bolt on keel

[fireant]

Well I'm still out there on my adventure to find a boat.
All the boats im looking for are older cause i can afford them more. Many of them have bolt on keels. I watched YouTube on how to repair the keel bolts.
But there is no way i have the time to do this job. If i have to work weekends it would be months and months. So the other choice i got is to pay someone else to do it. What a job like this might cost approximately? I just looking for a ball part figure. I got no experience to know what to compare it to.
i figure it might look good now but two years down the road i might have to do it.

At what point damage to the hull is bad? All the gel coat is gone and you can see the glass I attached the pic of the boat we looked at today.
I hope it will attach

[Rob_P]

Best thing to do is call around and ask some of the yards what they charge.

The gelcoat damage looks like something smacked the hull pretty hard. You should have someone look at that too while you're having the keel redone.

[Don C L]

A good surveyor will be able to help you with whether you have any keel bolt issues or not, and how much you can expect to pay locally probably. It's wise to get a survey no matter what. As for that scrape, I'd be more concerned about what happened on the inside. Check for bulkheads being loosened or cracked. PM me, I know a good surveyor!

[fireant]

The Columbia i looked at don't need a second opinion . keel bolts are rusted. If not now then within a year or two max it will need the keel reattached. Two of the bolts the nuts are rusted and fell of the bolts.
From looking at all those boats reading about it and learning . I'm getting better at understanding but its a steep curve.
Don I'm trying to find the right boat first before I pay to have it survey.
There is so much junk out there. Everyone has a little story / sales pitch to tell you.

[tkeithlu]

Fireant, our community (small, North Florida) is littered with boats that one look will tell you are not going to sea again. To get them back in shape will simply cost too much, either in time or money, or both.

You're looking for your first boat. That is not, as many threads on the forum have shown, the time to take on a "project" boat. They cost too much. They prevent your sailing.

Let me recommend that you look for a boat that is actively sailing, not one sitting beside someone's garage full of leaves, or moored with years of growth on the hull. Find an owner who is moving to a bigger boat. You need to go sailing, man.

[Lazerbrains]

Fireant - I see you are in my neck of the woods. My advice if you are worried about keel bolts on older boats is this: buy a boat with encapsulated ballast and never worry about keel boats ever. Around these parts, older Cals and Ericsons are plentiful - neither of these use keel bolts. Look for one of these. Columbia's are some of the worst for keel bolt problems, BTW.

[fireant]

Tkeithlu I understand that all boats need work. I dont mind a boat that need some work but i don't want to spend all my weekends working on the boat. Like you said so many boats are broken up and abused only way to find out is going there and looking at it.

Lazerbrains I missed on one cal31 and it was my stupid mistake. the very first boat i looked at and didn't know what I were doing. I still kick my self for that one.
There is one Cal 30 I looked at and is still for sale. but it has a very rough interior and an engine that almost no one ever heard of made by Grey marine. But sails and hull are in great shape.
Just cant win with one good boat.
I'm actively looking and hoping to find a nice boat.

There is an auction next month for confiscated boats and there is one 1992 catalina 34 that I'm thinking to wait for and take a look at. In the one pic of the boat it looks good.

Thanks for everyone advice and help it really helps a lot.