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I was under the trailer today, replacing leaf springs when I looked up and saw this:

http://s283.photobucket.com/user/wixo...4.jpg.html


I kitty-haired this keel area a few years ago when I first saw some splits/cracks. Obviously I didn't do a proper job, apparently. This boat only sees water (salt) 5-10 times per season for a few hours, it is trailered all the time.

What is proper procedure to repair?
How much damage might there be?
How to prevent this from happening after repair?

Thank you in advance for assist.

(EDIT: [img] does not work in the discussion area)

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It looks pretty extensive, and I think the only way to properly repair it involves turning the hull over. Which answers your other 2 questions.

Short of that sawzall off the keel roller and patch it as before.

How did you patch it before? Smearing on some Bondo isn't fixing it, and not doing a proper repair probably let it get a lot worse.

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Thanks for the reply.

I flipped the boat, removed any loose /chipped fiberglass from the keel area. DA sanded the keel and approx2" on either side, as I recall. Mixed fiberglass/kitty hair from marine store and smeared it liberally in damaged areas. DA sanded it after drying to try and feather the edges. Sanded bottom of boat with 220 or whatever and copper bottomed it. It sure wasn't a professional restoration, but neither did I simply slap it together.

Do I need to cut out the entire section of damaged keel? Like a 3" X 12" rectangle? Re-form the ridge somehow? Use fiberglass cloth to reinforce?

Previous threads/links welcome, thanks for saving me the (research) time.

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To properly repair the damage you need to grind away the loose/ damaged glass on either side of the keel for 5 or 6 inches either side. If the boat has been floating alright it may not be necessary to dig out any foam but anyway the boat will be upside down so there won't be ant water leaking out to interfere with the repair. You need to use epoxy and fiberglass cloth. Fiberglass mat will give you thickness but the cloth will give strength. Use epoxy because the rest of the hull is fully cured so you can't have a chemical bonding, just a mechanical bond with the area you roughed up. Epoxy provides better adhesion than polyester for repairs. Find a resin which does not blush. I would suggest you watch every youtube video about fiberglass repair you can find. I don't know how many layers of cloth/epoxy you will need but just remember the keel of a whaler is the strongest part so probably the thickest. Don't try to build thickness with epoxy alone as without cloth is has little strength. It appears the foam core is separated from the fiberglass skin so you may want to add small batches of foam till it's built back up, shape the cured foam and you can lay the first piece of cloth right on the foam, overlapped to the undamaged glass you roughened up. The cloth should be narrowest for the first layer, getting wider as you add more layers. Sanding cured epoxy is really tough work so be neat with your layup.

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Wixomhead,

See this members personal page for some ideas.
http://www.whalercentral.com/infusion...er_id=7659

Also look through the Project Albums here:
http://www.whalercentral.com/userphot...lery_3.php

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Great, thanks. Saved me a bunch of search time. Looks like epoxy, mat and fabric is the way to go.

I got the engine off the boat, the boat off the trailer, accessories next.

Will flip, cut 12 x 12 area and get going. Thanks again for the direction.

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Are you saying you are going to cut out a 12" x 12" section of your boat?

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No - after reading the above posts (many thanks), the reference section and whaler repair projects, and the super duper West Systems book, I cut the rotted (approx 24" long) section of keel out and ground down fiberglass on both sides of keel approx 3" back to try and achieve 12:1 slope per whaler repair instructions.

I say try to achieve because I really struggled to get a perfect slope. i went through a dozen 40 grit disks using my semi-professional DA air sander and 60 Gal / 5HP compressor. Bottom line it's thinner near the damage and thickest away from the damage.

My local marine shop recommended I try a new 3M "high strength" poly resin product (3M Marine High Strength Repair Filler http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/...NWRZfD_BwE is for bonding and filling repairs above or below the waterline), but after purchasing thought some more and returned it fort West Systems epoxy stuff.

Updated pics here:

https://plus.google.com/photos/115715...KPMxYqcywE

Next up I plan to cut a couple of 8" x 24", 2oz fiberglass mats, saturate with epoxy and lay across the damaged area. Was going to cut a piece of wood (any other ideas?) to replace keel and layer over more pieces of fiberglass cloth, in reducing sizes, per instructions.

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The strength of your repair will be the resin impregnated fiberglass cloth. You can use most anything to bring the hull to the correct shape before the glass work. If you use wood, make sure there no hard edges. I would get some pourable foam and a rasp it to shape it before glassing.

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All fixed, was on the water twice this week!

I rounded off the corners of a 2' long piece of 1 x 1 pine, cut each end 45 degrees to match the 45 degree angle of the sec of keel I cut out.

i layered about eight pieces of Fiberglas cloth over the wood/12:1 hole I cut, small pieces first and large piece last.

Then I used some of the high density filler (407 I think ) to fill in the rough spots and sanded with 150 grit DA to smooth it all out.

Painted it with 4 coats of Kilz.

It also appears to me that the middle roller might be adjusted a tad high. My trailer had a broken spring for many years. I think the combination of the two were responsible for the damage.

Spring has been fixed, and I tackle roller next.

Thanks to all who helped guide me through this!