Association Forum - Keel joint and keel delam

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Capri 25 Specific Forum

Keel joint and keel delam

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Pirate Princess
1st Mate

Member Avatar

USA
37 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/14/2009 : 19:24:15

When I pulled my boat out last fall I noticed that if you tapped along the joint where the keel and hull meet, water would ooze out (Oh YIKES!!) I also noticed that once it dried if I tapped in various places close to the joint that there seemed to be a hollow sound as if some of the inner layers had pulled away from the keel (DOUBLE YIKES!!).

So everything is now dry and I have set about grinding out the joint between the keel and hull to see what is going on. I had hoped that perhaps the old caulk/joint compound had worn out but it seems that the upper part of the keel at the aft end is delamming. I slowly drilled with a Dremel and a grinding pad to follow the depth of the little cracks there. I got down about 1/16" and got to some fiberglass mat which means I went through some gel coat.

Has anyone had this issue? I am tempted to hire a professional and have it fixed once and for all. But also thinking if I used the correct stuff like building it up again with fiberglass and some epoxy puddy and do a temporary for this season fix, that I might be ok. Then over the winter, re-do the entire keel. The delam on the keel is about 5 inches from the back of the keel and right up against where the keel meets the hull. It is worse on the port side. There is also some cracking just aft of the keel on the hull, this is about 2-3" long.

Has anyone encountered this? Any suggestions on what to do would be helpful.

Keeless in Kansas City

Karen

Karen Hawkins
Kansas City "Wheat Coast"

Edited by - on

Ericson33
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
892 Posts

Response Posted - 05/14/2009 : 20:53:06

Karen, sorry to hear the news, I don't really have a direct awnser for you on the fix? I know of another owner that was having water problem in this area ( water comming in thru the joint into the cabin area....... his fix by a pro was going to run 500.00

if you do the repair yourself remember that the boat is made from glass and polyester resin, not epoxy. there have been several diferent issues with using epoxy and the repair comming apart after several months. if you do the repair remember to grind to a 1/12 radius, meaning take more from the middle and not from the edge of the repair. Build up layers of glass in small amounts, 3 ayers at a time - I used woven glass and matt applying them in layers for strenth. build the glass up over the keel so you can remove or grind back the glass then apply a thickened resin with matt for a filler. you will need to do this several times to get the shape you need. Once this is done use a polyester filler, apply filler again in small steps (if you gob it on the resin will cook to hot and wil come apart). now for the finish - long board sand the area, dont use a disc sander, use a long block, this will insure that the area will be flat surface, use black spray lacqure? and then sand using the board the high areas will come off fast while the low areas remian black, sand and sand and sand......Gelcoat can be applied back to the boats keel to get a pro finish, sand the area down and apply the gelcoat with a small roller, again several steps should be made, once applied use pva to seal the gelcoat and then you can sand the area using 200- 400 wet then 600 wet. the gelcoat will have small pimples, this is where you use the several coats, again over apply then sand back to a final finish.

You cant screw up fiberglass, if you make a mistake you can always grind it out and start over......

Good luck

Edited by - on

Pirate Princess
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
37 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2009 : 11:44:55

C.S.

Thanks so very much for the info. I was unaware that poly was used so that was a big help. I will do the fix and see how it goes. If I lose races at least now I have an excuse - HA!

Karen

Edited by - on

MPienta
Deckhand

Members Avatar

22 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2010 : 08:00:55

Hello,

I'm a little confused by the above statements by "Capri 25" about only using polyester resin to repair polyester boats. I was told by an executive of West System that We should be repairing our polyester boats using epoxy resin. Below are web-links backing up this statement:

http://209.20.76.247/ss/west-system-epoxy-for-fiberglass-repair/

http://209.20.76.247/ss/polyester-over-epoxy/

My boat's cockpit floor has some stress cracks developing around the rudder shaft and I'm trying to make the best possible repair. Anyone dealt with this problem?

Regards,

Michael

Edited by - on

Pirate Princess
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
37 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2010 : 17:51:48

UPDATE:

I did in fact us West Systems Epoxy and it was fantastic. I used the fast cure which actually set up in about 15-20 minutes and also used the microballoons for fairing. The keel looks like a factory job if I say so myself (factory job done on a Monday or Friday).

When I pulled the boat out last fall it still looked just as good as when I first completeted the job.

West Systems has tech support to guide you over the phone in what you need before you order from one of their distributors. I would highly recommend this system and do invest in the pre-measured pumps, it makes it all go much more smoothly.

Karen

Edited by - on

Ericson33
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
892 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2010 : 22:17:38

I did our repairs using polyester resign for the simple fact I was planning on applying gelcoat back over the repair, I did not want to use paint over the repaired area on the top of the deck. The best way to chemically bond the resign is to use the same product, applying epoxy then polyester gelcoat over time is a deal breaker for me. Do not get me wrong, I love epoxy, ask my wife. If there are two things I can count on in this ife time is duct tape and epoxy to repair anything.

I took this from the article you linked, second paragraph. I have been fixing glass for over 25 years and over the long haul you will find mixing two different chemicals are a bad idea.

In repairs above the waterline, gelcoat applied over properly prepared WEST SYSTEM epoxy has a great track record. Many boats have been repaired this way and are performing well in a variety of climates. Boats that are dry sailed or trailered have also had good success with gelcoats on underwater epoxy repairs. Concern about adhesion occurs in situations where boats are in the water constantly and need to have a high level of finish on their bottoms that requires gelcoat. Such a situation might occur with a boat kept in a pristine lake where antifouling paint is often not used. Since the polyester gelcoat is not very good at preventing moisture from permeating through to the laminate, there has been a concern that, over time, the gelcoat will detach from the more moisture resistant epoxy layer."

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.