Princess 22 gets a keel

[Charlie Jones]

Here's the keel after removing from the mold, planing off all the mold flash, rounding the corners and filling all the little flaws. It has one coat of epoxy rolled on, then scrubbed through the wet epoxy with a steel wire brush to scratch the surface without exposure to the air so the epoxy can get a good bond.

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[Charlie Jones]

Here's how the boat was setup for lifting so I could work underneath, The spreader bar keeps pressure off of the coamings. The packing blanket is so the chain fall chain won't hit the boat. Up in the bow the forward chain fall is attached to the bow eye. so there is nothing under the fore part of the boat to get in the way of fitting the keel.

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[Charlie Jones]

Then I rolled the keel under the boat, aligned it and lowered the boat onto the keel. Then went inside and bored through the previously drilled holes in the floors and keelson to locate the keel bolts in the keel itself.

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[Charlie Jones]

I think I got a pretty good fit out of the mold

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[Charlie Jones]

Then the keel was taken back out and turned over to counter bore for the lower nuts and washers. used a forstner bit and a 1/2 inch drill motor. Bores (and planes) really easily, but it can sure grab a bit!!

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[Charlie Jones]

and here's the hull hanging in the hoists, ready to recieve the keel.

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[Charlie Jones]

And the keel all ready for the hull- Bolts all installed. The upper surface of the keel (and the keel bolts themselves) were buttered thickly with epoxy with a filler in it to give a really good fit to the hull, plus a seal there.

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[Charlie Jones]

And then the keel hangs from the boat, all bolted up and ready to go. The discoloration above the keel is epoxy squeeze out on masking tape run along the joint. Design weight was to be 400 pounds. As installed the actual weight was 395 pounds. I think I lost the five pounds in the counter bores

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[Charlie Jones]

And that leaves an empty skid- Boat shop skate board anyone??

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[Stump]

Great job with the pictures and description. Makes me feel like I was there watching the whole thing!! This is sure to be another thread that needs to be highlighted in some manner.

Question about the hoist. I understand the spreader, but does the rope go all the way around or is there some type of "hook" that is attatched to either side of the hull? If so, how do you keep it from sliding off or skuffing the bottom edge? If the rope goes all the way around I am guessing that the lead keel does not extend that far back? How would you deal with a keel that went the full length of the boat?

Thanks!

[Charlie Jones]

The rope goes all the way under. It's a single piece that runs from the top around and under the keel aft of the ballast. If you'll look at the pic of the boat ready for the keel you can see the line and the carpet that pads the keel from the line. You can also see the break point where the ballast ends and the wooden keel begins.

I had carpet under each place the line touches the hull.

If I had to pick up a boat that had a keel the whole length I'd have to have strong points on deck I suppose. Very few boats would have ballast segments that long though.

[Guest]

Now that is a nice and compact rig. I hope you don't need it though in the shop with Ivan still raining on your parade over there. Stay dry.

[Charlie Jones]

Sunny and clear so far this morning. We're supposed to begin getting rain late this afternoon and through the weekend.

The lady who runs the sailboat shop that I share a building with has said from the very beginning that Ivan was gonna come here. Sure glad it happened this way rather than like Florida got it. Not that I'd wish that on anyone ya understand!

[Joe Nelson CS#35]

Charlie,

Thank you for posting the attachment process. Nice fit!

[Brian Watford]

That is really great work. Thanks for sharing the process is very interesting

[Greg Luckett]

Charlie,

Thanks for the pics and explanations. I truly enjoy your postings.

Greg.

[Scott Dunsworth]

Thanks Charlie for the post. You do AAA+++ work!!!!!!!!!

Scott