Keel Repairs

Hi Bert,

I have copied parts of your Introduction here:

Bert Vogelvang wrote

There was allways some water in the boat but is became more and more.

In most cases when people find water in the keel it is bad sealing on the cockpit lockers. Water then runs down to the keel.

In the keel there was a screw to drain. This year I tried to repair some old cracks in the keel and the draininghole.

A drain hole in the keel is not standard. The boat should not need one. Only the transom should have drain holes.

A day after launching the boat this turned out to have been not succesfull. I bought some resin and glassfibre but the man in the shop told me to use it on dry surface only.So I widened the litttle holes and removed lots of mud, rust, sand en concrete.

It is true surfaces must be completely dry if the resin and glassfibre is to bond to the existing surfaces. Obviously, you have damage as well as an extra drain hole. I believe you should seal both the damaged area and the drain hole. The only hole you should see under the waterline is for a sink drain.

See:
http://www.seahawk17.org.uk/boatshed/fittingshull.htm#sink
for information about a sink drain and
http://www.seahawk17.org.uk/boatshed/keellittleauk.htm
for a report on repairs to a keel.

Inside the keel I can feel rotten pieces of lose wood. I am now waiting a few days. I think I can repair the outside but I don't know what to do with the ballast. Must the keel be filled again?

Rotten pieces of wood sound as if you may have the early kind of keel. See:
http://www.seahawk17.org.uk/boatshed/keel.htm#jammed
If you have the old style keel and the wood holding the ballast in place is rotten then you have a big job to do as other with this problem report that the drop keel then sticks when in the water.

Yes, you must replace the concrete and iron. You need the weight to give the boat stability.

Sorry to have to tell you the bad news.