Keel repair - PICS

[zuzullo]

I just bought my first sailboat. Took it of of the water and found this big hole on the keel.

How bad does it looks? Can I fix it on my own or do I need some professional to do it?

 

[haydude]

It looks bad. Sorry. Did you not have the boat surveyed?

It looks like fiberglass where I would expect to see metal. Which means someone might have tried to hide a damaged/rusting area with a patch of epoxy and fiberglass. The split in front might be the rusting metal priming the fiberglass shell open.

The recommendation is to have the keel checked by a surveyor who should also recommend the course of action to repair.

 

[Ubergeekian]

I
The recommendation is to have the keel checked by a surveyor who should also recommend the course of action to repair.

Agreed. The key issue is going to be why this has happened, and what lurks inside.

 

[VicS]

My worry would be that there is encapsulated steel ballast in there that the seawater has now got at.

Very surprised its just hollow.

Extent of the damage and any consequential problems need careful investigation.

The visible damage wont be to difficult to repair with glass and epoxy but it'll have to be cut back to sound material first.

is that the front end?

 

[dylanwinter]

fixing a hole where the rain gets in

I holed the slug last summer

but fortunately could get to both the inside and the outside of the hole

filling it was fairly simple in the end

vlogs 74 to 79

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/category/2010-season/

D

 

[30boat]

Don't worry,everything is fixable.Why is there a hollow I would ask?How deep is it?When you knock around the area with a ballpein hammer can you feel where the ballast is located.?t could be that the casting was flawed and didn't extend to the corner of the moulding.
When you scrape inside does rust come out?Try poking hard with a metal rod and also look inside with a light.
The fiberglass repair is quite straightforward but everything must be thoroughly dry before you start it.

 

[nimbusgb]

With a hole that big if the keel had been filled with scrap it may all have fallen out!

 

[Tranona]

You need to find out how it is constructed. The ballast could be either steel such as steel punchings set in resin or a casting dropped into the cavity and the gaps filled with a resin mix. The split suggests that the boat has hit something very hard. If the ballast is steel then water could have got in, in which case it could all go rusty and split the keel moulding open. If it has an iron casting, there may still be rust, if lead then that bit should be OK.

The impact could, however have caused more extensive damage to the structure of the boat and you may find the cost of repairs if done professionally, exceeds the value of the boat. Definitely a job for a good surveyor to advise on the extent of the damage and the repairs needed.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Dont worry. As one boatbuilder said to me " with the exception of fire damage, glassfibre is infinitely repairable". And it is.

I would quite happily tackle that DIY. You need the boat clear of the ground in a cradle and then to grind off the full surface of the keel to see if the damage has spread. Cut back to solid grp and feather edges. You also need to find out what the ballast inside the keel is - if its lead, you are lucky and it wont have spoiled. If it is steel punchings, then ideally you need to empty it all out because it will be salt encrusted and rusty and is better scrapped and replaced.

Then you need to work out if you can access the top of the keel from inside the boat which most likely you can. Be prepared to cut away that access because you need to clean the inside of the keel from inside and be able to laminate from inside.

Thereafter its a simple job of forming a simple mould round the outside of the damaged keel and laminating with epoxy and woven cloth from the inside. Replace ballast with new. bed it in with resin. Top off the keel and maybe fit a keel shoe to the outside.

Sure its a lot of work but as a DIY project it is economic. No doubt what proves necessary will be different from my description and could be simpler - it all depends on the state of the boat and its design. As a boatyard project you might find it costs more than the boat.

 

[vyv_cox]

It's difficult to tell in the photograph but the keel appears to be bolted on. I had a boat like this - the keel was cast iron and encapsulated in grp. Damage to mine, not done by me, looked similar to yours but the keel was visible beneath the glass. Repair was very easy. You need to tell us what happens if you stick a rod into the hole. Is there a solid keel there, some rusty blobs of metal or nothing?

 

[Spyro]

I would get a reputable boat builder have a look at it and give their opinion. They'll also be able to give you a quote for repair and you won't have wasted your money on a surveyor to tell you what the very knowledgable people on here have already told you.

