Fitting wooden 'shoes' to a Macwester 26

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Freshbreeze

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Hi Guys and Gals,

I am coming out the water tomorrow for referb, and I have had a thought I would like some opinions on.

The idea I have is to fit some wooden 'shoes' to the bottom of the Keels and Skeg on my Macwester 26. The shoes will be the same size (surface area) as the bottom of my keels and skeg. I am thinking of epoxying these in place.

The idea behind this is that the shoes will help protect my fiberglass keels from dents from rocks etc (although I have NO intention of drying out on rocks!), thus preventing any more damage to the keels that I have got to renovate (they have got a few small chunks that have been taken out through years of abuse by previous owners).

What does the board say to this idea, or does anyone have better suggestions? My budget is very tight, hence the wood idea.
 
Freshbreeze said:
Hi Guys and Gals,

I am coming out the water tomorrow for referb, and I have had a thought I would like some opinions on.

The idea I have is to fit some wooden 'shoes' to the bottom of the Keels and Skeg on my Macwester 26. The shoes will be the same size (surface area) as the bottom of my keels and skeg. I am thinking of epoxying these in place.

The idea behind this is that the shoes will help protect my fiberglass keels from dents from rocks etc (although I have NO intention of drying out on rocks!), thus preventing any more damage to the keels that I have got to renovate (they have got a few small chunks that have been taken out through years of abuse by previous owners).

What does the board say to this idea, or does anyone have better suggestions? My budget is very tight, hence the wood idea.
Click to expand...

So after 40 years built as she is you want to redesign her :rolleyes:.
fill ant dents / dings with 2 part Hemple underwater epoxy or the like
do a normal re-fit & go sailing :cool:
 
Good idea if you have a drying mooring, or are in the habit of running aground :o

I've known it done to a Westerly bilge-keeler, but not with epoxy. The problem with large batches of epoxy is its very short working life once you mix it.

The Westerly owner made the 'shoes' out of Iroko, coated the top liberally with Sikaflex and lowered the boat onto the shoe. The shoes were not full length so he was able to use two jacks; one at the forward and one at the aft end of the keel. One keel at a time of course.

Can't remember which Sikaflex was used back then. I think 292 would be the best bet today.
 
You may not intend drying on rocks, but sand & mud will often contain rocks of varying sizes. Small ones just get pushed deeper into the mud/sand, bigger ones might be a problem. I'm lucky, SR has cast iron keels, but even they have the odd chip after 38 years.

Your shoes won't last long & may slow you down a bit (not a key issue for a Macwester 26, I guess!) but as a disposable/ renewable protection it should work, but may need at least one replacing each year! A more permanent solution might be S/S plates with the edges turned up a bit & epoxied in place.
 
Thanks for the ideas!

I agree with the idea of using sikaflex - I have know boats that seem to be 'held' together with the stuff!

As for the S/S plates, that is more of a long term investment, which does make sense - the problem is the cost!

Thanks for the idea of jacking up the keels fore/aft - I may go for that option when I go ahead (and if!)

Thanks again
 
I've thought about doing this on Jissel. I had to rebuild the bottoms of the (vertical, encapsualated) keels a few years ago and would prefer not to have to do it again. I've been wondering about making them twice the width of the keels or a bit more to have an overlap of around 3 inches on the outboard side, in the hope of improving the keels' grip on the water when heeled.

Is there likely to be any benefit?

Also, She lives on a drying mooring in soft mud. Would sinking into the mud & pulling out again twice a day just rip the plates off or cause any other damage?
 
You can mould shoes out of GRP and stick them on with Sikaflex. Just make a male mould the same shape as the bottom of the keel and laminate over it.

However, doubt it is really necessary unless you are experiencing significant wear.
 
My father, then I had a MacWester 26 for years in IOM. We dried out a lot, accidentally as well as on purpose. Keel repairs were a regular requirement.

I would strongly suggest you don't bother with wood. It doesn't last! Also, unless you use a thick length of hard wood, it may well break on stones as Searush said.

You do need it to go to the ends as they are the most vulnerable. The one from grounding, even slowly, and the other because it is more pointed and therefore weaker.

If you can manage it, you need stainless steel, fabricated as a channel, with the front ends turned up a short distance and lots of Sikaflex (or the better newer stuff, name forgotten). We found fixing screws got planed off, or driven into the keels, or bent and did damage. But well recessed ones would be ok.

(I have done the same on my present cat, and it has been well worth while.)

Hope that helps

Mike
 
dmmbruce said:
My father, then I had a MacWester 26 for years in IOM. We dried out a lot, accidentally as well as on purpose. Keel repairs were a regular requirement.

I would strongly suggest you don't bother with wood. It doesn't last! Also, unless you use a thick length of hard wood, it may well break on stones as Searush said.

You do need it to go to the ends as they are the most vulnerable. The one from grounding, even slowly, and the other because it is more pointed and therefore weaker.

If you can manage it, you need stainless steel, fabricated as a channel, with the front ends turned up a short distance and lots of Sikaflex (or the better newer stuff, name forgotten). We found fixing screws got planed off, or driven into the keels, or bent and did damage. But well recessed ones would be ok.

(I have done the same on my present cat, and it has been well worth while.)

Hope that helps

Mike
Click to expand...

Mike,

I had been thinking about the possible problem of the wood breaking - hence this thread.

Before I can even think of making or fitting shoes, I need the sand, fill, smooth, and prime the keels - and I feel it may be better if I stick to repairing the keels as-and-when, which makes sense as I am reasonably handy with filling and glassing!

Any opinions from anyone else? Should I just repair, or should I fit some shoes? Metal ones are out-of-budget - otherwise that is what I would be doing.

Cheers
 
Some years ago, needing a new bow fitting & not finding anything available that was strong enough or cheap enough, I went to a S/S fabricator & sellected some scrap bits from his skip for a few quid. I made a template out of card & hand cut the s/s to shape for welding. I then got them welded up & had a really strong, bespoke design for a mere song & a fair bit of graft.

Check out scrap yards for the metal too. But don't buy the stuff new!
 
Searush said:
Some years ago, needing a new bow fitting & not finding anything available that was strong enough or cheap enough, I went to a S/S fabricator & sellected some scrap bits from his skip for a few quid. I made a template out of card & hand cut the s/s to shape for welding. I then got them welded up & had a really strong, bespoke design for a mere song & a fair bit of graft.

Check out scrap yards for the metal too. But don't buy the stuff new!
Click to expand...

I have done this in the past, and sometimes possible to get stuff for free - must have been lucky those times!

Will have to check out the local scrap yard for larger sheets.

What mm thickness would you recommend for the keels?

Cheers
 
Steel shoes are the usual modification for a M26. The Macwester Owners Association publishes details for such shoes designed by CJ Roy.
 
I have a Macwester Wight and the keels do wear out, but I don't think there is a need to repair them, unless you have big chunks missing. It would be nice to have the bottoms covered with S/S plates, but where do you stop? just carry on sailing, the keels can not drop off and can not leak because they are encapsulated; so what is the problem?
 
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