CP-16 Concrete Keel

[old-sailor]

I recently purchased a 1979 CP-16 which needs major interior refurbishing. The top of the concrete in the keel is powdery; does anyone have a recomendation for resealing it.  Also, are there any templates out there for redoing the interior wood? Thanks for your help.

[Whitecaps]

This concerns your question about the concrete ballast in the CP-16's keel.  What we did was:

• (1) level up the boat on the trailer;
• (2) remove fiberglass from the upper surface of the concrete (don't know if this was original or installed by previous owner);
• (3) cleaned all the loose material as best we could with a shop-vac;
• (4) gave the keel several weeks to dry out;
• (5) filled the major voids with thickened epoxy to get a relatively smooth surface;
• (6) put down a couple layers of epoxy & fiberglass cloth to seal the top of the concrete;
• (7) followed this with two or three more coats of epoxy (without the glass) to provide a smoother finish.

It's been about 4 years since we did that job and so far, so good.

Grant
CP-16 Arunk

     

[mrb]

I think Whitecaps advice is your best bet.  Just want to second the part about letting the concrete dry well before sealing it.

You may want to inspect out side of keel to see if there are any weepy looking pin holes.  Tape around with screw driver handle and listen for hollow sounding areas. 

Sorry can't help with templates but many good people on site have done major rebuilds and are sure to help

Good luck on fixes then fair winds.

[Ray M]

I'll third that part about making sure the keel is absolutely dry before sealing anything up.  I don't know if your boat is inside or outside, or in a cold or hot climate, but if you can, you might think about rigging up a small space heater or two under the keel in an attempt to warm it up some.  This would not be an attempt to make it hot - just warmed a little.   I might even get a heater going in the cabin.  I'd leave them going for at least a few days.  Also, I too think that all of the advice above is good.  Good luck!

[Paul]

Hey Old Sailor.  Welcome!

Yes, sealing the keel is an option, but not totally necessary.  Certainly makes folks feel better knowing it is sealed. 

As for the templates, I suppose the first thing is to ask if you have already removed the original berths.  If they have and don't resemble the way they looked while in the boat (likely), then there is still an option.  You can transfer the hull shape to a scrap template of wood (or cardboard) that loosely resembles the hull shape.  Then use either a spiling block (a piece of wood of a certain thickness that you can use to transfer the hull shape exactly) or a compass fixed at a set distance.  Once this line is transferred to the scrap, use the same block or compass to transfer from the scrap to the new plywood.  I used this method successfully on the bow portion of the plywood on my 16.  Berths were OK.

Good luck and let us know what happens.