new found keel crack

[gmakhs]

Hello
I found this crack on my keel, the cracked area is just fiberglass and the keel bolts to it on a lower level (like a skeg ) .


I don't know for how long the crack have been there but it was pretty easy to dig it out with a screw driver, at the moment I have grinder the bad glass out made a V and filled up with epoxy and bonding + structural balloons from west system .


What you think could have cause this crack ?

Can it be one time occursnce from grounding or from flexing ?

[Greatest Lakes]

Looks like a seam from the mold. Epoxy and micro should be a fine solution, some gelcoat if you have the motivation to prevent water getting into the glass would be good. Grounding or flexing usually causes an appearance more like a horizontal crack than a vertical one, but if you are paranoid, check the stringers under the floor for cracking.

[MicHughV]

yep, looks like a joint seam to me as well.
Mold was likely two halves put together...doesn't look like a crack at all.

[gmakhs]

do they do that for 38 footers?

[MicHughV]

With a "bolt on" keel, you would likely see the mold as one piece, as the keel gets bolted on later, but a molded-in keel would be difficult to extract from a one piece mold...hence the jointed mold...
I'm not even sure how they would lay up the fiberglass and resin for the keel.
Maybe that gets done first, separately and then the two sides of the mold brought together. Maybe a 3 piece mold.... ???
Just my 2c...might be wrong...but my best guess...

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by gmakhs

Hello
I found this crack on my keel, the cracked area is just fiberglass and the keel bolts to it on a lower level (like a skeg ) .


I don't know for how long the crack have been there but it was pretty easy to dig it out with a screw driver, at the moment I have grinder the bad glass out made a V and filled up with epoxy and bonding + structural balloons from west system .


What you think could have cause this crack ?

Can it be one time occursnce from grounding or from flexing ?

West micro balloons are not "structural", They are for fairing. You should use cabosil and milled fibers to fill the void and actually glass over the crack to add structure to it.

Flexing is generally not a "One time occurance" What year is your boat? could it have been made as a 2 part molding? This was more common in the early 70's

[tkeithlu]

Good morning, gmakhs.

I think that it is serious inspection time, even if the likely answer is one of the above. Damage on the edge of the keel paired with damage in the hull above it suggests the possibility of an impact. When a keel hits a rock it tends to rotate, down at the leading edge and up at the trailing edge. That damages the hull fiberglass at the two ends.

Damage can be detected by inspection from the inside of the hull at the two ends of the keel. It can be as minor as a small crushed area or as major as cracked longitudinal runners and leaking keel bolts. Damage is not obvious in your case, and hopefully is not there at all, but I do hope that you will take a look before deciding on the appropriate repair.

Best of luck with it.

[capt jgw]

Originally Posted by gmakhs

do they do that for 38 footers?

If there are any inward curves in the hull shape they have to use a split mold regardless of size. The hull won't come out of the mold otherwise. That's what this looks like to me, a mold line. Some hulls are molded on two pieces then bonded together, that leaves even more of a line.

[gmakhs]

This is a bolt on keel, there are no indications on the inside, I check for crack , bents etc

[MicHughV]

That off-whiteline running down the centerline of your keel (I'm assuming that is your filler) is an unusual place for a crack to appear.
Typically, that is solid lead...or sometimes steel...which would not crack, especially as you say that this is a bolted on keel.
But the keel also appears to have been glassed over. Also unusual for a bolt on keel.
I don't think I've ever seen a bolt-on keel with fiberglass over it.

Are you sure this is a bolt on keel ??

Am I misreading something ??

[gmakhs]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

That off-whiteline running down the centerline of your keel (I'm assuming that is your filler) is an unusual place for a crack to appear.
Typically, that is solid lead...or sometimes steel...which would not crack, especially as you say that this is a bolted on keel.
But the keel also appears to have been glassed over. Also unusual for a bolt on keel.
I don't think I've ever seen a bolt-on keel with fiberglass over it.

Are you sure this is a bolt on keel ??

Am I misreading something ??

That part is part of the hull and is hollow (bilge space) the keel starts lower, after further investigation and a lot of grinding i figured that this is not a crack but a mold seam as many suggested, now i feel happy but also like a fool grinding it out

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by gmakhs

Hello
I found this crack on my keel, the cracked area is just fiberglass and the keel bolts to it on a lower level (like a skeg ) .


I don't know for how long the crack have been there but it was pretty easy to dig it out with a screw driver, at the moment I have grinder the bad glass out made a V and filled up with epoxy and bonding + structural balloons from west system .


What you think could have cause this crack ?

Can it be one time occursnce from grounding or from flexing ?

Your Beneteau First has a bolted on "iron" keel, not steel. It was laid up in a two part mold and the seam is just covered with polyester gelcoat. It does not take much of a bump to fracture gelcoat. Grind it out and see if the fracture goes deeper. First you will see gelcoat, then chopped strand then mat and roving. If the fracture penetrates as deep as the mat, the some addition glass is required ... it does not look that serious if as you say there are no fractures on the inside. My 2 cents after having surveyed only six of them.

[gmakhs]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Your Beneteau First has a bolted on "iron" keel, not steel. It was laid up in a two part mold and the seam is just covered with polyester gelcoat. It does not take much of a bump to fracture gelcoat. Grind it out and see if the fracture goes deeper. First you will see gelcoat, then chopped strand then mat and roving. If the fracture penetrates as deep as the mat, the some addition glass is required ... it does not look that serious if as you say there are no fractures on the inside. My 2 cents after having surveyed only six of them.

You are right, only though this is not a Beneteau first 26 but a Comfortina 38 the keel is Lead and it starts 20 cm lower from where the crack in the pic ends
Thanks!

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by gmakhs

You are right, only though this is not a Beneteau first 26 but a Comfortina 38 the keel is Lead and it starts 20 cm lower from where the crack in the pic ends
Thanks!

Suggest you change your profile as it says Beneteau First.

[MicHughV]

That part is part of the hull and is hollow (bilge space) the keel starts lower, after further investigation and a lot of grinding i figured that this is not a crack but a mold seam as many suggested, now i feel happy but also like a fool grinding it out
__________________
Well, if the ground out portion is part of the fiberglass keel, with a lead shoe underneath then it, I'm pretty sure it is not a bolt on keel...

I have a Beneteau...it has a bolt on steel keel...looks nothing like yours...