Dear Thom

If properly designed there is no problem with bolting keels on. Bolting
an external deep keel on has several advantages for construction,
transportation etc. It can also save costs by placing the tensile load
on bolts whose quality and later state of health is more easily
determined than that of the hull skin -which would have to cover the
entire surface of the fin to carry the weight in the keel. Getting the
lead inside the fin might be a problem too.. This is less of an issue
for small boats where ballast weights are more modest. Finally, and
perhaps most important, the solution you prefer would require the fin to
be laid up in halves (being a long thin structure) and the bonding of
those halves would be very wasteful of material and not a good
structural solution as the joint would be a 'weak point'.

Cheers MC

Thom Stewart wrote:

Oz,

Are you sure about bolting to a stub?
I almost didn't buy my present boat because it had no visable keel
bolts. I assumed they were buryed. Being use the doing all the
maintenance on the leaking keel bolts I wasn't sure of how to take care
of the problem. My Broker laughed at me. He said my keel will never have
bolt leaks because the whole keel is part of the hull. The light finally
went on.

Keels shouldn't be bolted to fibre Glass. It is a method that was
carried over from wooded construction. When a keel bolt works on
fibreglass there is no recovery and it will only get worse until you do
maintenance. Schooner Trash can confirm this. I know it. It is a
fault racers put up with to have the option of changing keels.

OT