Andrei: Bob has it right, but if you are not comfortable doing that type of work (there is some danger working under it), talk to the guys at Hoopers:
http://www.hoopersyachts.com/ They have a great glass man who knows the boat and the repair you need. Howard On Sep 30, 2008, at 11:59 AM, Andrei Caldararu wrote: > Hello all, > > it appears the problem I mentioned earlier (the keel cracked at and > below the centerboard stop pin) is much more difficult and serious > than I thought before. I am writing to everyone in the hope that > maybe someone has dealt with something similar and has some advice to > give. > > Here is what I was able to see today at the boat yard I took my 1982 > M-17 to. The stop pin is bent. On one side of the keel, a triangular > piece of fiberglass has come off. It is about 1.5 x 1 in in size. On > the other side of the pin the outside of the keel has a crack, about > 2in long. It appears to not be just superficial, it is probably the > fiberglass that is cracked. > > One other item that has started to concern me more is the fact that > at the place where the keel (outer part, part of the hull) and the > centerboard trunk come together, at the very bottom of the keel, > there is no seal between them. Is that normal? Along the entire > joint, along the length of the centerboard opening, there is a space > about 1/16 of an inch between the two, on both sides of the cb > opening. So water can go into what I assume must be the area of the > keel to the left and right of the cb trunk. If that opening was > sealed when the boat was new, how was it sealed? > > With regard to the cracks in the keel, the guy at the boat yard said > I have two options. One way is to take the cb out, and repair the cb > trunk where it is cracked (he said it probably is) from the inside, > repair the crack in the outside hull, and lay up fiberglass where the > missing piece is. Total cost would be about $3500 (ouch). Version two > would be to do a repair only on the outside of the keel: grind away > some of the existing fiberglass below the cb pin, and lay two or > three layers of fiberglass cloth above the existing fiberglass. That > would lead to having a small bulge on the keel below the cb stop pin, > but he said it would probably not affect the sailing characteristics > of the boat. Since this way he does not need to take out the cb, and > does no repairs on the inside, the cost would be around $1300 (still > quite a lot). He charges $90/hour, is this typical? > > My questions are: has anyone dealt with a similar problem? What is > inside the keel between the cb trunk and the outer hull skin of the > keel? Is it filled solid with lead? Does water getting in that area > cause problems? I sail my boat from the trailer, so it doesn't have > bottom paint and it would never sit in the water for more that a day > at a time, perhaps a week per month if we were ever to go out on a > trip somewhere. > > Any suggestions will be highly appreciated. > > Thanks, > > Andrei. > > > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats > _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
