Leaking bilge keels, update

[Saddletramp]

Thanks to advice from forumites I located the problem in my leaking bilge keels on my Mac 26. It was as suggested a puncture, about 1/2 " across on the corner of the base of the keels. Water was working up through the encapsulated ballast. I suspect it had been going on from a long time as there was evidence of filler inside. Epoxy putty ( 7 quid) did the trick for now.

The gel coat has worn off the base of the keels so it will have a wooden shoes fitted as advised. The surveyor had advised that I fill voids in the keel with foam to avoid frost damage. They would not have shown as being wet as the boat had been out of the water for 18 months prior to purchase.

Thanks to all concerned. Here's a pint

/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[AndrewB]

Good to hear it wasn't too serious. If you can let the keel drain for a while, that would help.

 

[William_H]

You might consider putting extra layers of fibreglass over the bottom of the keel using epoxy. However if you can find it kevlar will be a lot tougher. Hint get the supplier to cut it to size for you. I have some kevlar but so far havn't found anything that will cut it. I have pulled the strands out and found them very usefull. Anyone got any ideas? olewill

 

[misterg]

[ QUOTE ]
I have some kevlar but so far havn't found anything that will cut it...{snip}... Anyone got any ideas?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's amazing how hard the stuff is to cut, isn't it?

The top one on this page work well on heavy knitted kevlar, so should be fine for woven cloth. (I've had good experience with CFS, but you'll probably want to find a local supplier, though /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif)


Andy

 

[William_H]

Thanks Andy for the link. I actually went out to the shed to try the Kevlar again. I had an old pair of scissors which I dismantled and sharpened them with an oil stone. I reassembled them extra tight so that I could hardly operate them. They seemed then to be able to kind of hack the kevlar into useful small strands that I need. (but even then mostly not cutting)

I have a tackle for the main sheet with cam cleats mounted on the side of the cockpit. People in using the traveller pull the rope over the edge of the Combing and have worn a groove each side. I have filled it with polyester resin each winter for some years. I thought I might be able to toughen it up with a bit of kevlar in the grooves. Hence I cut the kevlar into about 2cm strands. My concern is that the kevlar will be exposed almost immediately by the wear but still nothing to lose. Thanks again olewill