keel repair

[skully]

hi to all , iam may looking  at a 1977 Hutchins Com-Pac 16 to buy
needs repair to it keel ! it has a crack at the base of the keel
what do you think? 
thanks

[timkil]

Hi Skully, I have a 77 cp16 that had been left out in the weather for a number of years. It had water in the keel. I drilled three holes in the bottom of the keel to drain the water, then patched them with marine epoxy putty. Seems to work well, we haven't taken on water since. I assume that your crack is where the keel meets the hull. If so, a well prepared epoxy repair with a couple of layers of fiberglass cloth would probably fix it. Make sure your cloth repair goes well beyond the extent of the crack. A crack like this is a good price negotiation tool. Get her cheap!  Good luck  Tim

[mhallas]

Did you keel look like this?




or even like this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


EGADS!!!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

[K3v1n]

Oh My!
God bless ya for repairin' that one!


-Kevin

[crbakdesign]

It's a big job, but it can be done, if the rest of the boat is worth salvaging. Fibreglass can be hand laid even upside down and from the outside.  Check to see if the actual ballast is still solid. You can use a common sanding grinder to get rid of all the loose particles and dirt around the gashes.  Clean well past in every direction and then cut out glass cloth patches for overlay.  Start with fill glass to build up to an even surface and then lay single layers to cover the entire area to blend into the existing surface.  Your boat is hand laid fibreglass as well. On a sunny day you may be able to see through the hull in the cabin even through the surface gel coat.

Good Luck!

[mhallas]

oh that was fixed last year.... I used a right angle grinder with flexible sanding pad to take all the gelcoat off the keel, and feathered all the cracks (LOTS OF 'EM!). I filled that nasty hole with west system and their microfiber additive, and again used the grinder to smooth it out. I put on two layers of glass, then brushed on the gelcoat. 
I still need to take off the rest of the paint, and then repaint the whole thing with good antifouling paint, as it is spending the summers wet in Gloucester Massachusetts.

[Mercrewser]

Thats some nice work!!

[crbakdesign]

Jest goes to show you that theres not much that can't be fixed on these great little boats!  Looks great!