Here is something I had not heard about before. I was talking with our local BoatUS tow guy as the marina was power washing the boat's bottom and mentioned you could see where I had run aground in mud and had to power off.
He mentioned that they (BoatUS Tow) wouldn't tow winged keeled boats when aground because they have found that the keel bolts snap too easily under the pressure and they have had a couple of incidents in the local area where the keels have fallen off.
Has anyone else heard of tis being a particularly unique problem to winged keels?
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Chuck Parker
HelenRita 2072 Mk II
2002 Tall Rig - Winged Keel
Atlantic Highlands, NJ
Hi Chuck,
Over the years, I've run aground several times here in our local shallow waters of Charlotte Harbor, FL (mud bottom) and have chosen not to call our BoatsUS/SeaTow person but rather to wait it out until high tide and float off. I'm not so concerned about keel bolt issues as I am about damaging and bending the rudder and/or rudder post.
When you're aground the with a 'wing keel' (the Danforth keel as they call it locally) the rudder is not very far away from the bottom. Of course it all depends on the situation and it associated dangers, but before you let anyone give you a tow, be sure you understand that your rudder is free of the bottom. In a typical tow, the bow of the boat could move upwards several inches and the stern will move downward. Those few inches could make the difference for rudder damage.
Just a thought but in answer to our direct question, No, I've never heard our towing guys mention that they were concerned about shearing the keel bolts. Maybe they are just to used to power boats.
Bill Dolan 1990 Catalina C-36 MKI - Hull #1041 'Williwaw'
Std. Rig, Walk Through, Wing Keel
M35, Oberdorfer Conversion,
Home Waters; Charlotte Harbor & The Gulf Islands of Florida
'You are never out of work if you own a boat'
Unfortunately, this is one subject I would prefer not to be an “expert” on. I can assure you, you will pull out your bow cleat before you have a problem with your keel bolts on a Catalina 36. Now your rudder is another thing. If you are on a hard bottom you will most likely bend your rudder post when you are pulled off. I know from personal experience on our Catalina 36 MKII and from another friends experience on another Catalina 36 MKII. Also, have another friend that had the exact same problem on a Catalina 38, wing keel. Maybe, I am contagious !
Catalina may claim the rudder is shorter than the wing keel, but if it is, it is not enough to make any difference. By the way, I had no damage to the keel, but had to replace the rudder. The same results for the other two Catalina's.
http://vermontsailor.blogspot.com/2016/01/our-ocean-front-condo.html
Nile Schneider
Mañana C36 #1798
Lake Champlain, VT
The old mechanical engineer in me says the TOW Boat US guy is full of BS- at least as far as Catalina designs go. Both the wing and deep keel design can withstand tremendous abuse. The hull bottom would have to be ripped out to seperate the keel from the boat. (Rusted/corroded keel bolt issues aside). That said, the wings are more subject to grounding damage, but not the body of the keel.
Paul & Wendy Keyser
"First Light"
Rye NH
2005 C36 MKII #2257
Wing, M35B