bumblefish
Active member
For any Elizabethan 30 owners, have you ever exposed or checked your keel bolts? Have you ever had a problem? Is it a really big job!!!!!!!????
Elizabethan 30 keel bolts
- Thread starter bumblefish
- Start date
Clyde_Wanderer
New member
Bumblefish
I have a Hummingbird 30 which was made in the E30 moulds and has an identical keel and bilge area.
There should be 10x3/4" studs with aprox 30mm nuts inside the hull.
I had the keel off in earlier this year, with no problems.
Once the nuts are evenly loosened off you should be able to raise the hull off the proped keel, or drop down the keel, which weighs 1.66ton.
It was very easy realigning the hull back up with the studs while the hull was hanging, I imagine it would be harder to align the keel if it was dropped.
The studs on mine are galvinised and were in imaculate condition.
It took 7 tubes of sikaflex to make a good 1/2" bed for the joint with loads purged in around the studs.
then leave it for a few(2-3 hrs before joining up so as not to squeeze all the sika out, and just nip up the nuts a little, then a little more after 2 more hrs, and then the same again after 1-2hrs.
Then fully tighten the next day, providing the studs are in good nick use an 24" master bar and pull until your head feels like its going to burst.
She has lay to a mooring all summer and not taken a sip of water in.
I have some pics of the keel off and the studs if you want to see them.
A good fillet of sika allpied along the keel/hull joint a few days after the bolting up is done will finnish it off nicely, like putting a ribbon around an iced birthday cake.
I have a Hummingbird 30 which was made in the E30 moulds and has an identical keel and bilge area.
There should be 10x3/4" studs with aprox 30mm nuts inside the hull.
I had the keel off in earlier this year, with no problems.
Once the nuts are evenly loosened off you should be able to raise the hull off the proped keel, or drop down the keel, which weighs 1.66ton.
It was very easy realigning the hull back up with the studs while the hull was hanging, I imagine it would be harder to align the keel if it was dropped.
The studs on mine are galvinised and were in imaculate condition.
It took 7 tubes of sikaflex to make a good 1/2" bed for the joint with loads purged in around the studs.
then leave it for a few(2-3 hrs before joining up so as not to squeeze all the sika out, and just nip up the nuts a little, then a little more after 2 more hrs, and then the same again after 1-2hrs.
Then fully tighten the next day, providing the studs are in good nick use an 24" master bar and pull until your head feels like its going to burst.
She has lay to a mooring all summer and not taken a sip of water in.
I have some pics of the keel off and the studs if you want to see them.
A good fillet of sika allpied along the keel/hull joint a few days after the bolting up is done will finnish it off nicely, like putting a ribbon around an iced birthday cake.
Clyde_Wanderer
New member
Bumblefish.
Remember the bed of sika should cover the whole keel top, not just the outer circumference.
After cleaning both hull and keel top I used a cataloy spatuls and spread a thin smear over each face to get a good bond before applying the rest of the sika.
Some pics.
More on disc, will have to copy them in .
Remember the bed of sika should cover the whole keel top, not just the outer circumference.
After cleaning both hull and keel top I used a cataloy spatuls and spread a thin smear over each face to get a good bond before applying the rest of the sika.
Some pics.
More on disc, will have to copy them in .
bumblefish
Active member
They certainly look reassuringly clean. My main problem is the amount of material over the heads of the nuts in the bilge, it took a long time just to expose one head! Did you have the same problem?
Clyde_Wanderer
New member
What kind of material are you talking about.
The two nuts, one either side of the compression post were glassed in along with the bottom of the post, but I removed the post anyway to carry out the laminating work to reinforce the hull bilge area, as I had a problem with a flexing hull because the cross floors (bulkheads) were delaminated from the hull and had to be renewed.
Oic 1 is the post removed and hull sanded ready for glassing with epoxy and cloth etc.
Pic2 some cloth cut and laid out.
Pic3 old cross floors were 2.5mm ply where these new ones (plus 4 more not done when this pic taken ) are made 35mm thick and completly glassed in unlike the old ones which were just tabbed in. and post glassed back in place, all epoxy, not polyester.
She is a whole lot stronger now.
A wood chisel and hammer will remove any glass around the nuts.
PS the green colour is just from a marker pen I used.
The two nuts, one either side of the compression post were glassed in along with the bottom of the post, but I removed the post anyway to carry out the laminating work to reinforce the hull bilge area, as I had a problem with a flexing hull because the cross floors (bulkheads) were delaminated from the hull and had to be renewed.
Oic 1 is the post removed and hull sanded ready for glassing with epoxy and cloth etc.
