Smile?

[Jongleur]

Boat is now on the hard. Wondering what
if anything is worth doing at this time.

There is a tight crack around the front and
about 1 foot back on each side. Shown in
the pictures.

Port side has no indication beyond that first
foot. Starboard has a hairline crack most
of the length of the keel.

Any suggestions?

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

What year is the boat?

 

[The Garbone]

You could attempt tightening your keel bolts.

Also dry out the bilge and drill a few test holes in the stub to check on the condition of the plywood and if it is rotting. If ok just fill the holes with resin. Depending on what you find it could turn into quite a project.

Our boat had a slight smile on the front like yours but it only went back 2 or 3 inches (collision damage?), we opted to patch it up with epoxy and paint over it. Next haul out we plan on checking deeper. If our 78' had a crack to the extent yours does we would have probably been more concerned.

 

[Jongleur]

It's a '79

 

[CloudDiver]

You've paid for the haul out and storage on the hard, it might be time to take the bottom paint all the way down and refresh barrier coat and new bottom paint... so while you are at it you would for sure want to address that problem. Is the Keel lead or cast iron on that year? Either way, to fix that smile I'd really be interested to see the condition of your keel bolts and know the history (have they been replaced before?). Only sure thing is separate the keel, new keel bolts and red-bed keel to hull.
Ever heard of dry ice blasting? Much more environmentally friendly than sand blasting and less messy than soda blasting, will not harm your substrate...

 

[Jongleur]

I'll ask about that dry ice blasting.

Don't know what the keel is made of.

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

With a 1979 Catalina the first thing I would check is the keel stub. Probably still wood based on you photos.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Boat is now on the hard. Wondering what
if anything is worth doing at this time.

There is a tight crack around the front and
about 1 foot back on each side. Shown in
the pictures.

Port side has no indication beyond that first
foot. Starboard has a hairline crack most
of the length of the keel.

Any suggestions?

WADR, please Google

"Catalina Smile"

There are thousands, if not millions, of posts on this topic.

Here's one:

Rebedding a Keel Stub 101 The Catlaina Smile with Pictures

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,6842.0.html