[C38] hauling for bottom painting

[Les]

The smile area is the forward end of the joint between the lead keel and
the keel stub.  The keel stub is about 10 or 12 inches from the basic
hull line, so you should see the bulge form for the keel, and about 10"
down from that will be where the smile appears.  The smile is a result
of separation along the joint between the lead keel and the keel stub.
It is basically cosmetic, but could be serious if the keel block (a bit
of reinforcing inside the fiberglass to support the keel) is
deteriorating or you have struck bottom with the leading edge of the
keel at a good speed.  I and somewhat prone to a bit of "brail
navigation" myself from time to time, so it is not rare to strike
something with the keel being more than 7' below the waterline.  We are
not beach cruisers are we?

	However, the construction of the keel block, and the size and number of
keel bolts buys us a good bit of insurance.  For my own assurance I slow
to <=2 kts when going in uncertain waters, and have really only hit
bottom two times, both in soft sand, and only knocked a few trinkets off
the tables.  Most boats can withstand this with no problem.  The big
issue is hard objects.  Once I was forced to the side of a channel
(don't get me started on big power boats and right of way in narrow
channels), and the leading edge of the bottom of the keel struck a
bolder.  But I had again slowed to below 2kts, and it didn't really
disturb anything, just upset me emotionally.  On haulout there was no
smile.

	This is called the Catalina smile, but I suspect that most boats with
external lead keels and keel stub joints have some issue with it.
Although for our boats, the problem of blocking on haulout adds a bit to
the issues to consider.  This is because the keel bottom is not parallel
with the water line, but rather slopes down from the forward edge.  Thus
supporting the aft end of the keel puts a levering action on the keel
tending to pull it from the forward end of the keel stub.  This is
aggravated by the aft angle of the keel, moving the aft end of the keel
from beneath the center of gravity of the boat and keel.  Blocking the
keel at the forward end is critical to successfully managing the 38's
issue with the smile.

Regards,
Les H
On Mon, 2008-01-28 at 14:03 -0800, Patrick Harpole wrote:
> Thanks…..where is the smile area?
> 
> Patrick
> 
>  
> 
>                                    
> ______________________________________________________________________
> From:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org
> [mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of S. Orton
> Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 10:04 AM
> To: Catalina 38 Listserve
> Subject: Re: [C38] hauling for bottom painting
> 
> 
>  
> 
> Patrick,  Just make sure the yard places the keel support (usually a 2
> x 6 or 8 placed sideways)  as far forward as possible.  Do not allow
> any support at the aft end of the keel!  Take a close up picture of
> the smile area before the boat is placed in the cradle.
> 
> 
> Steve Orton
> 
> 
>         ----- Original Message ----- 
>         
>         
>         From: Patrick Harpole 
>         
>         
>         To: Listserve at catalina38.org 
>         
>         
>         Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 11:51 AM
>         
>         
>         Subject: [C38] hauling for bottom painting
>         
>         
>          
>         
>         
>         When hauling Catalina 38 for bottom painting is there a
>         “special” way to place the vessel so it doesn’t get a “smile”
>         injury to its hull?
>         
>         Patrick Harpole
>         
>          
>         
>                                        
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