Crack in the keel

[Kim Beatley]

Hauled the boat this week. Soda blasted the bottom in preparation for new paint. upon inspection, at the very deepest part of the keel, just under where the shafts exit the engine room, about an inch from the bottom was about an 8 inch crack in the glass. it looked like it had been crushed when the boat was set on the timber blocks. However, water appeared to be slowly dripping out which leads me to believe that the crack has been there for a while.

On a 36C, what how were the keels constructed? Do I need to worry about other hidden damage.

Tomorrow we will grind open a portion of the crack. Hopefully, we will not have to go too deep and remove too much of the interior. Epoxy, get ready!!

 

[Avenger]

Mine had the same problem. The keel is all fiberglass witha foam core. My guess is that the foam was just used as a filler. There's also some kind of epoxy like material that was used to fill any voids between the layup and the foam. Drain it, dry it, fix it and call it a day.

Pic of mine opened up:

 

[jim rosenthal]

Biggest problem is thoroughly drying out the inside of the keep so the repair will stick. I had the same problem. PM me and I can tell you how I repaired it; holding up well so far after about 15 years.