Keel Cracks revisited

[Steve Franklin]

Thanks, LaDonna, Mike and ???. Sure appreciate the response. Wonder if there's a waterproof product (elastomer??) with enough flexibility and "stickability" to stay adhered. Probably more effort than it's worth. The boat is 20 years old and hasn't dropped the keel yet.

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina]

It won't drop off

Why worry about it? It ain't going nowhere!LaDonna

 

[MIKE GRADON]

KEEL REPAIR

I BELIEVE YOU ARE REFERRING TO THE CATALINA SMILE THAT DEVELOPES IN THE PALM OF THE KEEL. OUR BOAT IS IN CHARTER AND SEES LOTS OF USE. DEVELOPED THE "CRACK" OR SEPERATION ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO. WHEN WE HAULED THE BOAT FOR A BOTTOM PAINT THIS YEAR WE SET THE BOAT ON THE KEEL TO HELP RESEAT THE KEEL AND THEN USED A STRONG BONDING SILICONE TO FILL THE JOINT. TIME WILL TELL IF THIS WORKS. GOOD LUCK

 

[Mark Gale]

keel

Techtalk, the advice manual from the C30 association, recommends making sure the keel bolts are torqued to 50-60 lbs. They can vibrate loose over the years. Others have told me to let the area dry out. Fill with epoxy and a layer of glass. Then fair and repaint. That's what I'm doing to my '83. I think it should be pretty easy and certainly can't hurt. The only danger in doing nothing, I suppose, is that a wood beam in there could eventually rot.