going to all this trouble......
The whole thing takes a while. It's pretty rewarding when you look at the before and after photos. Good luck and try to have fun.
1) All of the examples of how to remove the keel with the boat on the trailer were very helpful to see prior to starting the process. The C22NSA Technical Manual has some great ideas for this.
2) I challenged myself to find affordable services at a reasonable rate for the steps I could not do (or could have done better) . (i.e., used a sand blaster from the Port of Tampa that did my keel as fill-in work. They even coated it with an epoxy primer immediately to keep it rust free).
3) I agree with Stingy' s coating steps. I've read at least one post since from a guy that skipped the barrier coat and had fresh rust under the epoxy in short order after splashing the boat.
4) Found Stingy's info regarding the correct NACA foil shape to be very useful. Of coarse, the boat will sail fine without all the fairing. I figured, I'm going to all this trouble......
The whole thing takes a while. It's pretty rewarding when you look at the before and after photos. Good luck and try to have fun.
I will attest to getting it sand blasted, I went the grinder rust converter route WAY more work.
When I overhauled my keel, Catalina Direct offered a how-to-do-it vhs tape and patterns to remove and fair the keel. I thought it would be cool to have an aerodynamic keel. Having done it, it is too much extra work and time for no real gain. I Broke two hanger bolts removing it. Have it sandblasted it's much faster, it is hard metal, if you need/want to drill any holes in it, use high quality drills and go slow. It was all simple work.
I did mine a few years ago. Yes, have it sandblasted, prime it right away - because it starts rusting right away, fair it with epoxy and filler, then barrier coat, and lastly, ablative anti-fouling. Still no sign of rust after several years.
Rolling Keel Lifter
Last fall I fastened two 30" by 19" 1000lb capacity hardwood dollies together to make a rolling keel dolly. Dropping the keel into it and rolling it from beneath the boat was a piece of cake, but rolling it up on to the trailer with a come-along was a pain, and I wondered how re-attaching the...
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