Jon,
Sorry to hear about your trouble. Do you know how the trucking firm blocked the keel? There is a subtle angle to the bottom of the keel. When yards are unaware of this angle it leads to a very high pressure on the rear tip of the keel during winter storage. It applies a prying force that result is the Catalina Smile after the FRP cold flows under the pressure. On a flat bed you should have seen the boat tilted forward to match the angle on the bottom of the keel or specialized wooden blocking under the keel to match the "flat" bed to the keel. Get a copy of every photo taken of the boat on the trailer before the trucking firm gets wind it could be their fault. If they confirm what I suspect I can provide a drawing that documents the angle on the bottom of the keel. If it was sitting on the rear tip and took a hard jolt it might tear the glass at the back of the keel pocket as it bulges out under pressure. Armed with that, given the photos support improper blocking, you can file a claim against the trucking firm. If they balk too much, then you contact your insurance and see if you can get them to do some saber rattling on your behalf. I had to do that a couple of years ago when the driver of a delivery van open his door in between my truck and Wing Tip's trailer while I was stopped at a red light. A few seconds after the light went green he was missing his door and A pillar. His insurance while dealing with me said we should split the repairs cost. I brought my documentation (DMV law & photos) of the facts to my insurance agent, who technically had no involvement, and he made one phone call. I was paid in 10 days. Phil Agur s/v Wing Tip Secretary/Treasurer Call Sign WCW3485 IC27/270A MMSI 366901790 <http://www.catalina27.org/> www.catalina27.org Vessel Doc# 1039809 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 7:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: catalina27-talk: Perplexing keel problem after long distance hauling Listees: I have a serious but perplexing problem resulting from the long-distance haul of my 1975 C-27. I need your advice. The boat was hauled from North Carolina to Boston in mid-July, essentially a return home for the boat and for us. Somewhere along the way the boat was damaged. When the boat arrived it was lifted off the flatbed and put in the water. It immediately began to take on water--lots of it. After taking it out of the water, we discovered a crack at the extreme aft end of the keel at the hull (at the point where the hull begins to curve down to shape the narrow end of the keel--perhaps an inch or two down that curve). The crack was only several inches long around that aft end, perhaps four inches long in all, sort of shaped like a "u". The leak showed at the inside at the extreme aft end of the bilge in the passage (under the interior deck) between it and the engine compartment (boat has an A-4). While the pump kept on top of the leak, it did so only barely. A few words about the delivery: The boat had been located on the extreme aft end of the trailer. A power boat was placed on the front. The inside of the boat was an absolute mess. Things that I had carefully stowed were strewn about the boat. Items stowed deep in the after quarter berth were all over the salon floor in the forward part of the boat. It was an amazing sight that got worse when the water seeped up from the bilge. Clearly the boat had a very rough trip. When the boat was first on stands, I was able to ply out some resin from the hull crack and thought maybe I could make a temporary patch to get it across Dorchester Bay to my yacht club. I used Marine Tex. The fix looked good, but as soon as the hydraulic trailer begin to lift it from the stands and blocks, it cracked with a "snap." It had returned. After a short haul on a hydraulic trailer to the club, I removed the broken Marine Tex, opened the crack up as best I could, and we used West (resin, filler) and some cloth and fashioned a repair. When it was sealed on the outside, using a flashlight, I was able to locate what seemed to be a crack of sorts in the bilge in that passage leading to the engine compartment, where it seemed the water had come in. I poured resin into it, hoping it would seep down. Today, when we lifted the boat off the stands to put it in the water, the same thing happened, a snap, and then a 1/8 in wide, several inch long crack appeared. This work was done by someone with a great deal of experience using West resins. What is going on? The bilge looks fine. Four years ago, I employed the Catalina Direct keel bolt upgrade and installed ss lags. I did this only as a precaution because the original bolts looked, well, rusted, but no worse than other Catalinas. My bilge has always been clean and dry. I see nothing amiss there now. There is no Catalina smile on this boat an no other external indications of a problem anywhere along the keel. Jon C-27 1858
