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Author stuck at dock with broken keel cable
Susan Baron
North Miami Beach, FL

Boat Name: Sydhartha

Model/Year: C25TR 1977

Hull No.

Hailing Port: North Miami Beach
04/08/2004 5:43 AM Pacific Time

Have 1977 Cat that is in salt water..was lowering retractable keel when cable broke and now keel is sitting on bottom...can dive when tide is high but do not know what parts I will need to attatch a new cable....can I just get ten feet of stainless cable rated for the weight and just loop it through something in the keel or do I need special cable/attachment parts??

Thanks for any help......just bought boat last year and it was not maintained well.
Vic
Indianapolis, Indiana

Boat Name: Summer Zamboni

Model/Year: 1985?

Hull No. 13100

Hailing Port: Geist Marina, Indianapolis
04/08/2004 6:35 AM Pacific Time

Susan-- Unless you are in a real hurry, I suggest that you call Catalina Direct, get their repair kit, that includes the cable, shackle etc, and then fix it right. They should be able to have the parts to you in less than a week by ground shipment.

It is going to be a minor pain in the neck to fix, so you might as well do it right the first time. The cable etc is fairly reasonable, and the folks at CD are very helpful in telling you what parts you need. Good luck.

Vic Summer Zamboni #13100
Michael Smalter
Webster, NY

Boat Name: Marrakesh

Model/Year: 1986

Hull No. 13645

Hailing Port: Rochester, NY
04/08/2004 5:03 PM Pacific Time

I agree. Order the right parts and do it once. The cable is held onto the keel by a clevis pin (secured by a cottter pin). A good pair of long nose pliers should get that out in one dive if you are lucky, but have a spare clevis pin (or 2) in case you drop it. Then feed the free end of the cable up the AFT SIDE of the turning ball and have someone grab it and put a pair of vice grips on the end so you don't lose it. Reinstall the cable on the winch, and you are done!

P.S. If you can move the boat at high tide and get in a travel lift, you can replace the keel cable, the turning ball, and the hose al at once. If you do it in the water you can't remove the hose without taking on water.

Last time I replaced the cable, the hardest part was getting the cable clamp on the winch drum on and off. There is a ridge that doesn't allow a socket to go over the nuts, so it was 1/8 of a turn at a time with a small open end wrench while reaching into the recess from the port side.
Susan Baron
North Miami Beach, FL

Boat Name: Sydhartha

Model/Year: C25TR 1977

Hull No.

Hailing Port: North Miami Beach
04/09/2004 5:49 AM Pacific Time

Thanks for advise everyone...will call and order kit and since working underwater an extra pin and a couple cotter pins too......wish me luck.....
Lynn Buchanan
Nevada City, CA

Boat Name: SAILYNN

Model/Year: SWING 1984

Hull No. 11994

Hailing Port: SCOTTS FLAT LAKE, CA
04/24/2004 10:13 PM Pacific Time

I bought my boat with a broken keel cable. I borrowed a friends trailer and took the boat to the dock. Took a long piece of rope and put a small weight on it to drop it below the boat from the back to go under the boat and worked it to just forward of the keel. Then took the line and used the genoa winches on each side to winch up the keel into the trunk. Put the boat on the trailer and installed the keel cable kit from Catalina Direct. No one had to get wet!
 
 
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