| Author | Message | ||
     Gary Hendrickson New member Username: Garyh Post Number: 24 Registered: 02-2001 Rating: N/A |
Regarding the issue of fairing at the hull-keel joint: A year or two after I invested the effort, as described by my articles under the topic to fair Keel, Deep Draft , especially at the keel/hull joint, I saw that cracks were developing again at the joint. After re-checking the tightness of the keel nuts (the torque recommended by my surveyor was changed to 200 - 250 ft-lbs) and discussions with wise people, I concluded that further cracking here is inevitable. Also, I remembered that construction of the keel stub includes a glassed-in flat mild steel strengthening plate that the keel studs pass through. A well-developed joint crack and an aged, hardened keel bedding compound layer could possibly permit sea water to communicate up along the keel stud threading to this steel plate, enabling corrosion. My solution to this issue followed the suggestion of friends working in the yard at Palmer Johnsons: I ground through the joint crack maybe a quarter inch deep all around with a small cutting burr, maybe 3/16 diameter, in a Dremel machine. The resulting trough was filled in with 3M 5200 adhesive. On a warm day this stuff will sag, so two applications might be needed. After the goop set up and cured for 2 - 3 weeks, I went one step further -- the excess hardened goop was planed down to be essentially fair with the adjacent surface. This sealed the gap up nicely with a flexible "gasket." |
