Problem areas on keel

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Problem areas on keel

Postby DanaDCole on Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:52 am

I am really glad I removed the bottom of the keel trough and installed rollers so I can see the keel bottom. Today I decided to inspect the keel bottom after the shakedown cruise a couple days ago. The boat has been on the water only twice. Just behind the centerboard I discovered some small cracks: Image
As you can see the cracks mostly follow the weave. Here is a closer look at one of the cracks: Image
I am pretty sure this is an area where I added some dynel cloth. I checked my blog and sad to say I did not document it, but the weave looks coarser than fiberglass and just aft of the trunk I can feel a slight rise which definitely seems to be where I added the dynel cloth. Aft of the cracks, it appears I did a much better job of smoothing out the transition, but I can still see the weave until at one point it becomes very smooth. This makes me almost positive I put dynel cloth there to help with abrasion resistance. If I am right about this then I'm not worried about water infiltration because there is fiberglass cloth and three layers of epoxy under the dynel. So all I need to do is some sanding and filling the cracks with slightly thickened epoxy--just need to get it done while the weather stays above 50 at night.

Any of you experts out there please let me know if you agree this looks like dynel cloth under the epoxy and paint. If you don't think so what is your advice? I would think a length of fiberglass tape and epoxy would be best.
DanaDCole
 
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Re: Problem areas on keel

Postby Bflat on Tue Oct 27, 2015 12:18 pm

So, you think the cracks are only in the Dynel? Do you have an idea why the cracks formed?
Bflat
 
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Re: Problem areas on keel

Postby DanaDCole on Tue Oct 27, 2015 12:55 pm

I think the cracks may only be in the dynel because as I understand it dynel is not really useful for strength, only abrasian resistance. If that is true, the fiberglass underneath should be OK. (This is all assuming I am correct that there is dynel there--I am almost positive though.) If the cracks do go deeper, that's another reason I'm glad the keel is no longer sitting on soggy carpet.

I have no idea what caused them. They look like stress fractures to me--perhaps the stress of rolling over that rear roller when most of the boat's weight is on it alone. In fact, all of the boat's weight was on it when we first loaded the boat onto the trailer on dry land. BTW, the keel would roll on that roller whether the trough bottom was present or not.
DanaDCole
 
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Re: Problem areas on keel

Postby DanaDCole on Tue Oct 27, 2015 1:47 pm

My friend who taught me to sail drove by and hopes to go for a sail this year (she's 90). It's about 68 outside now, so I sanded the paint down a bit and smeared on some thickened epoxy making sure I forced it down (up) into the cracks. Sanding the paint won't do much besides help it stay in place, but it should stick well inside the cracks (I hope). I used fast hardener, so should be able to sail in three or four days, weather permitting. I'll inspect the underside of the keel after every sail and see how things are going. Keeping my fingers crossed! If the cracks don't grow any I'll sand the paint off the whole area next spring and re-coat it with epoxy.
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Location: Stillwater, Oklahoma


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