Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

While I was sanding the bottom paint off, I noticed a nice crack on the bottom of the boat...I'm gonna need some advice/guidence/words of encouragement on this one...haha

Toward the bow, the crack stops and its just bare glass, as you can see

Anybody have any ideas on what to do? My plan was to take the first couple of layers of glass off and see how deep/bad it is, and take it from there. Thanks for any advice.

-andrew

[image]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e247/yamtt125/Keel%20Crack/KeelCrack001.jpg?t=1179864912[/image]

[image]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e247/yamtt125/Keel%20Crack/KeelCrack002.jpg?t=1179864972[/image]

[image]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e247/yamtt125/Keel%20Crack/KeelCrack003.jpg?t=1179864991[/image]

[image]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e247/yamtt125/Keel%20Crack/KeelCrack004.jpg?t=1179865036[/image]

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

Repost...I changed your image links...
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...elCrack001.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...elCrack002.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...elCrack003.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...elCrack004.jpg

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

thanks...so i know for the future, what was wrong with them?

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

The first thing you will have to do is determine if this long crack is just a bad scrape like some of the scrapes I see on the bottom of the boat OR is this a flex type crack that happened from the inside and is now showing up on the out side of the hull. From what I see it doesn’t look good. You will need to pull out the grinder and grind until there is No More Crack. IF you are in the middle of a re do project you could go in from the inside and look and maybe remove the center stringer and see if you can see any cracks there and start from the inside and then work on the outside.

FellowShip

_______________________________________________

My motto: Just for the Grins :o :(

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

Andrew, Iv'e seen this scenario before :(

I might be wrong but by looking at the deep groove in the keel and the numerous gouges/scratches in the surrounding area; lend me to believe the boat is improperly set up on the trailer. I doubt you are running the boat up on rocks and rough sandbars and if you are "QUIT" :o

Follow "Fellowship's" advise and Good Luck

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

I took the "?t=1179865036" off the ends.....it should end at the .jpg

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

That crack i believe is from a Float On trailer that did not have any padding covering the trailer axels. What happens is when you drive it on the trailer the deep vee hits the top of the trailer cross memebers, usually that spot cause thats where it is the deepest. If you are going to use a float on trailer use KEEL GUARD it will help a lot. Float On trailers are nice and easier but there is a price to pay. Goodluck and keep us informed.

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

You JUST found that?

I agree with Capt. Chuck. This is repeated power loading gouging. Yes, the trailer needs to be set up properly. If you treated your kid with that degree of recklessness and neglect, we'd see you on CNN... We're advising SeaCraft child services.

Seriously, you will need to dig in there to find the end of the damage and start your repair from there. Best of luck.

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

I am glad to say that I didn't cause it...I bought the hull completely stripped in january of 06' as a project, and I have yet to be out on it. The guy that I bought it from only owned it for mabey a couple years at most, and he did buy a roller trailer for it, but its not much of anything, and is most likely set up wrong, and deffinately doesn't have enough rollers. The plan is to restore her, and keep her in a slip, so the trailer thing isn't really a big deal. For some reason i just never looked at the very bottom...atleast i can say that even if i knew the damage was there, i still would have bought the boat.

Does anybody think that i could do the repair with no or very little acess through the floor? I had planned to redo the floor in a couple years because i just want to get her on the water. There aren't any soft spots in the floor. I have replaced the wood in the transom though.
Thanks for that advice thus far...i'll prob be able to post more pics tomorro of what i uncover.

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

The problem from working from the bottom with out flipping the boat is gravity. You are wanting the epoxy and glass to seep into not separate from your working surface but if you use the vacuum bag method that will overcome the gravity issues.
Things to do:
1. grind, grind, grind to there is no more crack and then feather it out 4 to 6” out from there. If you run out of hull glass and put a hole in the boat’s bottom so be it.
2. determine if you have to go into this project from the inside. If you do that means removing the CC, and gas tank, it’s deck, and removing the wood center stringer.
3. rebuild with epoxy and glass to ½” thick hull or maybe a little more that that. Using Vacuum bag method. Then repair scratches all around and re gel coat the entire bottom of the boat then if you are putting in the water bottom paint.

This looks like a keg of Beer type job to me + I hate working upside down. This job should be done on boat stands not on the trailer and to get her up in the air a high as possible so you can access the bottom easier. Sorry for the bad report but it is what it is.

FellowShip

_______________________________________________

My motto: Just for the Grins :( :D

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

I started to grind away at the 3 ft section with the crack, and this is what i found...

-the wood from the center stringer in in good shape.
-it looks like there is a small gap between the stringer and the hull that was once filled with a cabosil mixture, but since then has broken up.

Just incase anybody had a question, this section in in the forward part of the boat. The mid and rear of the boat seems fine. If I was to flip the boat, would I be able to fix her that way? From what I can tell by looking at the stringer near the transom, the center stringer is in good condition.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...elCrack008.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...elCrack007.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...elCrack006.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...elCrack005.jpg

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

Yamit, that's a tough repair and should unfortunately be done from the inside. I've been down that road and all my efforts to make the repairs from the outside always returned, plus it's very difficult to fare out with the thickness of glass you'll need to layup. And the area you'll need to cover needs to be much larger than what you have sanded.

Good luck.

