catilina 22 swing keel won't fully detract

[overeasy]

Hey every one newbie sailer new to forum with major project boat score. If you want to skip brief back story skip to the next paragraph if you can help with this question.This boat was a lake boat semi submerged in slip for at least the last five years. upon acquiring the vessel on the cheap fixing up the trailer and lucky to have help and resources from the previous sudden inheritor of the boat I was able to get the boat dry docked were i had a formidable project to occupy the later half of the summer. on sept 11 we had our maiden cruise which turned out to be semi disastrous revealing many bugs to work out, the main of which was the motor transom failing chewing on the rudder lucky we had the motor tied off.
So on the second cruise when we actually had wind we released the locking pin on the swing keel detracted the winch cable most of the way expecting a clunk on the keel trunk which never happened. I dove in to see that the keel was 75% percent down with the cable slack. wiggled the keel and applied some downward pressure under the water it feels firmly seated as if something is obstructing inside the keel trunk holding it in that position. The keel seems to be off center but not rubbing the sides of the trunk. There are loose washers, thrust washers or bushings on the pivot pin that are not snug they wander left to right on the pin the pivot hardware seems snug and was wary to break the thread seal. Upon inspecting the winch mechanism snugging winch hardware major kinks at the length corresponding to where the keel stops and cable gets slack maybe indicating its been sailing this way for a while. Also at dry dock the cast iron keel was badly pitted and boiled with rusty mushroom growths that have been scaled and grinder to bare metal and painted. Only the exposed portions of the keel in the retracted position have been treated. Has any one had this problem and fix without removing the keel from the boat any suggestions thanks

 

[agprice22]

I had an 83 C22. It was a good boat. Besides the locking bolt inside the cabin in the keel truck, it had a self-braking winch under the companionway.
You do not need to lock the keel in the raised position. It was meant to lock the keel in the down position. I do not think many people use that bolt to lock down the keel while underway. I think it was useless.
Anyway, I would say you either have some shells, rocks, barnacles or muscles jammed in the forward end of the trunk, or you have a seriously wallowed out pin hole. You will need to pull this boat, lift it high enough to get under there and look. I would remove that keel and repair all that gear, since you have no idea when it was last done.
C22 keels are cast iron.
The hole for the pivot pin corrodes and gets wallowed out, especially on boats that sit on the water and rock. The keel rocks and opens up the bolt hole. Build a cradle for the keel, put it on a jacks, slide it under the lifted boat, lift the cradle, and unscrew the keel pin retaining plates. You will need to use a knife to loosen the plastic plates on the sides to lower the keel.
None of this is hard. Just don't drop that keel!
While you are at it, replace the cable, shackle, and volcano.
Most people grind the keel, fill it, fair it, and epoxy it. I used Interprotect with good results. Sometimes, you will need to have metal added to the bolt hole to build it up again.

Good luck!
C22s are nice little sailing boats. I enjoyed mine very much.
Andrew

 

[waterpirate]

Congrats on your project! Condolences on your swing keel. There are several threads regarding the removal and rebuilding of a swing keel for you to peruse. The catalina forum may also be a wealth of info for you. Oh and welcome to the forums.
Eric

 

[agprice22]

... mussels... ugh.

 

[lillia28]

There are keel hinge pin repair kits available. catalina direct has them, but there are other sources. Makes life much easier when re installing the keel.
Have Fun!
lou

 

[MaryEllaRose]

