[SeaChanger]

As the name implies, this might be a stupid question. I'm about to undertake the restoration of an 82 Catalina 27 and intend on doing the factory recommended keel upgrade. Long story short; the process involves removing and rebedding the keel bolts.

Can this be done with the boat blocked up and on stands? Any special precautions I need to take?

 

[TQA]

As the name implies, this might be a stupid question. I'm about to undertake the restoration of an 82 Catalina 27 and intend on doing the factory recommended keel upgrade. Long story short; the process involves removing and rebedding the keel bolts.

Can this be done with the boat blocked up and on stands? Any special precautions I need to take?

There are at least two excellent Catalina users groups which contain a wealth of info. I would try there as well.

 

[deniseO30]

It's been done! Drop the keel a few inches while on a cradle/stands. Of course the boat will be top heavy without the keel attached even if it's only a few inches above it. Guy lines would surely be needed to keep her from going over. Stands and other type of hull support would need to be very very secure also. I keep wondering about getting epoxy on the bottom of the encapsulated keel of my boat. everyone says "don't worry"

 

[Stumble]

We used to swap keels on an Andrews 70 every few months. Our processs was to destepped the mast, put the boat on stands, jack the keel up just to take the weight, then unbolt the mast. The travel lift carries the boat away san keel and places it on top of the new keel. Install new jack stands and bolt the new keel in place.

 

[SeaChanger]

We used to swap keels on an Andrews 70 every few months. Our processs was to destepped the mast, put the boat on stands, jack the keel up just to take the weight, then unbolt the mast. The travel lift carries the boat away san keel and places it on top of the new keel. Install new jack stands and bolt the new keel in place.

My situation will be a bit different. The boat is not at a marina (with the benefit of a lift) and the mast is already down. I don't need to remove the keel, just unbolt it. In doing so, I'm wondering if there are any precautions I need to take as the boat is on stands.

 

[SeaChanger]

It's been done! Drop the keel a few inches while on a cradle/stands. Of course the boat will be top heavy without the keel attached even if it's only a few inches above it. Guy lines would surely be needed to keep her from going over. Stands and other type of hull support would need to be very very secure also. I keep wondering about getting epoxy on the bottom of the encapsulated keel of my boat. everyone says "don't worry"

If I drop the keel a few inches, will the stands not damage the hull as it's now taking the weight of the boat (vs the keel)?

 

[Faster]

If I drop the keel a few inches, will the stands not damage the hull as it's now taking the weight of the boat (vs the keel)?

Have just been through this...

You drop the keel an inch or two (whatever you can get away with without the nuts coming off - this keeps the weight on the hull and negates any stability worries.. You'll need a couple of inches of space between the keel and the ground, if the boat's already on stands this could be problematic because it's difficult to lift the boat sufficiently with the jack stands without point-loading the pads - esp on a C27 this could cause local deformation and possibly some unsettling 'cracking' sounds.

If you must do it that way double the number of stands (being sure to place as many as you can in the way of a bulkhead) and take the weight up one by one, very gradually. Also get ahold of a handful (4-6) long narrow wedges and a heavy hammer to force the keel off the hull in case it doesn't conveniently 'drop'. Scraping/cleaning out the joint surfaces is a tough go with little room to work. Fully inspecting the bolts is difficult too, since you'll never 'see' the entire length.

Good luck!

 

[SoOkay]

We used to swap keels on an Andrews 70 every few months.

Why?

 

[nighthawk]

Ditto---Why?

 

[Stumble]

Why?

Deep keel for offshore, shallow keel for the lake, intermediate keel for the Gulf Coast. It just depended on where we were sailing. The deep keel was lighter and faster, but in less than 20' of water it had a lot of bottom drag. So the keel was selected the same way you would choose a jib, whichever is right for conditions that day.

We also had three spinnaker poles. Short (inshore), long (inshore asymetric), rediculiously long (long distance offshore). The extra long one required disconnecting the forstay to jibe so it was only used for distance races.

 

[nighthawk]

Thanks for the clarification stumble. I guess I never thought about the different advantages of changing the shape and weight of a keel.