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

Fin,
To me, its a really wierd situation..i'm still trying to think of why this happened, and the best thing that i can come up with is abuse from being beached ALOT. The pressure from the wieght of the boat being put on that small amount of glass on the bottom makes sense, and all of the scratches would also make sense.
The glass that is around the wood center stringer on the inside of the boat seems to be in good condition. In the first 2 pics, this can kinda be seen, but the view isn't the best.
I still don't know what i'm gonna do..

Does anybody have pics of similar projects and how they solved it?

-andrew

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

From the sinario's I've seen that's been the culprit. Not to say improper trailing couldn't do it either. Or a combo of both.

Even something as stupid as this that happened last weekend next to my house (please note silly geezer to the right that couldn't keep his mug out of every frig'n pic).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...l/DSCF0010.jpg

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

The thing that needs to be determined First of all, is this a Structural problem? Or is this just a hole because of some sort of damage like the picture of the over anxious boater who launched his boat before he got to the dock.
If this is Structural then the best way is the Only way to do it. If this is just a hole in a very bad location you could go with the easy way.

The best way:
Go in from the inside first remove stringer build up area that stringer was with woven roven starting with 3 pieces 18” wide then 3 pieces 12” wide the 3 pieces 6” wide in the area of the hole going 2 feet in front and behind then building a lateral bulk head from port to starboard stringer for additional structural support using lots of glass. Then you can use the vacuum bag approach or flip the boat and build up the bottom to approx ½” glass thickness then gel coat and bottom paint.
For me the Best Way is the Only Way to go.

But for the easy way:
Sand the bottom paint off and get to the gel coat 1 Foot wide on both sides of the center line and inspect for additional cracks grind a little further forward and back of the hole to confirm you got all the cracks out feather it out more, flip the boat or vacuum bag the hole and HOPE you fixed it instead of just putting a bandage over a skin cancer.

If you are right and someone worked on this area before than forget the bandage and go for the best way.

There is a lot of sweat equity in this one really not that much $$ to fix it. 2 Gal of epoxy and glass and Lots of Beer will do it. Getting to the area doing the work putting it back together again would be Lots of work.

FellowShip

_______________________________________________

My motto: Just for the Grins :D

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

Finster, Looks like those guys are bringing new meaning to the term "roll on" trailer, or in this case "roll off??"

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

Finster,
and the boat was in MA, so the beaches most likely were not soft sand.

Fellow...
the glass directly under the stringer, where the hole is, is not 1/2 in thick, you can see that by the pics above. But, i do believe that the glass on the hull on both sides of the stringer is 1/2 in..you can just tell by knocking on it...if that makes sense, and i know the hull near the transom is pretty damn think, so i expect it is all like this.. Is it normal for there to be the differrent thicknesses?

I don't think its a structural problem, like i said before, the glass feels and looks very solid, and you can't see any delamitation of the glass where it joins the stringer and the hull. Sorry if what i'm saying is confusing...its hard to explain, but thanks for the help thus far.
-andrew

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

Just my .02 but I think if you were able to flip the boat, you could get an effective repair from the outside. Like the others said use epoxy and grind farther back than you think you need to.

Maybe I missed it but is the boat a 20 or 23?
Keep us posted.

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

In case you are like me and need a visual like me. This is from the West System website.

http://www.westsystem.com/ewmag/16/i...40-Plastic.jpg

Do this from the outside. but be sure to grind out around the crack area unlike it shows in the graphic. Hope that helps. Good luck.

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

Ha Yamtt;

One of the things I and many of the other guys on this sight have done and practice all the time is to always do the job Better and Stronger than the original Seacraft’s were built. Not that the boat was built poorly originally but to simply improve at a little “kick it up a notch”. The boat might not have been ½ inch thick originally but look what has happened. It was either sanded of by beaching over ruff terrain, or the boat hit a object under the water like a rock or a tree. By over building, If it is that in this area is a safety practice. You could either build up the keel from the eye cleat all the way back to the center of the boat with four then two inch strips of glass and then just filler in form the old hull gelcoat into the new keel thickness. Cosmetically you would not notice and now you got more glass there. If you go in from the inside you could build up from the inside and your ½” thick that way.


FellowShip
__________________________________________________ ________
Just for the Grins :D

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

FELLOW-SHIP is right and excellant instructions, yeas ago I fixed the kell in a boat and asked the right people on how to do it outside (I did turn the boat over, and the metod they recommended was to go .eight times the the size of the crack

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

sorry about not responding, i went away for the weekend...

I've decided to temporarily fix it from the exterior, then next winter when i redo the deck with plasteak and possible put the gas tank under the deck, i will correctly fix it from the inside.
I think it will be fine for the one summer, but does anybody think it will not hold up for the one season as long as i'm gentle with her?
I'f I had plenty of time, then i would do it, but i'm so pressed for time because i have to finish transome, console, and paint her, new components everywhere in about a month, while working full time....but it'll get done. I'll make sure i do everything the right way, no half-a$$ stuff.

Thanks for all the advice guys...i'll start on it as soon as i'm done sanding all the bottom paint off.

-andrew

Re: Nice crack I just found on the keel...
 

Does anybody know if gelcoat can be applied to quick fair or should i stick with a poly based fairing compound? When I regel coat the bottom, i plan on using the interlux epoxy primer to seal it.