Keel Bolt Condition and small keel damage question

[Deven R]

Hello fellow Catalina owners. Spring of 2025 I purchased my first keelboat - a 1986 Catalina 34. I sailed her all over the North East in the summer of 2025. This is my first time having her on the hard for the winter. I was hoping I could get some insight from fellow owners about the condition of my keel bolts and a small crack I discovered on my keel. When she was pulled out of the water there was no damage on the keel at all. When I checked on her recently there was about a 3-4 inch crack that had formed on the keel (Image attached). Despite being covered, the heavy rains this fall allowed some water ingress into the bilge where about 2 inches of ice formed. I was able to easily get it out with some warm water and a butter knife, however I will definitely need to replace the bilge pump and float switch before launch in the spring. Its worth mentioning that the rusty discoloration around one of the keel bolts seems to be a stain on the fiberglass. The boat had a non-comprehensive safety survey in the spring before I purchased her and will have a full survey after my winter repairs are made. Hoping to get some advice, thanks

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

i don’t think I ever saw a 40 year old boat with pristine keel nuts/bolts. What appears from the pictures isn’t atypical. Clean up the bolts and inspect for corrosion.
As to the “crack”, digging it out will expose whether it’s an actual crack, not uncommon on Catalinas, or just surficial.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Its worth mentioning that the rusty discoloration around one of the keel bolts seems to be a stain on the fiberglass.

For your own satisfaction, check out the stained nut/bolt with a magnet to see it it's SS.

 

[dmax]

They don't look too bad - as Don mentioned, they should clean right up. I would remove each nut and washer, clean all the threads and re-torque them (115 ft/lbs). Make sure the fiberglass and sealant are sound around each bolt- if not, make it so. Keep in mind that a 1986 has plywood sandwiched in the fiberglass where the keel bolts come through - if water gets in there, the plywood turns to mush - it's a good size job to repair. Signs of this are the nuts on the keel bolts will sink into the fiberglass and you'll see brown staining on the outside of the keel - yours looks ok. Regarding the crack on the outside, it's common for the keel to fiberglass joint to open up - on Catalinas, this is usually caused by improper blocking of the keel when on the hard (see the manual on how to block). It's hard to tell from the picture if the crack is at the keel to fiberglass joint - generally cracks at the joint are in a straight line, yours isn't. You should remove as much as can around the crack and dig into the keel joint if it's exposed like a good 1/2 inch or more. Fill with 5200 and smooth it, paint and you should be all set.

 

[dlochner]

Not related to the cracks and the keelboat there is a serious flaw in the bilge pump installation.

The butt connectors are not water tight. This will lead to water intrusion and corrosion on the wire and eventual failure. This is also a source of stray current corrosion as DC current leaks out of the unsealed connectors. The connectors should be adhesive lined heat sealed connectors.