Keel frown

[Donnco]

I'm new here but here goes. My 37 CC is showing a smile on the aft end of the keel stub. It's about 20 inches long. I can't see any other sign of damage. Is this common in the 37?
I do have Keel bolts in the bilge. Us this a sign of an iron ballast? My boat is an '84 model.
Ideas?

 

[Flyboy69]

I'm no expert Donnco, but being from the hometown of C&C's there are a ton of them up here! Come haulout time there are more smiles than a Miss America pageant in the cradles.. very common.
I haven't, however seen many at the back end of the keels tho. You may want to have her retorqued, or checked at least..

 

[Apex]

Catalina 25 has similar issues, "catalina smile" that usually occurs at the leading edge, it is not an indication of keel material, but in that boat, is flex of the hull. Other boats may be as you indicate, keel bolt torque values. In all instances, check for saturation of the layup, and in case of stainless keel bolts, check for crevice corrosion (stainless corrosion occurs in absence of oxygen)

 

[Jackdaw]

I'm no expert Donnco, but being from the hometown of C&C's there are a ton of them up here! Come haulout time there are more smiles than a Miss America pageant in the cradles.. very common.
I haven't, however seen many at the back end of the keels tho. You may want to have her retorqued, or checked at least..

CC as in Center Cockpit, not Cuthbertson and Cassian.

 

[Donnco]

Thanks for the info guys. Can the keel bolts be re torqued while the boat is in the water
Or should it be hauled and the keel supported by blocks?
Thanks again

 

[Apex]

google is your friend: sailboatdata doesn't shed light
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1649

this article seems to conclude it is encapsulated like the oday 28 is, I do NOT have keel bolts.
http://www.sailingmagazine.net/boats/6-used-boat-notebook/532-oday-37.html

 

[Donnco]

Thanks

google is your friend: sailboatdata doesn't shed light
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1649

this article seems to conclude it is encapsulated like the oday 28 is, I do NOT have keel bolts.
http://www.sailingmagazine.net/boats/6-used-boat-notebook/532-oday-37.html

Thanks Apex. I have read that article and enjoyed it.

 

[dlochner]

Thanks for the info guys. Can the keel bolts be re torqued while the boat is in the water
Or should it be hauled and the keel supported by blocks?
Thanks again

No. If the keel is bolted on, you won't be able to lift the keel with a keelboat. Also, SS bolts will gall and seize if torqued under load. This will happen if the keel is not supported. What you want to do is to "pull the boat" down to the keel when torquing, not lift the keel. You want gravity to help you.

As for the crack, has the boat been run aground? Hard groundings cause more damage at the aft end of the keel than the forward end.

 

[Donnco]

No. If the keel is bolted on, you won't be able to lift the keel with a keelboat. Also, SS bolts will gall and seize if torqued under load. This will happen if the keel is not supported. What you want to do is to "pull the boat" down to the keel when torquing, not lift the keel. You want gravity to help you.

As for the crack, has the boat been run aground? Hard groundings cause more damage at the aft end of the keel than the forward end.

Thanks for verifying what I figured about torquing the bolts. Makes sense.
As for the grounding, i'll do more research on that. I have sorta inherited the
Boat.

 

[dlochner]

Thanks for verifying what I figured about torquing the bolts. Makes sense.
As for the grounding, i'll do more research on that. I have sorta inherited the
Boat.

The damage occurs at the aft end of the keel because of the leverage of the keel. The aft end of the keel is forced up into the hull where it will damage floor timbers, delaminate the hull, and damage the keel joint. Not pretty.