Ran into Peter in the washroom, and we went out bound and determined to drop the keel.
The hole saw in the drill would not fit, so we went to Princess Auto, RONA, and finally Home Depot to get a drill extension. The hole saw drilled right around the keel bolts and loosened the epoxy around the bolts
Peter and I drove hardwood wedges around the keel joint, and she SLOWLY separated
Peter and I had to drive wedges from each side, co-ordinating our hamer blows and she slowly dropped.
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| Harvey and Peter |
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| I can see daylight! |
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| Mission accomplished |
The keel bolts are screwed; rusted, stretched, and one broke off when the keel dropped.
Richard had his camera and got a video of the keel dropping to the ground.
I am about the same job. Only sans epoxy. Three bolts broke off. One still exists though very rusted. Two left to go. The washers are gone thanks to skilled, semi, or non skilled use of the chisel and hammer. One has twisted about three quarters of a turn, the all thread is about to break, but the sun set. I appreciate the tip of the wooden wedges. I have some black plastic ones from Home Depot. I purchased at $10 about premium long drill bits, 1/4' and 1/12" diameters. I also bought a center punch.
ReplyDeleteI think I should replace the all thread with bolts. The rust measures about 1/2" in diameter. New threads cut in to the keel with a 1/2" tap require a 27/64" drilled hole. A bolt, available in half inch increments, stainless is available locally.
I thought of the renewed attachment hardware in epoxy, AND making a transparent cover plate for easy inspection.
Best sailing, Cactusmitch
You have a Catalina 22 also?
DeleteWhere are you located?
I would advise against bolts as there is less than 1" of thread in the keel, not much room for longer bolts.
The stainless threaded rod is available thru Brafasco, Fastenal, and M&P Metals in the Durham region.
Lastly, try and get the existing studs out if you can.
I am in Flagstaff Arizona, a very nice trailer came with my c-22. I have a long tap and can thread the holes deeper if I have to. There is at least 1 1/2" of good thread in 5 of the holes in the keel.
ReplyDeleteNow comes the hull stub. What a mess! I wonder if the hull fiberglass encapsulated the stub from the factory. I does not now.
My plan: clean and true the stub's bottom surface, compress a patch of fiberglass to the stub to encapsulate, fix the keel to patch with sealant that goes up the bolt voids and fills all gaps, finally, when cured tighten the bolts. I will measure the length of the bolts and the holes anticipating that I will have to put rust resistant washers to use almost all of the available thread.
Head south for winter.