Keel Fiberglass repair.

[dasfreeboot]

Hullo peoples,

I'm currently the new carport skipper of a 1974 venture 17 pocket cruiser that has among it's other troubles some degredation of leading edge keel fiberglass due to the roller on the trailer and a grounding or two at the toe.

My thought was (instead of going the old fiberglassing/sanding/fairing route ) to cut and fill with sandable epoxy putty THEN sand and fair to the right shape, then give the whole thing a nice coat of epoxy paint. The keel mostly looks pretty good except for the leading edge.


It's been drying out for about a decade so it's probably ready to work on.
Fortunately the keel is less than 500 pounds so it won't be too terribly difficult to do the necessary manhandling.

Sounds bad? Thoughts or comments?

Submitting this in the wrong thread/forum?

thanks in advance,

d

[knottybuoyz]

Originally Posted by dasfreeboot

My thought was (instead of going the old fiberglassing/sanding/fairing route ) to cut and fill with sandable epoxy putty THEN sand and fair to the right shape, then give the whole thing a nice coat of epoxy paint.

Hullo Das

I did the same with the keel on our power boat. The repair wasn't too big so there was little need to fill with glass and epoxy. The two part epoxy putty doesn't have much structural strength so if your repair is extensive you may have to reinforce it with glass. The stuff I had from Interlux is great to work with if you follow the timelines for working with it. Once it goes fully cured you'll need a belt sander to work it down.

Here's a link to a video on a glass repair.

YouTube - Jamestown Distributors Presents:West System FiberglassRepair

YouTube - Jamestown Distributors Presents: West System Fiberglass II

I finished the repair with two coats of Interlux Interprotect 2000E. It's been three years and a few soft groundings in the same spot with no further damage.

[BBill]

Epoxy will work fine. If it needs structural help add some cut up woven roven fibers or buy them ready to add. 50/50 mix is about perfect for max strength.

[dasfreeboot]

Thanks guys!

d