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The keel pivot hole in the center board has been drilled oversized and filled with epoxy as per instructions. I did not see in the instructions where the holes that the pivot pin goes through at the keel should be done the same. I am thinking that they should be. Wish I had done it early on it it is needed.

Just looking for advise if I need to do this.

Here are a couple of pictures to clarify what I am talking about.



Close up of the hole in question.

The boat has been flipped a week now. I called in favors to six friends. We had a great time and are looking forward to another "flip party" very soon. I had a lot of beer cans to pickup around the shop the next morning but it was well worth it. It is great to have friends. I was able to pay back two of them by helping the twins with their J-29 mast the next day. Boat people are great people.

I believe they should be, yes, especially since these are underwater. You can tape over the holes inside the CB trunk and fill with epoxy from the outside without getting gunk everywhere inside. Anyway, you'll want the hole to be the correct size for the bolt you are using. My memory is dim but I believe the manual suggested 1/2" for the holes but 3/8" bolt? So you'll have to reduce the diameter anyway just to fit your hardware.

Nice looking fiberglass job, by the way. Mine was NOT that clean. I spent the next 2 weeks sanding until my DeWalt random-orbital broke due to worn out bushes. Got it repaired free under warranty but sure taught me the hard way that cleanliness is next to Godliness in fiberglassing such a large area.

Ok done.Would have been a lot easier to do when I built the keel...next time : )

I think it was a very good idea to oversize and fill the holes. There is no worry about water infiltration from outside the keel because the holes will be filled with epoxy over the pivot pin. But what about the inside? The wood in that hole will definitely be exposed and I don't think trying to coat it with epoxy will help much. The problem is making sure your epoxy fill seals up all the wood, including on the inside surface, and how do you do that? I agree it would have been much easier to do back when the keel was being assembled.

There are several holes in the boat that should be treated this way but are not mentioned in the manual. For example, the holes for the bow-eye. I think it is mentioned somewhere that all holes should be done this way, but it would have been a good idea to emphasize it in places like the pivot-pin holes. Likewise there are many areas where it does not say to coat the wood with epoxy, but it is understood that you should do that on every single piece of wood in the boat--at least that's my understanding and that's what I'm doing. There may be a cleat or two here and there that I missed, but if so they are in areas that I hope will never get wet! For example I may have missed a couple under the cockpit seat but inside the cabin. If those ever get wet I'll have much bigger problems to worry about.

Speaking of the bow-eye, I decided to drill (i.e., oversize drill, fill, drill) them before installing the floatation foam and front deck. (I also embedded a length of wood to strengthen the area where the eye is attached. There will be a lot of stress there when hauling out and trailering.) Now when it comes time to install the eye all I'll have to do is cut away the fiberglass over the holes, and probably a little touch-up painting.