Keel Pin Inspection

[Ed P. C-22 "See Da Moon"]

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to lower the forward end of the swing keel enough to be able to remove the pin for inspection ? I don't have the capability to drop the entire keel, but I suspect the pin may be worn due to the amount of side-play in the keel while retracted.Thanks in Advance

 

[Dick of Sylvan]

Keel Pin

I think you'll want to drop the whole keel. It can be done on a trailer by jacking the boat and blocking it about 8 inches above the bunks. Be sure the trailer and boat are as level as possible before beginning this task. Lower the keel with its winch so that it rests again on the trailer pad. Then with a good jack (most use a hydraulic 4-wheel auto jack) put a little pressure on bottom of keel near its pivot point. Then loosen the 4 bolts, and lower. Catalina Direct sells a nice replacement pin and its assembly and bolts for replacement. While the keel is down you may ant to paint up in the tunnel with bottom paint. With new parts in place, carefully raise the keel with the jack, and screw the bolts back in to place (they must not be too tight as you can break them off so they say). Directions are in the C-22 tech. manual. About a half day job. Good Luck, Dick

 

[john renfro]

pin

hello ed. dick is correct, you will need to block the boat up off of the bunks. and if murphy is looking the other direction, the time frame is correct. when i removed my keel, one of the bolts snaped of on removal.good luckjohn

 

[Don]

Actually it is possible. I did it a couple of years ago on my boat. Depends on how much room you have between the keel and the support on the trailer. I have to admit that my trailer is not the original factory standard. By the way, according to the factory there are no jack points on a c22. You have to build a cradle to spread the pressure to jack it.

 

[Dick of Sylvan]

Support laterally while lowering keel

Before you lower the keel, be sure that you have adequate lateral support so that it can't fall off the jack. I used two pieces of 3/4 in. plywood, well clamped to the boat trailer so that they run crosswise and are supported by both the trailer and the ground. One forward to hold front of keel and one aft for the back part. These have slots cut into the plywood into which the keel will sit. I've heard that if you only lower the forward end, you run the risk of the rear end pivoting (pivot point becomes the spot where the cable is connected in this case) up into the keel slot enough to damage the bottom of the boat.