small holes in keel

[chrome dome]

G'day,
sad tale of woe, but will try and keep it short,
boat is a early 80's 15ft FG runabout ( in Australia )
had the anchor chain unravel at speed the other day and then the anchor went over the bow and hit the keel under the waterline before we could react,
there is two small ( half the size of a little fingernail ) holes, one right in the centre of the keel and the other about 3" away,
water did penetrate the hull but not enough to have the bilge pump working,

the question is:
to repair it l've been thinking about drilling the centre 'hole' larger and then glueing in...once l'm confident the keel is dry, ( couple of weeks l'm thinking, it's summer here ).. either a wooden dowel or a tapered wooden marine plug, cutting off the excess and then using fibreglass 'bog' to cover over the repair and then painting it
is this 'repair' a good idea or am l kidding myself?
have much the same idea for the other hole,
or should l just cut a hole in the cockpit floor and lay a small FG strip down on the inside of the hull?
thanks for the help,
cheers

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: small holes in keel

Hello m8 and welcome to Iboats..

If those are as small as you say..then no need for inside repairs.

I would grind about 3" ( 7-8 cm) around the hole..pack with fiberglass putty and put a few layers of 1.5 oz mat/poly .. sand smoth and paint.

ONE thing though...how thick is the hull were the damage is ?

YD.

 

[Bondo]

Re: small holes in keel

Ayuh,... Skip the wooden plug idea, 'n pack it full of fiberglass, 'n resin...

 

[chrome dome]

Re: small holes in keel

Thanks for the welcome and help,
yep, the holes are only small so will forget the plug idea,
don't know how thick the hull is right on the centre line, but it does feel pretty solid
goodonyouse
cheers