Plywood in the Keel?

[Piratenorm]

Just cruising through older posts and discovered a worrisome item, that my 1983 Catalina 30 Mk 1, hull #3335 has plywood in the keel bed? And that this is prone to getting wet and rotting??? I don't have a 'smile' on my boat, and right now don't have one on my face either. How prone is the keel to become saturated? Mine was originally a saltie but for the last 2 decades a fresh girl only. What should I look for? How hard is it to make a solid glass repair? She's a great girl and I have treated her well, upgrades too numerous to list and many more planned for, but is this one I should do as a matter of routine or just if a problem exists? Will not doing it leave me sleepless?
Thanks. Norm

 

[pelicanj45]

Norm,
my 27ft, 1971 Catalina had crack where the keel and the hull were connected. Every spring I'd patch it and every fall it came back. Never gave me a problem, just looked bad. Some one else may say different and I'll not disagree.
The keel on my Hunter looked like sagging wall paper. I started digging at it not knowing what I'd find. What I found was and I assume that the keel was poured using plywood in some fashion. Water got to the plywood and the plywood swelled up. When I dug it out it was charred. Anyway I patched it and now the keel police are happy.
Good luck
JC

 

[mortyd]

let's say you get the wrong answer from this forum and act on it, causing major damage, do you think that might make you regret you didn't call catalina yachts who is still very much in business and always helpful to owners?

 

[rbmcintire]

Morty's right. Catalina has acknowledged this problem and engineered a remedy. About 10 months after purchase, I redid our '84 after I found water seeping in around one of the keelbolts. In our case, I felt it was necessary. Things to look for are stress cracks in the gelcoat at the top, or at the base, of the teak compression post in the cabin or look for brown goo coming out of the hole in the bilge (directly below the post) where the mast wiring comes down through. I used a 3/4" hole saw to take a few core samples when I was sizing up the project. It's a major endeavor.

Rob

 

[Piratenorm]

Right. Thanks. I'll check with Catalina. Though I must admit, this is the first time I've been dusted off like this. Normally there are paragraphs and chapters and photos and dozens wading in with helpful advice, usually from people who have gotten the advice from the factory, tried it, then improved on the methods and reported on it for the benefit of the rest of us. Can't say I'm feelin' the love right now.

 

[Anonymous 121765]

P,

Give this new thread alittle time for responses pal.
The guys will get to you...........

CR

 

[stevec22206]

Completed this repair last year on our 87' C27. The wet filler in our keel is a solid piece of wood, not plywood. Didn't have to remove the wood filler as it wasn't so wet as to have turned to mush. Drilled numerous core holes to check the structural integrity and then proceeded with the repair. Cut and removed the bilge pan, dried the wood for a month and then reglassed a new improved pan. Reenforced the areas around the keel bolts with G10. After 2 months of work was able to torque the keel bolts to the original specs. FYI, the water infiltration occurred because previous owners neglected to properly bed the bilge pump and float switch. Over time water found its way beneath the fiberglass pan and the freeze/thaw cycles did the rest. Just thankful I didn't have to chisel out the wood filler. With no evidence of damage from a grounding I believe the small keel smile was directly related to keel movement. There was no way to torque the keel bolts as required with the original bilge pan being compromised. Catalina has this link http://www.catalina30.com/techlib/MastColumnBilgeKeel/mast_column_fix.htm

Steve

 

[jim paris]

Nearly all Catalina sailboats built befor mid 1988 have what is known as “The Catalina Smile“. This condition is a crack on the top side of the leading and sometimes trailing edge of the keel between the fibreglass keel stub (hull) and the bolted on lead keel. Most bolted on keel boats have this condition to some degree. The keel cracks have many causes and combination of causes. They are probably caused by hard grounding, improper lifting, improper support and blocking when hauling out, wave action, improperly torqed keel bolts and many other reasons.
With pre 1988 Catalina sailboats this condition is agravated by the manufacture placing two layers of plywood in the keel stub with a thin layer of fiberglass over the top. Once a small crack develops in the keel joint water can leak in to the plywood through the keel bolt holes or thru holes or cracks in the bilge floor. The plywood gets wet and eventually rots. The weight of the keel pulls the keel bolts down into the softend plywood and the cracks open up more allowing more water intrusion.
Just patching the crack will result in the cracks returning in a short time. The proper way to repair the keel is to cut the plywood out of the keel stub, clean and inspect the keel bolts and rebuild the space occupied by the plywood with fiberglass. Catalina has issued a bulletin with their spesifications on how to do this and there are several good web sites showing how to do it. After the keel stub has been repaired the keel bolts shoud be torqued with new nuts to factory specs. Then it’s time to go outside, clean the cracks, seal and fiberglass over.
This is a very simplified version of the many times mis-understood condition.