Crack in fiberglass skeg

[jameswilson29]

After starting to strip the bottom paint, I discovered a crack in the fiberglass skeg (one of the POs had filled and fared it with caulking), photos attached: SailNet Community - jameswilson29's Album: Winter repairs: crack in fiberglass skeg - Picture

What is the best way to repair this? Grind it out into a V shape and put new layers of cloth in?

Are these skegs typically solid fiberglass or cored?

Do I need to drop the rudder? Any idea how much a P28 rudder weighs?

[OasisII]

The skeg on my Pearson 323 looks to have a similar problem. Just a few weeks ago, I asked the yard for their opinion. Here is the response:

It appears to be just fairing. You can do this work..if you want, .... All loose fairing removed. Smooth out remainder with disc sander or grinder and taper back to remaining borders of good fairing and apply new "bondo" or other marine fairing compound. When that dries smooth out and paint with antifoulant.

Now I need to figure out the best fairing compound to use.

Mike

[rugosa]

The skeg area will be solid glass. Check the rudder travel side to side to make sure rudder is isn't making contact when it is hard over and pressuring the skeg causing the crack. V - ing it out is like a bandaid, you may need to drop rudder to give you good working area especially if you can move the trailing edge of the skeg when you insert a chisel or screw driver. If you plan to strip the whole bottom dropping the rudder will give you access for barrier coat in skeg too. With rudder out you can do some preventative maintenance to the steering system at the same time. What's it weight? Not sure, plan on 2 to safely remove it, a 3rd would be ok too. Boats - always a series of fun little jobs, but worth it.

[rugosa]

Originally Posted by OasisII

It appears to be just fairing. You can do this work..if you want, ....

Mike

Why is there fairing in this area? That area is molded. Sometimes it is difficult to laminate in the mold in this area, possibly a laminate void that exposed over time. Even though it is a small job, maybe a second opinion or sounding the area will avoid having to repair it again in the future.