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Mike Bergmann
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Posted on Monday, June 28, 2004 - 10:07 pm:   

My keel was very well faired when I got the boat in 1996. I did hit a rock in 2000 which knocked a lot of the faring off, and I ended up re-fairing the lower third of the keel about 1 ft. aft from the leading edge.

I mostly followed the same procedure Jeff did, and I also highly recommend the West System products. I did not use the round rod for the leading edge (mainly because I didn't think of it). I did not have too much trouble fairing with the same MIcrolight filler. (PS - I use a fair amount of the chopped cotton fibers in this mix with the Microlight filler - it helps keep it from sagging on a vertical surface.) I did all the shaping with a straightedge - the idea is to keep the straightedge sloped fore & aft in proportion to the overall keel dimensions. In other words, if the top of the straightedge is 30% aft from the leading edge, keep the rest of it 30% aft also.

I did reinforce the bottom at the leading edge with fiberglass fabric, as that is the place that will get hit first.

When you finish fairing, I recommend applying one or two coats of Interlux 2000. Since the West System is completely impervious to water, you don't need it as a barrier coat, so you don't need the recommeded five coats. However, I find that my bottom paint (Micron Ultra) sticks to the 2000 primer much better than to a sanded epoxy surface.

I think all the boats had a few layers of fiberglass covering the joint between the keel stub and the lead. Mine was OK until I hit the rock, and then it cracked all around. I haven't completely solved that yet. I think I may have to re-tighten the keel bolts first and then repair the fiberglass.

One problem is that the weight of the boat is resting on the keel when it is out of the water during repairs, but the keel weight is supported by the bolts and the fiberglass when the boat is launched. The stress on the joint increases a lot just when the boat is picked up, and you may notice that cracks will open up at this time.

I would not worry too much about filling the space with epoxy. The filler here is just to provide a smooth base for the fiberglass overlay. You could use a hard caulking compound or a Bondo type filler just as well.

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