Pic2 some cloth cut and laid out.
Pic3 old cross floors were 2.5mm ply where these new ones (plus 4 more not done when this pic taken ) are made 35mm thick and completly glassed in unlike the old ones which were just tabbed in. and post glassed back in place, all epoxy, not polyester.
She is a whole lot stronger now.
A wood chisel and hammer will remove any glass around the nuts.
PS the green colour is just from a marker pen I used.
bumblefish
Active member
I'll get some pictures this week.
adamstjohn
Active member
Hello there, Have just found your info re keel bolts, I have a hummingbird which i am going to have to do the same thing to. All the nut heads are glassed over and appear to be in good nick-when i last had the thing surveyed 3 years ago the guy said they were good-however the front one under a small piece of floor between the loo and the sink-dont know about your layout-is pretty badly rusted. would be very interested in seeing any more pics/details you have on this.
I know of another hummingbird on the orwell, which is where i keep mine but his one is a bilge keel version other than that they are not very well known.
Anyway any info would be appreciated.
Adam
I know of another hummingbird on the orwell, which is where i keep mine but his one is a bilge keel version other than that they are not very well known.
Anyway any info would be appreciated.
Adam
Clyde_Wanderer
New member
Hi Adam.
Welcome to the forum.
I have just came back to this thread, so only now have seen your post.
Like yours the forward most nut was a bit rusty on mine, but just very slightly and hadent started flaking or anything like that.
Apart from the two nuts at the compression post none of the others were glassed over.
Are you going to drop your keel? if so just follow along the same lines I posted in replies above.
If you send me a personal mail, which you can do on this forum I will give you my email address, and we can discuss the HB30 in more detail, there arent many of them about, and apart from Henry in Ireland who I keep in touch with, and one for sale in Dunlaighr? near Dublin, and a couple I have seen for sale on some of the brokerages sites, there arent any others that I know of, Perhaps we could get an owners assocciation started.
Cheers, C_W.
Welcome to the forum.
I have just came back to this thread, so only now have seen your post.
Like yours the forward most nut was a bit rusty on mine, but just very slightly and hadent started flaking or anything like that.
Apart from the two nuts at the compression post none of the others were glassed over.
Are you going to drop your keel? if so just follow along the same lines I posted in replies above.
If you send me a personal mail, which you can do on this forum I will give you my email address, and we can discuss the HB30 in more detail, there arent many of them about, and apart from Henry in Ireland who I keep in touch with, and one for sale in Dunlaighr? near Dublin, and a couple I have seen for sale on some of the brokerages sites, there arent any others that I know of, Perhaps we could get an owners assocciation started.
Cheers, C_W.
bumblefish
Active member
I think there is another difference between H30 and E30, the E30 has a keel stepped mast, no compression post. Did you have to remove a large slab of cabin sole to get access to your bolts, I think I will have to!
Clyde_Wanderer
New member
I had to remove the cabin sole to carry out the hull reinforcement, not specifically to get at the bolts.
Can you not see in the pics where the sole is cut out and the compression post is removed.
I would advice unstepping the mast before dropping the keel, as otherwise the downward compression from the rigging tension could put a lot of unwanted strain on the hull when the keel is removed causing the hull to crack, etc.
If you can see each bolt/nut, and are able to put your hand on each one, why not just make holes in sole big enough to allow you to get a socket and extension bar onto the nut.
You could make the hole bigger and use a hole saw without its pilot drill and core the glass covering each nut, the hole saw could be, say, twice the dia of the nut.
It would then be easier to glass in each hole in the sole when you have the keel job completed.
Can you not see in the pics where the sole is cut out and the compression post is removed.
I would advice unstepping the mast before dropping the keel, as otherwise the downward compression from the rigging tension could put a lot of unwanted strain on the hull when the keel is removed causing the hull to crack, etc.
If you can see each bolt/nut, and are able to put your hand on each one, why not just make holes in sole big enough to allow you to get a socket and extension bar onto the nut.
You could make the hole bigger and use a hole saw without its pilot drill and core the glass covering each nut, the hole saw could be, say, twice the dia of the nut.
It would then be easier to glass in each hole in the sole when you have the keel job completed.
ravenqueen
New member
Re: Elizabethan 30
Hello Clyde,
I have an elizabethan 30 and I am looking to take my mast off to take it out the water. I don't see how the mast is attached. It appears to be just sitting there. How do you unstep it?
Thanks!
Bruce
Hello Clyde,
I have an elizabethan 30 and I am looking to take my mast off to take it out the water. I don't see how the mast is attached. It appears to be just sitting there. How do you unstep it?
Thanks!
Bruce
