Association Forum - Bilge crack forward of swing keel volcano

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Bilge crack forward of swing keel volcano

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Thomas
Deckhand

Member Avatar

USA
7 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/29/2014 : 07:51:44

Good morning,

I just joined your Association after reading many of the valuable posts. Perhaps a member can review my question. My best man literally gave me his 1980 C25 swing keel for $1,000 - new 9.9 four stroke, 3-year old sails, 3-yr-old standing and running rigging, new cushions, new pop top enclosure, plus stands. However, he only sailed it twice last season, and had it uncovered during the New England winter, and it needs a new winch and cable assembly.

There was a LOT of water in the bilge and in the port side compartments - I bailed about 20 gallons. That said, I assumed it had to do with a leaky window and lots of melted snow.

When getting the bilge area ready to replace the winch and cable, I noticed (it was hard not to) a large crack in the bilge just directly under the companionway steps and forward of the volcano for the swing keel cable. Could this be a source of water that entered during the season last year but the PO never bailed out? Has anyone seen something like the image below? I'll be bringing in a surveyor for an evaluation before I move any further on getting the boat ready to put in. Thanks.

Tom

Edited by - on

DavidBuoy
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
707 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2014 : 08:00:23

Hi Thomas, Pleasure to meet you and welcome!

My 2cents (which are worth that) is that if the water came in there while it was in the water, would it not have gone back out with it out of the water? That all would obviously depend on how long it has been out of the water and there is most likely more pressure when it is in water.

Just a thought. Definitely wont hurt to clean it up a bit more so you can properly inspect it.

Keep in mind, there are a lot of different areas on the boat that water typically tents to infiltrate many of which are discussed in different posts.

Edited by - on

DavidBuoy
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
707 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2014 : 08:01:06

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by DavidBuoy
 Hi Thomas, Pleasure to meet you and welcome!

My 2cents (which are worth that) is that if the water came in there while it was in the water, would it not have gone back out with it out of the water? That all would obviously depend on how long it has been out of the water and there is most likely more pressure when it is in water.

Just a thought. Definitely wont hurt to clean it up a bit more so you can properly inspect it.

Keep in mind, there are a lot of different areas on the boat that water typically tents to infiltrate many of which are discussed in different posts.

I'll let someone more experienced then myself chime in

Edited by - on

Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

Members Avatar

USA
3754 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2014 : 08:46:02

That is an unusual place for a crack unless it fell of the stands. Clean it very thoroughly to evaluate it. Catalina's out of sight fiberglass work is often a little sloppy and the lack of finish on cloth layers sometimes looks like a crack. Look in the keel trunk from below, the keel should be down with the boat on stands, to see if there is damage visible. It does look like a crack, but you can't be certain at this point. A surveyor is an excellent call, but really clean it first.

Also, welcome aboard!

Edited by - Dave5041 on 04/29/2014 08:49:35

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
9015 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2014 : 08:55:20

Welcome Thomas! You came to the right place, although I'm probably not the right person...

You might need to be able to lower the keel so the inspector can see into the keel trunk from under the boat. Off the top of my head, I'm suspicious that for storage or trailering at some point in time, the boat was set down on the raised keel so that the trailing edge of the keel supported the entire hull. That's a no-no. The boat should be supported on stands (or trailer bunks), after which the keel is lowered to a support, in order to unload the winch system. That support is especially important when trailering, because of the jarring from the road.

If it's set down on the keel, I'd expect the cable attachment point to take the biggest hit, which I supposed would be right around that volcano. (I didn't have a swinger.)

That's my penny's worth--nonrefundable.

Edited by - on

jduck00
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
313 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2014 : 14:37:12

I'll have to take a look at mine when I get back to it, but isn't that area pointed to part of the liner? Its the area just under the stairs, correct? I've seen several cracks in the liner of mine and have nothing to do with the hull. I'm not sure how Catalina laid the hullliner in that area. Might worth a call to them to see if that is hull or liner. I'm curios myself now.

Edited by - on

Thomas
Deckhand

Members Avatar

USA
7 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2014 : 12:39:18

Thank you to all of you. You all provided very useful information. A thorough cleaning is in first order, then lowering the keel to inspect for any visible damage. Once I complete that this weekend, I'll let you all know the results. I'm very glad that I joined this group (wish I had when I owned a different C25 Tall Rig with a wing keel).

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.