Hello, I am looking to purchase my first boat and have come across a wing keel 22. I have not seen the boat yet but I am hoping to get some insight on any potential issues. It looks like a few cracks have formed between the keel bolts. If so is this normal? How does the condition of the bolts look? It looks like a raised area of the keel "circled in red", any thoughts on this?
What's going on with this keel? How do these keel bolts look?
- Thread starter Chipmunk88
- Start date
From the picture anyway, the keel bolts and nuts look like they are in good shape. It's possible the washers have rusted. The bilge has a layer of mung that may be what's making the washers look bad. Take those tubes off of the bolts, they could cause crevice corrosion if they trap water that then gets oxygen depleted - I can't see any purpose for those tubes. The outside of the keel looks decent, ideally it would stripped down to lead, epoxy coated and faired. The area you circled may just be missing paint or it could be the keel casting - either way it shouldn't be a problem. The keel to hull joint looks good so the bolts/adhesive are working. If you can, I would clean-up a section of the bilge and one or two keel bolts to see how they look.
I'm not sure about the history yet, but I imagine it has seen its fair share of salt water. It is supposed to be a late 80's model I haven't seen the serial number yet. Should I be concerned if there is rust on the nuts or washers that I cannot remove with a brass brush? Or if the bolts are rusted underneath the tubes?
I doubt it, but pics are needed. It's all conjecture at the moment.
you are already concerned as you should be. Simply removing the rust eliminates only a superficial problem but tells nothing about the integrity of the bolts or nuts or keel. Stated differently, appearance isn’t a basis for judgment.
You need to inspect these components carefully. Nothing here is a show-stopper but might require some effort to fix.
Bolts on a Catalina 22 wing are in a J shape and cast into the led keel. I would ask the PO why they chose to stip the keel or did not paint it. Most small dings from loading can be removed with a mallet as the led is soft incase you brake though the gelcoat. Looking at the pictures it's hard to tell if there is anything of major concern. How will you be using it trailer, slip etc? Often a conversation wiht a seller can solve a lot of issues. The Wing C22 is known for being a stout little boat.
I will be trailering the boat, not keeping it in the water. The owner has only owned the boat for about a year and a half. I understand the previous owner kept the boat both in and out of the water, salt water.
Does anyone know where the keel trunk ends and the keel begins? About how far down from the bottom of the hull is the transition?
So these forums are long discountijuned but here is the best information I have ever found as to the construction and makeup of the Catalina 22 wing keel online. Frank Butler passed a few years back and when his right hand man also passed the family sold the company last year. Currently the plant is mothballed until the new owners decide what direction they want to go.
Either way the picured text is about 1/2 way down the thread.
Based on this I would just sand, epoxy if needed and paint that thing up. you're good for many more miles!
As a follow up I have over 30,000 miles on my boat and trailer wiht my Catalina 22 wing in the past 7 or so years. This includes towing to races, island adventures, etc. It has been in the gulf off Pensacola and around Lake Superior and Michigan. So far all those miles and no cracks showing on mine and no issues from a few soft groundings. Just remember on a wing the rudder will hit before the keel. with the rudder removed and measuring depth from where the water tank is in the bow I have floated through 1.2 foot of water without being stuck while crossing a sand bar on the Mississippi River.
Note in the picture the rough paint was on purpose as I sanded the ablative paint off to 800 grit as I was tired to getting blue on my hands and I wanted a smoother surface. Oddly enough I may actually be repairing it this year as I just don't race as much.
Note in the picture the rough paint was on purpose as I sanded the ablative paint off to 800 grit as I was tired to getting blue on my hands and I wanted a smoother surface. Oddly enough I may actually be repairing it this year as I just don't race as much.
Personally I've never read or heard about a wing keel even remotely coming loose let alone falling off on a Catalina 22. I guess there's always the first, but that would be the least of my worries. Just my .02