On 2008-06-08 13:06:28 -0400, "Wilbur Hubbard"
said:

Consider the world famous Capt. Neal's blue water Coronado 27, for
example. It has an external, bolted-on, cast iron keel but it has an
added feature few or no other sailboats seem to have - there is a large
rectangular keel flange on the top of the keel that fits tightly into a
same-shape cassette in the bottom of the boat. The entire keel at the
factory was covered with several layers of epoxy resin to seal out
moisture, the top part that fits into the cassette was covered with
marine epoxy glue and bolted down tightly to the hull. The excess epoxy
that oozed out was ground away and faired. Even if the keel bolts
rusted completely away the keel is effectively part of the hull being
epoxied into the cassette. And, a hard grounding will not tend to tear
the keel off the hull.

An alternative that I prefer holds Xan's keel on, the 1972 version of
5200. Some Tanzers have tried to drop their keel and found that the
caulk was very tenacious. No bolts, but the danged thing still wouldn't
drop off without extreme persuasion.

The problem with epoxy is that it has little flex, so the difference in
expansion/contraction between the metal keel and fiberglass hull will
create a break over the decades.

We also got barrier-coated 16 seasons back. Worked pretty well for most
of that time, but it's now pretty much failed. As someone else
mentioned, I wish I'd had a resource such as this back then. Epoxy and
barrier-coating are not water PROOF, but strongly water-resistant.
Where water wants to go, it will reach eventually. Rust will follow
unless the steel/iron has been properly protected.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/