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Hull Keel Joint

5K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  Anne Ellis 
#1 ·
Last season, motoring in a channel trying to avoid a gaggle of junior sailors in a class, I drifted a bit to far to starboard and ran aground.

I was doing 1 knot or less and just slowely stopped in sand, no sudden stop or thud.

A few minutes later I threw a line to a passing boat who towed me out, my boat pivoted about 45 degrees on the keel til straight.

It looked to be enough flexing to cause the cracks at the keel joint, I had had none each season I had hauled out before.

I was just going to grind away a bit and fair with a epoxy faring compound.

Is it just that simple or am I missing something.

Thanks,

David
 

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#6 ·
It looks like there's a parallel stress crack in the gelcoat in the second photo. I'd think you'd want to at least look at the laminate there, rather than just fairing over it. The impact may have been more damaging than you think. You're seeing a crack in the gelcoat that is WIDE ENOUGH so that you're seeing light come through the fiberglass, and it doesn't look to be the normal separation that occurs at a hull-keel joint.
 
#8 ·
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/39449-what-black-stuff.html

I'm really suspicious because of your story. If you really touched bottom in sand at 1 knot and it supposedly causes something that looks anything like your picture the first thought is what happened before you bought the boat. Maybe prior repair not done properly or rotted plywood in stub.

The link above was from a Catalina 27, similar situation light grounding, and after grinding I found a layer of soft black goop embedded in the the layup.

I would expect that something is not right as that light touch should not have caused any problem at all.
 
#9 ·
I also own a P26 and the "crack" in the keel/hull joint is very normal for this boat. I have it every year at haulout. Quite surprised you've never seen it before. What you need to do is torque your keel bolts every season and just fair over the crack. Just did the same to my boat yesterday. Check out Dan Pfeiffer's description of the keel/hull joint. If you haven't been on his site, it has a wealth of info on the P26. Top of the keel
 
#13 ·
i had this same problem with a light grounding. i started grinding and the grinder nearly punched clear through my hull at the rear of the keel, a previous owner must have seriously ran aground and someone repaired it with what i can only imagine was bondo body fill. repairing was a massive job a week before launch.
 
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