"Dave" wrote in message

I'm not at all sure that glassing the iron in as some boats do is the
answer, since if you do get salt water penetrating to the keel the iron
rusts and expands, creating its own problems.

There are pros and cons for encapsulation, but suffice it to say that any
keel can develop problems if improperly maintained or grounded roughly.

We once considered buying a Hallberg Rassey Rasmus 35, but passed when we
noted a breach in the keel-encapsulating fiberglass which was constantly
seeping rusty water. I doubt if there's any fix for that sort of problem,
short of removing all the glass and re-encapsulating the keel, which would
cost more than the boat was worth.

Max