I guess the question is why? Is your keel loose? Can you stick your head inside the catalina smile? Or just because you can? I've been sailing for more years than I'll admit to and the only time I've ever seen a keel even come close to coming off is when a buddy of mine hit a rock at full speed in a J22 - I'm not sure that anything aside of an imbedded Ibeam would have helped that though
But if you gotta cut I think I'd use a sawzall with a long blade, You'll probably want to drill a starter hole so you can start the blade easier - my guess is you'd want the blade long enough to go through the fiberglass and allow you to rest the heal of the saw on the cabin floor so you have some support for it as you cut. The other alternative would be to drill a series of holes around the perimiter and than use a chisel to free it up. Seems to me if the wood is totally gone that you could drill a few holes - attach a strong vacuum and suck out anything that isn't attached along with any water and then start pumping in penetrating epoxy and use the vacuum to help draw it through the space then plug the holes up with filler. Still seems like an awful lot of work that may just be unnecessary. Dave - if it ain't broke C27 #5212 Windabout Cape Cod http://dpbcc.home.comcast.net -------------- Original message -------------- From: "Doug Simonsen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I have been wanting to do this, too Phillip -- but I haven't ever figured out what king of a cutting tool would be good for slicing through the fiberglass in the narrow space between the keel bolts and bilge wall. My boatyard was reluctant to even get involved in this project. I'm hoping for a brainstorm that will allow me to minimize the curses per minute when I finally tackle it. I'd love to hear what your thoughts are on how to do the cutting, and, like you, would be glad to hear from anyone who has actually done it. Doug Simonsen Kiwi C-27 #1522 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phillip HDz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 5:19 PM Subject: catalina27-talk:keel > > Hi everyone > > been enjoying sitting back taking in the wisdom. Last year got myself a 1975 > cat27. Love it. new to the sailing thing. The only sail boat I have been on > is my own. I am in east Sooke, vancouver island B.C. Sailed for 2 weeks last > year over to the Gulf Islands. Had a great time. Obviously, learning lots of > cool new stuff. > > anyway got the keel plywood removal and relaminated diagram. Gonna try it. > has anyone out there done this repair? > > > Phillip Day > Crystal Raven > #2549 > > _________________________________________________________________ > Fight Allergies With Live Search > http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=Remedies+For+Spring+Allergies&mkt=en-ca&FORM=SERNEP > >
