I wouldn’t recommend it for anything structural. But this is not structural, the fiberglass is not holding anything on it’s only for smooth water flow.
Good stuff, John ... New subscriber and learning a lot from your videos. Appreciate your effort in having such an informative channel. Best of luck on the boat search.
These boats are like commuter cars: they're built to a price and their design life is determined by the market. Here's how it works: Buyer 1 buys a new boat on a marine mortgage, typically 10 years. At the end of this (or before) the factory wants him to buy a new boat. But that requires him being able to sell, in order to release equity. So the factory wants the boat still to be good after 10 years, so Buyer 1 can flog it and buy a new one. Buyer 2 will probably be on finance too, so he needs to show the boat is good for another 10 years, to get his mortgage. That way Buyer 1 gets a good price and the factory sells a new boat. But - and this is a big but - Buyer 2 doesn't buy new. So he is of zero interest to the factory, except as a way to release equity so Buyer 1 can get a new one. So if the boat is a basket case after Buyer 2's mortgage is up, tant pis. The result of this is that these boats have a 1 a design life of 20-25 years and 2 are as cheaply built as possible consistent with that. In turn, what that means today is firstly that any production boat built before 2000 is only worth the part-out value and secondly ownership is likely to be a costly exercise. These are not built to be repaired easily.
How did you decide on the type of glass you used? It looked like mat and cloth. How did you decide on the weight (oz) on the glass? Did you match what was there? Did you rotate the cloth between layups for added strength?
Interesting, what weight was the mat you were using on the keel to hull joint, please, and how many layers did you use? My observation is the thicker the mat, the harder it is to go round bends. And I have to do just this job :) Also do you think that the keel is connected to the hull in other ways (eg internal bolts) than just the fb keel to hull joint. Thanks
I’m using 3 layers of 6oz cloth which is easy to work around the edges. This keel is bolted on and the fiberglass cloth and fairing is just for aesthetics and proper waterflow. None of this work is structural.
Thanks @@finditfixitsailit9322 for the mat weight and confirmation on bolts: I was guessing that there were bolts in there, the fibreglass didnt look structural.
I used west system epoxy and fairing because I already had it and used it for the fiberglass work But I think total boat fairing would be easier to use.
I would take EVERYTHING off the entire lead keel and even a foot up onto the hull, to bare structure. It would be a lot of work but if they were less than optimal with that front loose portion, chances are they were just as irresponsible with the rest of the keel covering. This is the time to do thoroughly since it’s on bunks and available. You don’t want to have to repeat this!
I just noticed that You said....what I would do....NOT. ..What I did.... Just wondering how much of this kind of repair have you darted ur hands n lungs with ? JUST.....wondering....
What a mess. There's too much lead in that keel and it's way too high in the structure. Why not unbolt that keel, melt it down, build or cast a fiberglass or aluminum keel, and use 1/2 or 1/3 of that lead for the very bottom of the keel? That's one heavy boat.
