Hull to keel joint

[BigLes]

Having inspected the underside of my trusty Jaguar 25 I've noticed that the joint between hull and keels (bilge keeler) is looking a little worst for wear. So before I antifoul I want to clean out the filling without loosening the keel bolts.

What is the best product to use to refil the join - something that is OK immersed in water and can be primed and overcoated with antifoul. I thought therewas some sort of 'putty' filler that could be faired into the joint.

Any help would be appreciated.

Les

 

[oldsaltoz]

G’day BigLes.
Just about any Polysulphide should do the trick. It will stick to just about anything, including, steel, fibreglass, PVC, timber and glass to name a few. Can be used above and below the water line.
Don’t use it near plastic it will soften it. Boat Life is a distributor of Life Calk, it should last several years. Just look for Polysulphide on the tube and you have the right stuff.

Avagoodweekend Old Salt Oz……

 

[vyv_cox]

The problem with this job is that the gap between hull and keel increases greatly when the weight of the keel is hanging from the boat. Filling the gap when the boat is standing on the keel will almost certainly not be effective. Even the most elastic of fillers, and as suggested, polysulphide would also be my choice and it does have reasonable elasticity, cannot be expected to retain adhesion to both keel and hull when subjected to a gap increase of three or four hundred percent. You really need to do this job with the boat hanging in the hoist slings. Even then, getting the internal surfaces clean and dry may be a difficult task.

 

[jfkal]

In theory yes. Practical it does not work. I tried. Cleaned all the old sealer. Primed and Sikaflexed. Sorry to say but the keel has to come off and a proper job been done. Drying,Cleaning, priming sealing

 

[AndrewB]

Flexing keels is a common problem with older bilge keelers. If that's the case, its unlikely any filler will last long, and in the interests of hull integrity you don't want to let this get worse.

I'd go with polysulfide filler now, but keep careful watch this season. Any signs of further movement or water coming into the bilge and you are looking at inspecting the keel bolts and having the keels rebedded. Sorry, but its a big job.

 

[BigLes]

I don't think the keels are about to fall off, it's just where the boat has been kept on a drying mooring and sunk into the mud the area around the join just looks a bit blistered with rust stains. Bearing in mind the keels are steel it's probably a case of a good clean-up, some sealant, primer and anti-foul. There is certainly no indication of water ingressing into the bilges. Probably a case of me wanting it to look clean and tidy before she goes back into the water!

Many thanks for the replies.

Les

 

[beneteau_305_553]

Beneteau use a Polyurethane adhesive for the keel to hull joint. I removed the keel after 12 years to replace the keel bolts as the heads were rusty and the joint was perfect.

Marine and Industrial Sealants 01692 538263 supplied the PU adhesive/sealant

I primed the keel with zinc rich paint after removing all rust
Dont paint over the sealant till it's fully cured.
Use liquid soap or shampoo not water to smooth off.

Richard

 

[oldharry]

I think you are probably right in your analysis of what has gone wrong, BigLes - there is huge pressure on the splayed bilge keels when the boat goes down into the mud each tide, and inevitably after a while things start to move. More on some boats than others. Westerley Centaurs for example with their widely splayed keels are very prone to this problem.

First job therefore if you are not going to drop the keels off (and you dont want a big job like that this end of the season!) is to get to the nuts on the keel bolts and retighten them with a large wrench. Slack each one off a quarter turn to break any corrosion, then tighten down hard. This should eliminate most of the movement so that your Polyurethane sealer has a chance to stay put. Check carefully once afloat for any signs of weeping or leakage round the keel bolts inside. If seawater is getting in then its a keel off and re-bed job next winter I'm afraid. If there are rust streaks running from this joint, then this does not bode too well as it means the sealer may have failed internally, and leaks and corrosion of the keel bolts are likely to develop in the not too distant future. Check too whether there is any sign of failure in the bonding of the bulkheads and any other reinforcement in the vicinity of the keels. Any movement or failure needs to be dealt with promptly, as the structural integrity of the hull engineering would be compromised.

 

[PeterGibbs]

Are there any signs of movement between keel and hull? If so have it professsionally repaired. This joint has to be rock hard or water will ingress the hull structure and the cost of repair will be severe.

The second test is whether there are rust stains coming off any of the keel bolts in the bilge. If so, the above solution applies.

There is nothing you can do to repair the keel / hull joint effectively (ref Vyv above) by squeezing some goop along the joint. The Keels and hull have to be separated, cleanded and rebedded.

Having said that, a lot of boats have an untidy margin between keels and hull; this alone is not a reason for all the above work. Just tidying up the area and repainting is about as good as you will get it without lifting out and separating the keels.

Keels are not the cosmetically most endearing part of our possessions, in any event!

PWG