[C320-list] Crack Between Hull and Keel

[timothy o'connor, p.e.]

Thanks for this information.

On Sat, Apr 29, 2017 at 5:37 PM, Warren Updike <wupdike at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Dave, I'm sorry to hear about your Catalina Smile. Although the "Smile" is
> usually at the fore end of the keel, so perhaps we should dub this the
> "Catalina Butt Crack (CBC.)"
> Not to make light of your issue, it bothers me that you say you tightened
> the keel bolts, and still had a reoccurrence of the CBC after launch.
> A few thoughts come to mind. 1) was there a sufficient portion of the boat
> weight applied to the keel once blocked on the hard?(It should be about
> 75%, a guess) And, 2) were you able to turn any of the nuts on the keel
> bolts when you tightened them? And, 3) is it possible that one or more of
> the keel bolts are pulling out of the keel?
> Were it me, I would look further for an answer before paying the yard to,
> in essence, repeat the same process you went through.
>
> Warren and Pattie Updike
> 1994 C320 "Warr de Mar" #62
> Middle River, Chesapeake Bay
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave Hupe [mailto:hoopdtwo at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Friday, April 28, 2017 9:37 PM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Crack Between Hull and Keel
>
> I just became the new owner of a 1994 (built 1993) Cat 320 (Hull 32 with
> wing keel). Prior to lifting the boat from its cradle and putting the boat
> back in the water for this new season, I did some substantial repairs to
> the hull/keel interface and retightened the keel bolts.
>
> There was some significant cracking at the hull/keel interface, not all
> the way around the keel, but particularly at the aft end. I cleaned out all
> the loose/cracked areas by scraping, sanding and using a Dremel tool until
> the surrounding layers were firm (even down to the lead on the keel where
> necessary).  I then retightened the keel bolts. After cleaning with
> acetone/alcohol, I then used Pettit FlexPoxy to fill the areas that I
> cleaned out, since this material is purported to retain some flexibility.
> I used Pettit Protect primer over the repair areas and then applied
> antifouling.
>
> To my dismay, upon lifting the boat with slings from the cradle to launch
> the boat (thus all the weight of the keel hanging again), the keel seemed
> to sag at the aft end and the FlexPoxy cracked open (several inches long
> horizontally and up to about 1/4 inch gap) at the aft end of the keel.
>
> After launching, I was concerned that I was getting leakage of water from
> the keel bolts into the shallow bilge.  However, after monitoring this
> closely for several days, the water may actually have been primarily water
> that leaked at a new packing gland I also had installed before launch (and
> got into the hollow floor grid and slowly bled up into the bilge).
>
> Has anyone else (low hull numbers with shallow bilge) experienced anything
> similar about their keel?  What have you done to repair this, so that there
> isn't a perpetual big/open crack at the hull/keel interface?
>
> My local marina service shop is suggesting hauling the boat back out of
> the water and leaving it suspended in slings while the keel hangs
> (therefore maximum open crack).  They then are proposing cleaning out the
> (open) crack again, filling with epoxy, and also doing fiberglass over the
> newly filled area (lapping between the hull and keel) to reinforce this.
>
> Dave Hupe
> 1994 Hull #32
> Holland, MI
>
>


-- 
timothy o'connor, p.e.
o'connor program management llc
(716) 912-9874 m
timoconnorpe at gmail.com

Program & Project Management
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