Having just purchased a 81HTM back in July, one that had seen years of neglect, but no apparent damage, other than the leaky keel bolts at keel,,and the stress cracks in the bilge,,This leads me to believe she ran aground hard at sometime,, 6 of the 8 nuts were loose. Resealed and Retightened to specs and the leak stop at rest but started again once she sailed, Now there is Black ooze coming up from under washers???
Looks like a keel removal is in order; MY question is;
Is there a balsa core in the keel step? Some say it's solid glass, others say wood?
There is a lot of compression bends on the large washers, (cupped downward) an experience boat restoration guy in town says its due to compression of the keel step and more than likely the wood core is shot?? I will know my answer this Saturday as to solid glass or wood core,
Looks like a keel removal is in order; MY question is;
Is there a balsa core in the keel step? Some say it's solid glass, others say wood?
There is a lot of compression bends on the large washers, (cupped downward) an experience boat restoration guy in town says its due to compression of the keel step and more than likely the wood core is shot?? I will know my answer this Saturday as to solid glass or wood core,