Any guess on whether it will last a few trips out on the Lake this
summer? :)

joeb wrote:
Any guess on whether it will last a few trips out on the Lake this
summer? :)

*NOT* if its an ablative antifouling :-(
OTOH as long as the keel is fully sealed at the top, what are the
consequences of it loosening a bit and leaking some? It isnt going to
come right off as the side was ground back and the bottom should be
fairly well interlocked with the rough edges of the original hole. You
know the encapsulated ballast is cast lead so no corrosion issues and
the only remaining problem is frost damage. This just isn't going to
happen as long as you remain afloat in *FRESH* water and as long as
after hauling out, you drill some drainage holes to let the keel dry out
(worth doing anyway before reworking the repair next winter) *BEFORE*
its exposed to any frost. IMHO go sailing while you can, additional
damage & expense will be negligable. YMMV
--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:
'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Early 60's, Uffa Fox designed,
All varnished hot moulded wooden racing dinghy.

That's what I wanted to hear. Thanks for the advice. Last time I went
out, when I put the hole in it, I didn't have a bilge pump so I had to
bail water by hand. This time, I'll bring a pump.

joeb wrote:
That's what I wanted to hear. Thanks for the advice. Last time I went
out, when I put the hole in it, I didn't have a bilge pump so I had to
bail water by hand. This time, I'll bring a pump.

Are you trying to tell me the top of the keel is NOT sealed and any
water that gets in there goes into your bilge? If so, DONT put her back
in till you've made SURE the patch cant leak.

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:
'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Early 60's, Uffa Fox designed,
All varnished hot moulded wooden racing dinghy.

The top of the keel is definitely not sealed. When I put the hole in
the bottom of the keel, I took on about 4 inches of water in the cabin
before making it back to shore.

joeb wrote:
The top of the keel is definitely not sealed. When I put the hole in
the bottom of the keel, I took on about 4 inches of water in the cabin
before making it back to shore.

Well I'd be glassing an extra layer on the bottom, washing with water
first to remove any amine blush, drying then wiping down with methylated
spirits or acetone to get the last of the water off, then filing back
the previous patch and the paint around it with a coarse wood rasp to
get a clean keyed surface, then brushing all the dust off, solvent
wiping it twice, celulose thinners then acetone then glassing it with 2
layers of cloth, wetted out on a polythene sheet on the bench using
epoxy thickened with collodial silica till it will hold a peak like
merange mix applied onto more of the thickened epoxy, smooth out any
bubbles and the polythene sheet should be held on till it sets with duct
tape. Then I could sleep at night if she's kept afloat for the rest of
the season. It would STILL want grinding back properly in the winter.

At the moment all that is keeping the water out is epoxy on top of paint
*WHICH IS DESIGNED* TO SLOWLY COME OFF UNDERWATER. :-(


--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:
'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Early 60's, Uffa Fox designed,
All varnished hot moulded wooden racing dinghy.

It depends.

Did you grind off all the gelcoat where the new fiberglass went? Did you use
epoxy resin? (it has much better secondary bonding than polyester and is
recommended for high load areas, and a keel is potentially a high load area)
Did you taper your laminate schedule so as to not create a stress riser?
Did use a proper type and layers of fiberglass for the loads expected in that
area?
Did you allow sufficient overlap between old and new glass?
Did you properly clean the areas to be glassed using correct types of solvents
and proper techniques? (old mold release compound really interferes with bonding
and can last for many years. Sanding does not remove it, but merely pushes it
into scratches.)

If you answered yes to every question, you are most probably OK.
If you answered no or 'I don't know' to any one of them, then you may have
issues in the future.

The rule of thumb is at a minimum to match the original laminate schedule and to
join old glass to new with a 10 to 1 scarf. A high speed angle grinder,
respirator (not a dust mask), and tyvek coveralls are your friend in repairing
fiberglass.


JJ


On 25 Jul 2005 15:41:51 -0700, "joeb" wrote:

Hello. I was hoping that I could get some advice on repairing
fiberglass on a damaged keel. I was out on Lake Erie and lost my engine
and ended up slamming into the breakwall a few times before getting a
tow. It put a 1"x3" hole in the side of my keel. I've read up on
fiberglass repair, including the book "The Fiberglass Boat Repair
Manual."

My question is this... The flat bottom of the keel was not very
accessible, so I just wrapped the fiberglass around and under the keel.
Is this going to cause me any long term problems? Ideally, I would've
ground out around the bottom like I did the top, but I just couldn't
get access without lifting the boat off the trailer.

----------------------------------|
\ (keel) /
\ /
\--------|xxxxx|-----/

(damaged area is the xxxx's)

The boat is old and cosmetics aren't important. I just want a sound,
safe repair. I've applied about 5-6 layers of 6 oz. fiberglass cloth
w/Mas Resin & Fast Hardner. I'd rather not grind it all down and start
over if it's good enough as is.

Pictures of the repair can be found @
http://csilo.com/randomphotos.aspx?f...og/boatrepair/

Thanks for your advice,
Joe

James Johnson
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