How can I get rid of this lousy retractable keel?

[Billy13082]

Through years of sailing in salt water, and not trailering my boat I have been frustrated by a worn out keel that wobled and slapped every time a small wave hit.When I finally examined the situation by unscrewing two bolts and busting off two bolts that refused to unscrew.The bolts are part of two seperate U-joints,one on each side of the pin the keel swings on. After years of wear, the keel swinging on the pin, the hole, to accomodate the pin, became so large it wore through the keel. The constant slapping of the keel as a direct result caused a leak and damage to the port side of the housing where the lock pin is also located.The keel is severely deteriorated through years of being submerged in salt water.I long for a permanent keel. Any ideas ? Thank You.

 

[TedsSailingPage]

Fix it.

You will need to get the keel repaired so that the pin/pivot is the way it is supposed to be. Sounds like a job for a welding shop.you could contact www.catalinadirect.com to see if there is a way to convert a swing keel to a fixed keel.

 

[texaspsdx]

keel replacement

Check out this page. Go down a little way and you will find an article on switching from fixed to swing.https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/rwahlfel/www/c22maint.htm

 

[Michael McCann]

Swing to Wing

A friend bought a wing keel from Catalina to replace the swing keel on his C25. Turned out great. Contact the factory to see if they still do this conversion. The keel is cast to fit up in the slot where the swing keel goes. Now this is going back about 13-15 years.