bilge keels on a colvic atlanta 31

[spidy]

im on a drying mooring and when the tide goes out she heels right over to on e side or the other,im toying with the idear of extending the bilge keels to 1inch shorter than the main keel. any body got any idears as how to exrend them, Ive thought about wood then glassing them on, but im in need of your experts.... advice. The keels are filled with foam and the tops are a bit inexcessable. My old boat a IP24 had triple keels which are about the same lengh sat upright on the mooring. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Caer Urfa]

I spent many months looking at Colvics when I was shopping last year for my present boat.
Many Colvics have bilge keels and you do not say how long your bilge keels are,most are made from steel due to the weight of the boat so wood may be "iffy" as a 31' is a heavy boat
What are you existing bilge keels made of? are they stainless or mild steel?,you should not mix the steels stay with one type or the other.
If they are wood then Iroko may be good but needs to be protected well, and maybe glassed after??
You also might try the Colvic owners club site for good advise/info
Good luck

 

[Csail]

I have a Colvic Atlanta (but long keel) I would leave them because there is probably a very good reason why they are slightly shorter!

 

[spidy]

the keels are fiberglass and hollow .They are 5" shorter than the main keel, thats why she heels over and pushes the keel right down in the sand.

 

[jaycee]

hello,i agree with other posts,i would advise to leave well alone.any extensions to the existing bilges would have to cope with massive pressure on a boat disp.over 7 ton.