Keel Repair

[smitty112233]

I must say that I've been on the site only for a couple of days and everyone is very helpful. Thanks!!<br /><br />I'm replacing a floor in a boat I bought for nothing and noticed the other day that some light was coming in thru the very front of the keel. I'm wondering since I'm replacing the floor if I can go ahead and cut some fiberglass and run it down the inside of the keel? Also what do I do with the outside? I looks pretty cracked. Can I just put some epoxy on the outside and sand it down?

 

[Realgun]

Re: Keel Repair

Welcome to iBoats! Your looking at a keel that has had the gelcoat rubbed off due to beaching on sand rocks etc.... You can and should run some glass down inside the keel and you can use epoxy on the outside. You will need to cover the "outside" epoxy and maybe some glass with paint gelcoat or a keelguard of some sort. The reason is epoxy is not U.V. (ultra violet) stabilized. It will turn yellow get brittle and crack in as little as 6 months.<br /><br />Thats why they gelcoat boats so the polyester resin will not degrade.