Anything can be repaired, but I wouldn't undertake that job - I would walk away. It is quite possible that the structural stringers in the bottom of the hull have been broken.
On the other hand, if you can verify that structurally everything is sound, it might just need some patching and fairing. Unfortunately, the bottom was painted - possibly to hide the damage. Marek Ottawa On -------- Original message -------- From: nausetbe...@optonline.net Date: 2020-09-28 16:47 (GMT-05:00) To: 'Stus-List' <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Subject: Stus-List Potential "Next" Boat - Keel Issue ?'s I looked at a boat yesterday that seemed like a good contender for a “next” boat, right up until just prior to leaving I looked more closely at the keel and found something that does not look particularly good. I am hoping for some sage advice from the list, as in a) walk away, or b) might be repaired, and if so what would be entailed and is it worth it. This would have to be on the current owner’s tab, or a very hefty discount in the price. I tried to attach low res pics but that exceeded the list max message size, so here is a link I hope works: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNHJ22k8kS3ukfBzXz67enViRMDw3GAOASwiS49uupKViTIDFeNzLj1LE_pav81Yw?key=QkR1X0FXWlgyclBzY1JYcUtIckRJRGh3dzIyMURR The keel has a fairly significant crack extending at least 18” aft from the leading edge. [The bottom was recently painted and I did not try to follow it further aft.] That gap [in the attached photos] is at least 3/8” on the horizontal axis and about ¼” on the vertical. The trailing edge has some cracks which are not overly visible, again due to the bottom paint. Unfortunately I did not look closely at / around the keel bolts, nor do I have any internal photos, as I noticed this after the boat was closed up. The boat is 4 ½ hours away so getting more photos is not feasible. To my untrained eye it appears there was a hard grounding and the keel almost seems to have shifted aft in addition to down, based on the angle of the line from the fairing of the hull down to the leading edge of the keel. But there does not appear to be any movement aft at the trailing edge, though possibly it was punched up. This does not appear to be along the sump / keel joint as the crack is angled upwards and is not horizontal. The owner claims there have been no hard groundings when asked directly, only a handful of soft groundings, predominantly in sand, but I have read even that can do damage. The boat was recently under contract and surveyed and that buyer decided against going forward. The reasons given by the broker did not include any mention of damage revealed during the survey. I do not have a copy of that buyers survey. Any thoughts on what would need to be done to remedy this, or am I better off to move on and keep looking? Should the keel be dropped and the keel bolts examined? Or would there be other, less intrusive / expensive fixes which would be sufficient and safe? I realize it is difficult to really determine the best repair without physically examining the boat but any advice on what likely would be required is appreciated. Thanks, Brian
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