no keel wood on my boat?

[CraigL]

I was drilling a few holes in my floor to try an locate a leak (Trickle leak --about 1 gal/hr) on 1988 Bayliner 24'. When I cut a hole in the cabin floor, I was a little shock to see daylight in the otherwise darkened cavity. The daylight was coming in about a 1" wide strip in the keel (very center line of the boat bottom). Shinning a flashlight in the hole, and then looking under the boat I could see an amber glow, coming out of the keel for a length of about 6' under the cabin area. (There is not bottom paint on the keel area in this section, due to wear and outside surface looks porous.<br /><br />Is this normal. The keel section looks to be just glassed in. It does not look to be very thick either. I am concerned, that beaching the boat or even trailer loading/unloading, could damage this thin keel area.<br /><br />Also has anyone heard of or used "KeelShield"? It is a strip of rubber or something that is 7' long and 5" wide that attached to your keel to protect it. I was thinking that if this was installed with the inlcuded #M VHB adhesive, that it would also serve to prevent any leaking that may be resulting from the porous surface of the keel and also protect that thin membrane.<br /><br />Any thoughts<br />Thanks<br /><br />day<br />thick blocking glassed to the hull in the keel area(no actual keel wood),

 

[JasonJ]

Re: no keel wood on my boat?

Usually the hull is its thickest on the bottom and transom. Yours has probably been beached way too many times, and the hull has been ground down to the point where water is wicking through the exposed fibers.<br /><br />You could go underneath and clean up the area with some 40 grit, and brush on several layers of gelcoat to build it out a bit and seal it, then run the keelguard. If there is exposed fibers, you'll have to grind it all out until you hit clean fibers, creating a concave dished area than extends a few inches beyond the damage area all the way around, then build it back out with alternating mat and cloth until flush with surrounding area. Then cover with gelcoat to seal and finally the keelguard. It won't be pretty looking, but it will be functional. I had an old 60's runabout with several abrasions, and I simply soaked them with thick layers of gelcoat and it worked, but it was ugly. My current project had the glassed in blocks like you describe with no center keel. I cut them out, all they did was hold water. I probably won't put new ones in, the hull down there is well over a quarter inch thick, and very strong. Might go with a keelguard myself, so I can beach if I want....

 

[Bondo]

Re: no keel wood on my boat?

Jasonj is right on the money on this one.....<br />One alternative, Do the Repair on the Inside... Lots of Epoxy,+ Glass.. For some Strenth...<br />Do the Repair, Then add the Keel-Shield....<br />The Keel-Shield Alone will Not be enough...<br />The keel of a boat is the Back-Bone of the vessel.... Fix it Right... First...