Hull repair

[Edbond07]

Hello*

Ive just bought a 25ft contest sailing boat, it needs a fair amount of work doing and as I'm new to the sailing communitt id be really grateful for some advice*

On inspection of the hull she has peeled several layers of paint, in some areas showing the fibreglass. My plan is to sand right back to the fibreglass on the entire bottom side, lots of work I know.

My main question is around re-sealing the hull once ive done this. I've read up about gel coat, but I dont think thats suitable in this case. Would I be right in thinking that a few coats of epoxy resin on the entire hull as well as some paint would do the job sufficiently?*

Another potential problem I've spotted is that joint between the keel and the hull is visible. It doesnt look a major issue, almost looks like it should be that way, but once sanded back would it be safer to fill with some epoxy putty before the resin and paint?*

Any help would be hugely appreciated!*

Kind regards,
Ed

[tkeithlu]

Welcome to the forum, Ed. Let's deal with the structural question first. I can't see it in a glance at your photos, but a crack at the hull/keel is possible impact damge from a grounding. If so, it needs to be diagnosed by a pro by inspection, and probably both stop drilled and reinforced. The ends of a crack like that are stress concentrators, so if they are not taken care of, a lesser hit in the future will propagate the crack, with potentially disasterous consequences, like "What the !@#$ happened to my keel."

Not meant to scare you, but that sucker does need attention before you go farther.

Your sanding should remove paint, not gelcoat. Then you treat/prime according to the instructions of the paint manufacturer (no cutting corners here, adhesion is the issue).

Go for it.

[Edbond07]

Thank you for your reply, I think it's fair to say I planned on a cover up job and ignoring it if possible, but I may well get someone to come and have a look at It for me.

I'll upload a few more photos, would it give you cause for concern if your boat had a keel like this?

[Edbond07]

Here are some more photos

[Discovery 15797]

Originally Posted by Edbond07

I'll upload a few more photos, would it give you cause for concern if your boat had a keel like this?

Short answer....YES!

I am not familiar with this particular boat; however, your hull / keel joint should not be exposed as shown in the photos.

This doesn't appear to be caused by a grounding which is usually a crack...not the entire hull/keel joint being exposed unless the grounding also caused extreme lateral movement.

Do you have access to the keel bolts in your bilge?

[Edbond07]

Yes I do have access, i dont have a photo to hand but it does look all in order. I've been advised by the previous owner that this is due to the yard using a powerful jet wash, thus exposing the join line, whether I believe that or not I dont know

I'm relatively happy that the keel is properly joined, there is no water coming through into the bilge, it's just a case of wondering what that awful join line is there for?!

[Edbond07]

I'll be sanding it right back soon so will have better access to see what's going on, I'm hoping it's a simple case of poor maintenance, as you can see the hull is in pretty bad shape in general! If that's the case I will repair what I can and seal

[tkeithlu]

What happens when you push on the side of your keel, within the bounds of not knocking the boat off its mounts? What happens when you try to take up a thread on the keel bolts? Are they torqued to specification? For that size bolt/nut, if the boat manual doesn't say. What if the PO thinks that was what happened, and actually it got bent by a clumsy travel hoist operator on take out?

I hope you are absolutley right and a little chauk is all you need. But, determining that there is/is not a problem (Could you come look at my keel?) will not be expensive, and the consequence if you are wrong could be horrible.

[Edbond07]

So I took what you said onboard and decided it's best to speak to a professional!

I asked him to arrange to come and survey my boat, sent him the above pictures and he asked me to call him as a result.

Really nice guy said it's not something to be concerned about, be aware of it but not concerned. He said back in the 70's they would have used some form of putty to seal the hull and the keel and over the years it has come out revealing the joint.

For those in the same position he said to be I need to thoroughly inspect the bolts holding the keel in, knock them with a hammer to check that they're in safely and securely and look for signs of rust.

He also said to use my body weight to see if the keel moves at all as well as to look down onto the keel from the bow of the boat to check that it is straight.

To conclude the man said that this is mainly an aesthetic thing, and assuming there is no warping, rusted bolts or signs of water getting in then there is nothing to worry about

Huge relief for me, however I will proceed with caution and ensure I check it properly before I cover it in epoxy and paint!

[Edbond07]

[SwellGuy]

You can't tell the condition of a keel bolt by looking at it from the bilge. I'd pull one for inspection if you are lucky enough to have actual bolts and not studs that are cast into the keel.

What material is the keel? What material are the bolts?

If it's a lead keel and bronze keel bolts, you are in luck. Probably everything is OK. Still, torque them. You can use a generic torque spec based on the material and shaft diameter, but you've gotta make sure you have more than some flimsy fender washer spreading the load so you don't end up crushing your hull with the tension.

I once had a small boat with a cast iron keel and steel bolts. They looked rusty but OK in the bilge. I pulled one to check on it and where the bolt passed through the hull about 75% of the material was gone, no exaggeration. I replaced them one by one and most of them looked the same.

[JPA Cate]

We had a boat that we had to re-caulk the keel to hull join each time we hauled. So, what the PO said, may be true.

My suggestion would be to go ahead and remove all the old paint, and really clean things up. At that point, you may be better able to see (and photograph) what is going on there.

There's no point in worrying yet.

Do you know what the keel material is? Lead? Steel? As suggested above, what you expect to encounter later on may be affected by that.

Ann

[boatpoker]

Not chance in hades you are going to move that keel by pushing if it's in a cradle, even if the kel bolts are completely wasted. It must hang in the slings for that test.

The photo below shows one that could be moved 4" side to side but appeared rock solid in the cradle.

[CHM]

I had my keel sandblasted clean to assure its integrity then barrier coated and painted. I replaced the keel bolts myself. Not a big deal with the right tools.

[barnakiel]

I will say the joint looks about as it does on many boats this age. Impossible to say how much work it needs without inspecting close during lifting and drying.


Are the ballast bolts inside clean and rust-free? If they are, the repair may only be an external job - new caulking, epoxy, etc.


If they are rusty, you have a riddle.


b.