Cracked skeg

J

Joeyog

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Hi, please can you help: I have a Leisure 17 SL bilge keel sailboat. I’m not sure what, if anything happened, but there is a long crack just below the joint of the skeg. There is some movement in it when I push on it. Is it possible to repair do you think? Thanks in advance7AAF244B-359B-49AC-BA9A-EAC232823D45.jpeg
 
From the photo it looks like its the skeg moving not the hull. As previously said, check inside the boat whilst moving the skeg and see what is moving. It looks like the skeg is bolted on so maybe just needs tightening but I'd be thinking why is it loose? Given the current climate and not being able to use the boat I'd probably drop the skeg anyway if there was nothing obvious and have a good look at the laminate in the hull. Then I would know I had got to the root of the problem. Look on the bright side, given you've got access to the boat and you can work on it, it'll keep you from getting bored at home.
I wish I had access to my boat, lots of things to fettle and she's there and I'm here.
 
Boathook said:
Is the skeg bolted in place? Also worth getting someone to 'move' the skeg whilst you look inside the boat to see what is moving there.
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Yes, it’s got three bolts inside, they’re firm when moved from the outside. It’s only the fibreglass below the crack which moves when I push
 
greeny said:
From the photo it looks like its the skeg moving not the hull. As previously said, check inside the boat whilst moving the skeg and see what is moving. It looks like the skeg is bolted on so maybe just needs tightening but I'd be thinking why is it loose? Given the current climate and not being able to use the boat I'd probably drop the skeg anyway if there was nothing obvious and have a good look at the laminate in the hull. Then I would know I had got to the root of the problem. Look on the bright side, given you've got access to the boat and you can work on it, it'll keep you from getting bored at home.
I wish I had access to my boat, lots of things to fettle and she's there and I'm here.
Click to expand...
Yes, it’s just the fibreglass below the crack moving. There are bolts so I can probably get the skeg out for a look. At the moment it looks like it’s just the skeg and not the hull which is damaged. I’m not sure what happened - the harbour dries out and there were a couple of storms, so maybe a bashing around while stuck in the mud?
 
There is no history of these skegs giving trouble if its anything like the rest of the Leisure range it consists of a stainless frame inside the skeg which is bolted to the hull and the fibreglass is bonded to the frame so maybe the bonding has failed.If you havnt already done so it may be worth joining the Leisure owners association where someone with direct knowledge of the Leisure 17 may be able to advise.
 
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