Swing Keel Repair

[Frank Taylor]

My 1979 Catalina 22 has a lot of wobble in the swing keel. A dealer informed me that the pin is probablly ok, as its an inch thick, but the fiberglass bushing needs to be replaced. He said to lower the keel, remove the old fiberglass, fill it in with epoxy, drill it out, replace the pin, lift the keel back up. Has anyone ever tackeled this task? Is it something that can be done at home or should the boat go to the yard?

 

[Noah]

soon to tackle same repair

Frank,I too will be doing the same repair. Altough I have never done this repair I have been doing plenty of research. First off the keel weighs about 600lbs. If you can do it at home you will need floor jacks and some kind of sled to move the keel around on. There are four bolts holding the keel pin. There is definitely more to it than that and a good place to get more information is to check out Catalina Direct. They sell the replacement parts you will need. They have a video on refinishing the keel, but nothing about replacing the pin. Go to www.catalinadirect.com and get on their email list. There is a great forum that has many subscribers who have done this same repair. Some even have photos. Check it out.