 

[Dave100456]

Fear not. It can be repaired and will be a good introduction for you into GRP techniques. The boat was presumably floating before you "took her out of the water" so you can't make things worse by having a go. Seek expert advice, best to expose right back to see the extent of the repair needed. Scarf well to 'spread structral srtrength' along the join of old and new GRP as well as ensuring a large bond area. It looks to me as if the damage may have been caused by repeated groundings - more wear than one impact but it's difficult to be certain withouit seeing it in the flesh.
Good luck.

 

[simonfraser]

Dry it
Grind it back
Repair hole
Go sailing
By the time your repair may have failed you'll have sold her

 

[Grajan]

When I bought my Cox Motorsailer one of the bilge keels looked like your Keel( bought on spec so no come back)
I washed it out with fresh water blew it out with compressed air Ground back to solid and dried with an infrared heater /hairdryer.
there was a minimal amount of ballast missing so I roughly filled the area (maybe two fists full) with a dough mix made up with chopped up mat and epoxy resin, just be careful when doing this and take advice from the resin supplier otherwise you will have a fire on your hands due to the exothermic build up from the mass of resin. then when cured, faired of and ground back a section of the keel so as I could laminate two layers of woven rovings renewing the encapsulation, filled and faired the laminated area and primed with epoxy primer before completing the job with a coat of antifoul

 

[contessaman]

dont panic,

first of all buy this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiberglass-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1306879584&sr=8-1

its will guide you through what to check and how to repair.

your biggest repair effort will be if the grp has come away from the metal. you wil need to drill drain holes to dry it then syringe inject epoxy.

also, as it looks like she's been run hard aground you need to check the keel attachment and support matrix for stressing. this would be my worry.

good luck with your repairs!

 

[William_H]

Keel damage

It looks to me like it is the front bottom of the keel. The classic arrival point if you hit a rock at speed.

As said it is important that you understand the construction of the inside of the keel. I don't think it is expansion from corrosion of iron ballast. I reckon it is collision damage.

My keel is very similar shaped although it is a vertical lifting CB weighing 100kg. It is a fibreglass molding with lead slabs glued inside. Mine has had several episodes of hitting reefs. The damage looked very similar to yours. It is no problem to fix. As said you grind away all damaged fibreglass. You fill it with resin and glass. There is a type with fibreglass threads in the resin. Or you can cut small pieces of fibregllass to add in layers. Epoxy resin is best for its adhesion to the old fibreglass. It is best to do the repair in stages allowing the resin to harden before adding more. Final finish can be done with a filler like microballons or talc.

You should do the job yourself. It will take away fear of crashing onto a reef again. If the problem is caused by expanding corroding steel etc then there will be no great loss if you have to do it again because it has split. In my experience there is not a proper fix for all time just a repair until the next time it is damaged. good luck olewill

 

[30boat]

If you fill the void with resin and glass do it in stages.The heat generated in case you don't can start a fire.There are special casting resins for this purpose but for a small job you probably won't need them.Unless the space to fill is large.

 

[sighmoon]

If you fill the void with resin and glass do it in stages.The heat generated in case you don't can start a fire.There are special casting resins for this purpose but for a small job you probably won't need them.Unless the space to fill is large.

I'm no expert,, but I'd have thoguht the void should be filled with ballast (lead or iron) rather than resin?

 

[bobgoode]

It's bad...it's not that bad...think about the boat upside down in the Solent last weekend....that will get repaired.

Cost a lot to get a yard to fix it. Do it yourself and you will learn a lot on the way. Follow the advice here. Cut away to see what's in there. Reinforce and fill and then go sailing. If you have not glassed before...buy the recommended book and have a go.

Oh yes and take lots of picture, write it up and send it to a sailing mag...you might get some money for the story.

 

[30boat]

I'm no expert,, but I'd have thoguht the void should be filled with ballast (lead or iron) rather than resin?

I meant resin mixed with ballast.