You may wish to move this post over to the Catalina 22 forum. Great people over there with a wealth of Cat 22 knowledge, they're been really helpful to me.
I just went through this process about a month ago, it's not that bad.
Two years ago I replaced my winch, cable, turning ball and hose, but didn't do anything to the keel itself. (The only mistake I made was not getting the winch perfectly level so when I raise or lowered the keel, the cable wraps over itself. It's next on my to-do list.) As part of a bottom sand and paint, I dropped the keel to inspect the pin. There was considerable wobble in the keel, we keep the Rose in a slip all summer long. The keel pin itself showed negligible wear, about 0.015 to 0.020" where the keel rode on it. The keel hole was about 0.040 to 0.060" out of round, one side more that the other. I bought the pin, bushing, bolts and hanger kit from CD and borrowed the drill bits from work. You'll need to open the existing hole out to 1.250" to accept the bushing. I drilled by hand with a 1/2" hand held drill with a helper to keep it straight and level.
Raising the boat involved jacking the trailer up and putting jack stands under the trailer frame, building a wood support under the stern and an aluminum frame with a heavy duty cargo strap under the bow, then lowering the trailer and pulling it out. See attached pix...
Lower the tail end of the keel all the way down, but keep some tension on the cable.
Build a box like "sled" to hold the keel upright. I bolted mine to the hydraulic jack anvil. Have lots of 2 x 8's, 4 x 4's blocks ready so that as you lower in down you can block up the "sled". See attached pix....
Be extremely patient removing the 5/16" bolts that secure the hanger brackets...whatever you do, don't break or strip them or (heaven help you) rip out the mounting plates. Lots of penetrating oil, soak over night if necessary or even over several days and lots of patience. As each bolt is removed, replace it with a 5/16 x 8" bolt with the head cut off. This will act as a guide when the time comes to lower / raise the keel. See pix...
You only have to lower the keel enough to access the pin hole. Once the keel is down and blocked up solid you can drill out the hole. You don't need any oil to drill cast iron, just take your time and drill slow. I started with a
1 1/16" drill and then went to the 1.125" bit. My helper guided me by eye-balling the drill so that I kept it at right angles to the side of the keel and level at the same time (I can't see s**t). The drill required several sharpenings before we were done.
When the hole is through, wash it and the bushing out with a solvent that won't leave residue. I used brake clean. Measure the length of the bushing. Use marine epoxy to secure it in the keel.
You'll have to cut or grind the new hangers, they're deliberately oversized. Bolt the hangers in place and measure the distance between them, by knowing the length of the bushing, you can figure out how much to cut or grind off each hanger. (1/2 the difference off each) I took about 1/8" to 1/4" off each mine. It's somewhat of trial fit, take off small amounts equally from each hanger, install and measure. You'll probably have to trim the new pin as well.
Push the pin in the bushing, it should be finger tight. You want the keel to rotate on the pin, with the bushing bonded to the keel. Put the brackets on the pin and use the 5/16 x 8" bolts as guides as you raise the keel back into position. I've got about 1/8" clearance and it slid back in like it was buttered. Make sure the keel lock screw is backed out far enough so it doesn't interfere. Once the hangers are in place, remove the 8" cut off bolts and replace them with the hanger bolts.
Clean the threads in the mounting holes and on the new bolts with no residue solvent, (don't scrimp here, use only stainless steel bolts and stainless lock washers) use Loctite 252 medium and a torque wrench to tighten each bolt to 15 Ft#. Tighten in 5 Ft# steps, one side at a time, alternating front to back.
Before putting the Rose back on the trailer, I fully raised and lowered the keel a far as I could to check for interference, etc. There's no wobble now...
I ground the most obnoxious rust boogers from the keel but didn't fair it and painted it when I painted the bottom (three coats of Interprotect and three of VC17) before I put it back in.
It's not rocket science, but you definitely want a helper, or maybe two, especially when jockeying the keel back in place.

Good luck...PM me if you have questions.

Tom G

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Good descriptions on repairs. Take your time and the best word of caution, be safe. Have a cradle of sorts to sit the swing keel down into. also have a helper or two with experience because if that keel should fall over, God forbid the injuries.
Wire brush down to the bare metal and first put on a coat of Zinc Chromate or whatever coating there is that has that in it. Fill with two part epoxy and the best not to be affected by water is called Water Tite but is expensive and a slow cure which is good to fair out those pits or holes. Replace the stainless steel bolts too.

Former Catalina dealer, Crazy Dave Condon aka American Marine & Sail Supply, Inc.

 

[mauruuru]

I had a C22. I used to sail Lake Erie. One time i cut the Bay Point shoal too quickly entering Sandusky harbor and ended up plowing sand. The centerboard went up into the trunk-good. But once I got free, could not get it back down even bounced through some kind power boater wakes trying to bounce it free-not good. Had her hauled thinking I might have bent the pin or something but it turned out the trunk was full of zebra mussels and all it took was a good power washing to get them out and free the board! Good luck.