Encapsulated keel

[porth]

My 28 year old boat has en encapsulated keel. Small areas of metal show through in a couple of places on one side of the keel, as if someone has been over keen with a sanding machine at some time in the past. Should these areas be recovered with glassfibre or is it ok to prime them and antifoul as usual?
I have also removed the inboard and replaced with an outboard. The old shaft is currently still in place until I lift the boat at Easter. What do I stop the hole with? What about anode protection afterwards? (currently anode on the shaft). How about an anode screwed to the keel?
Thanks for any info!

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[Avocet]

I think the ballast showing through the side of the hull might be a serious problem. Our boat has an encapsulated keel and I think that if water got round it, it would permanently saturate both sides of the laminate (inside and outside). This might lead to osmosis problems in the future. I think I'd be inclined to enlist the help of a surveyor familiar with this sort of design. I guess you'd have to dry it out for a long time (a season maybe!) and then re-laminate - assuming the surrounding laminate is dry enough. I've a feeling you won't get a good bond if the surrounding GRP is saturated.

As far as blocking the stern tube goes, do you want to do it permanently (in which case you may as well take the whole lot out and glass the hole up) or do you want the option of refitting the inboard (in which case, i'd be inclined to use the old shaft - if it was a good fit and the stern gland was tight.

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