Encapsulated Iron Ballast Keel issues [E27] 

Guys you deserve to have 10,000 subscribers by now, your videos are excellent.

Another great video. You guys are one of the few authentic channels on YT.

Just found your channel. Congratulation on your purchase, they are really rock solid boats. Really like your journey here, passion wonderfull honest straight to the point problems solving which are endless on a boat refit. You might be interested to looked at Mad from Sail Life channel. He has numerous methodological episodes of related work to yours. Great editing with comments and updates. Good luck hope to see you soon out of the shed.

I have experienced the same problem with fresh water entering the encapsulated keel of my Fisher 25. At first, the prospects of rectifying this may seem daunting but it can be done. In my case, the water did not damage the laminate nor did it cause the iron ballast to rust due to lack of oxygen. Indeed, if the water is not saltwater and oxygen cannot enter the cavity, you could arguably ignore it and just stop the ingress of rainwater from above and fit a garboard drain plug at the lowest point in the keel. However, if you forget to drain the keel before winter on the hard, there is a danger that the water could freeze and expand causing undue structural stress and de-lamination. So, I went about fixing mine as follows. My boat was stored in my large boat shed ready for the refit I was about to undertake. Firstly, I drilled several holes into the lowest part of the keel on either side to drain about 20 litres of water. I then cut out a section of the fibreglass cap covering the iron ballast from the top in the bilge. Into this I poured a large quantity acetone to help carry away the residual water. Once this had evaporated, I placed heaters inside the boat and around the keel to start the long drying out process. I then scraped out as much of the old expanding foam from around the ballast as was possible and used a small blower heater to blow warm air into the cavity. Once exposed to the air, the iron ballast did start to gently rust. So, after several months, and when I was satisfied that the cavity was dry enough, I plugged the drain holes at the bottom of the keel and filled the cavity with Fertan rust converter. The following day, I drained the Fertan from the keel and left it to dry for several more months. Then, I re-sealed the drain holes I had drilled in the keel and filled the cavity with an epoxy-based, closed cell expanding foam produced by Sicomin. This high-tech foam can be applied in a moist environment and ,when cured, does not absorb moisture. Finally, I re-laminated the section I had cut out of the cap above the ballast to re-seal it. OK, it was a long-winded job, but not a difficult one, and I just incorporated it into my refit schedule. I wish you both all the best with your project.

You have a great plan don’t second guess. You got this not from guessing but from network. Thanks for sharing great editing also. ❤

Man! I just started watching a few of your episodes and you really got some work on your hands. When you're done with this, you're going to feel so incredibly proud of your work, but getting there is not for the fainthearted. I wish you all the best and hope there won't be any more major surprises. You're determined; you'll get there! Aloha!

I really enjoy your channel; very down to earth, nice craftsmanship, a pleasure to watch!

Kolejny milowy krok i jak to bywa kolejny niespodziewany problem ale wiem, że dacie radę bo to nie pierwsza taka zaskakaująca sytuacja. Przeżyliście więcej takich "niespodzianek" i daliście radę więc i teraz będzie dobrze! Kiedyś będziecie wspominać te wszystkie "niespodzianki" żeglując i oglądając te wszystkie wschody i zachody słońca, które jeszcze przed Wami! Jak to mówią ... "co nas nie zabije, to nas wzmocni". Pozdrawiam!🌍🌅⛵i trzymam kciuki za rozwiązanie problemu!

To dry out the ballast comprtment in the keel, I would have used an oil free small compressor, injected the air in the bottom of the keel and wented in the top. This will dry out very efficiently, especially if you find a way to heat the air before it enters the keel. Regards Leif.😊

Great watching, don’t give up👍

Gold Star for effort .

When you are sailing into the sunset, all these problems will feel far behind and all the work will have been worth it .

Beautiful job. 🙂

You may solve the lights issue in an easier way. Add a lamp (switchable red and white light) above the panel (shining downwards, partly onto the panel). This way the individual red spots will be less annoying and you can read the labels. When you are in a hurry, reading the switch labels is key. Best regards.

Not an expert in any way but could you possibly drill a small hole above the moisture and one below and inject some sort of solvent that repels water and dissolves/evaporates itself quickly.? Then seal the holes up and the rust will not continue as when any oxygen inside the keel is used up over time the rust process should stop as it has no oxygen to feed it. Again not an expert but it might be something to consider, if not a good idea at least it was something to reject before going onto whatever ultimately works. 🤔 Brilliant episode again 👍

Place a dehumidifier inside the boat and cover the keel with plastic.. so the dehumidifier will draw the moisture out of the boat rather than the entire building.. I don't think your keel is worse than most people who have boats built in the 80s and 90s.. you will have it out of the water long enough that she will be dry.. I'd focus more on covering the keel with extra layer of fiberglass to keep the water from intruding inside

On the control light in red or white why not put a dimmer inside? 1 dimmer for all will do.

Check out RU-vid channel Refit and Sail. He uses pads to vac and heat parts of hull. Could you hire or buy and sell on after?

Oh dear guys, you have structual issues , yet your discussing the intensity of led lights ? Have you ever sailed before ?????????????????????? As far as drying the cast iron ballast, i dont thing you will ever get it dry unless you can remove the encapsulated ballast from its sheathing lol