Weekender keel

[Johnny Socko]

Here is my build site. It is going to be a bit cramped :???:. And the cradle. That thing behind me is my 10 ft PDRacer.

[umop.apisdn]

I did not encapsulate my keel with glass.. recipe for disaster... you will ding it, water will intrude, it won't dry, it will rot.

I ended up with a problem with my Weekender due to the keel being encapsulated.  The builder (not me) did not epoxy the keel boards together properly, leaving voids between the boards.  Then he encapsulated the keel in fiberglass, which sealed it.

I beach it a lot, so of course eventually the fiberglass wore through, and exposed the wood - and the voids!  Insta-leak.  In the middle of a day out on Lake Washington, my fiancee says "Isn't there a lot of water in here?"  I find water pouring through a crack in the keel right were it meets the bow (is this the "stem", I think?).  of course at the time  I didn't know the cause of the leak  and we fired up the motor and high-tailed it back to the ramp, expecting any moment that the entire front of the boat was going to fall off! ;-)  In retrospect, if we had just staying out on the lake and bailed, the wood probaby would have swelled up and the leak stopped.  :-D

Anyway, now I have to flip the boat, shave the fiberglass off the bottom of the keel and pour penetrating epoxy into all the voids.

Just as soon as the snow melts...

Noel

[Hirilonde]

Anyway, now I have to flip the boat, shave the fiberglass off the bottom of the keel and pour penetrating epoxy into all the voids.

Hmmm, you may have to do a lot more than that, but good luck with your repair what ever you choose to try.

[PAR]

I've had the penetrating epoxy debate many times and don't wish to drag it up again, but it will not cure your problem.

Penetrating epoxy is much less water proof the regular marine grade laminating epoxy. In fact, it's not even as water proof as straight polyester resin. If you pour it into voids, it's not going to offer much by way of protection, though it will penetrate well.

Their are only two cures for voids. The usual method is to inject thickened epoxy into them. A syringe is handy for this and I use those available from veterinary supply stores. If the void is exposed (on the edge), fill and tape over until cured. If you suspect them (voids) internally, drill holes on 2" to 3" centers in the general area and inject (this is how you can fix delaminating plywood too, and yes it's a real pain in the ass). An 1/8" bit works well, though it should be sized for the viscosity of the epoxy and syringe.

The other method to fix this problem is to replace the area with new material. This is typical in delaminated plywood or sandwich construction (bad core) or repairs where the damage is severe. You can often save the "skins" in a core build, decreasing the amount of repair to a degree and sometimes you can save a face veneer in plywood, if the delamination is extensive.

[umop.apisdn]

Thank you PAR, I am probably still a month away from flipping the boat over, but I will keep that all in mind when it comes time to re-seal the keel.

Noel