I recently hauled the boat out and put it on the trailer. While the boat was in the slings every time the operator moved the lift I noted the keel flexing from side to side. It was strange to note how much flexing there was but I thought it had to do with the hard grounding that the boat experienced. Jammin found one of the lost moorings at the club. The mooring had dragged during last years hurricane Wilma and was undiscovered until I confirmed its lost location. The damage did not appear bad but a crack developed at the keel/sump joint on the port side. I decided to haul the boat out for this hurricane season and it would give me chance to further fix the loose propeller strut.

Here is how I repaired the keel.

First I took a wood power planer and removed everything from the keel surface down to bare fiberglass. I also planed the bottom of the boat 1 foot up the sides in preparation for the additional glass that I would put back. This would strengthen the hull to sump area which I understand is another week point. A wood planer works really good and will remove layers in a heartbeat. I then glassed unidirectional 12 oz cloth overlapping 1 foot below the keel joint and up under the hull. I used unidirectional glass as I only needed strength side to side. I then covered 9 oz Carbon 90 degree plain weave.

I then needed to get the keel shape back to the correct profile. After down loading from the intenet many foil offsets and comparing them to what Bob Evelyn posted for the bottom section I found the correct foil section. After cutting the templates I formed an epoxy guide of the offset so I can fill in the low spots. When the template was removed the correct shape profile was left as a guide.

I used System 3 Epoxy Quick Fair for the fairing compound. Terry Reese the previous owner must have had the keel professionally done as every section was perfect per the templates I made. The only problem was that he dry sailed the boat and did not use epoxy for the fairing compound. I elected to redo the whole keel as I was getting bondo blisters bubbling up through the surface. Since the lower section was still fair I used the wood planer and planed a sections just smaller than the trowel and just filled in between. I then worked my way down until I reached the bottom. I will have to let you know how the boat performs after I get it back into the water.

I have the Keel offsets in a spread sheet if anyone needs them.

My next project is the core dry rot around the front hatch.

Russ Horn
Jammin