Need a bit more information! Keel case.

[Pete Dennison]

Thanks again to previous responders. Both the C22s I've looked at had cracking and delamination in the fibreglass around the keel case area particularly where the forward bulkhead joins the hull. (Visible in the portside hatch where the keel lock down bolt is located). Is this a common problem? The boat I put in the water leaked here as well. The delaminated glass also buckled indicating some pressure - this occured after the mast was put up and the keel was lowered. I'm not sure though whether the buckling is coming from mast compression or keel problems. Also can someone tell me about the keel lock down bolt operation. This would not move and was protruding about 1" out of the keel case. The keel made that reassuring "thunk" sound when lowered but not sure if it was all the way down or hitting this bolt. I assume that in the correct operation (no-one at the dealers knew much about them!) the pin is withhdrawn to allow the top of the keel to go past then pushed in to lock the keel in place.

 

[John renfro]

keel

hello Pete cracks are not common and indicate damage. There should be no flexing on the keel case area, the compression post area is a solid stiff area with no flexing or buckling. The lock down bolt is about six or seven inches long and is unscrewed for most of its length,the keel is lowered and then it is tightened against the keel. Some very slight dripping may leak past the threads and most of the time,smearing grease in the bolt and then threading it back in will stop all leaking john

 

[Pete Dennison]

Thanks John!

Thanks John. I certainly expected that area NOT to have cracks or delamination and the fact that both boats I've looked at had this problem might indicate an Australian production flaw. The boats were built here under licence. The keel bolt was obviously screwed in but I didn't want to force it either way. I'll wait for the dealer to contact the owner about this particular boat and in the meantime look around for another one as I'm quite impressed. Hopefully I can find one without the cracks!!

 

[John renfro]

keel

hello Pete, somewhere in the archives are photosof keel trunk damage caused by the cable breaking allowing the keel to fall free and smash into the trunk, and repairs needed to fix it. falling keels seem to be the only reports on this site that damage keel trunks.so as you have found two, then you may be correct about manufacturing process.I wouldn't try to repair the trunk unless I was already the owner of the boat. good luckjohn