356 Keel Delamination

Dec 22, 2012
95
Hunter 27-3 103 Gables By The Sea
Seems like the yard would have told you if they dropped it and it seems like it would have had to really flex to cause that which would have broken something else also. Work with the obvious. It has to be fairing of some type because there is lead beneath. Fairing is generally not structural. Grind it back to see what you have. You have to work to where there is glass that is adhered to the keel or the sump. Use a plastic hammer to see if the area around sounds solid or hollow. Look carefully at the photo, there seem to be an oval that is different than the rest of the underside. You never said if the glass flared out was soft or stiff. Hos about a few more photos from the side too.
 
Dec 22, 2012
95
Hunter 27-3 103 Gables By The Sea
Chuckwayne and Crazy Dave, I was looking at the MarsKeel website and found these pictures. Note the file name is from MarsKeel and says Hunter 356. It's the deep keel no doubt but definitely "U" shaped.
Hunter-356-Bolt-Replacement-slider-1.JPG
 
Mar 20, 2004
1,729
Hunter 356 and 216 Portland, ME
CharlieSea,
Maybe they did something different for the deep keel.... I was at the marina today and neither of the 2 356s in the yard - shoal keel- look like that. I didn't count keelbolts but I will the next time I'm there because I don't think I've got that many
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
Those pictures then tell me what I was looking for. I ordered the wing keels only which would have been correct for a straight line only sealed with 5200 as was standard practice at that time. With a deep fin keel that would explain the u shape previously mentioned. The original post did not say which keel he had. Probably the deep fin keel. The keels were lead and there were times where keels may have misaligned which a fiberglass skirt could have been added to make a smooth transition from stub to keel.

I oconcur with those that something must have hit it. It looks like the fiberglass in the uppper part of the original photo was pulled apart and in between that on the left is a fresh or new mark/scratch in the metal
 
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Mar 3, 2003
710
Hunter 356 Grand Rivers
I hadn't gotten in on this, but I wondered if the keel might have been the deep keel. That is why it is different. All the 356 keels I have seen were shoal like mine. That explains the difference. I think it hit something pretty hard.
 
Dec 22, 2012
95
Hunter 27-3 103 Gables By The Sea
Guys, there is no difference only that the fin keel is longer and has no wings. Mine is a wing keel. Look at the bolts in your bilge they could only work with the U shape. Look at the front large bolt with the 1/2" one right in front of it which are 10" higher than the other large bolts; this is just as shown in the Keel drawing. Look also at the aft 1/2" bolt that is right at hull level as shown in the drawing. What you are probably looking at is fairing that would wrap and hide the U parts. Anyways this solves nothing as we still haven't figured out why the fairing at the aft end of the keel has come loose and bent in such a peculiar way.
 
Sep 4, 2007
764
Hunter 33.5 Elbow, Saskatchwen, Can.
Could the straps from the lift do that kind of damage? If they weren't set right would/could it roll up the back of the keel and cause that kind of damage?
Just my 2 cents
 
Mar 20, 2004
1,729
Hunter 356 and 216 Portland, ME
CharlieSea,
This is a question we'll never solve, and we're not helping the poster....
I saw my keel upon delivery, before it was painted, and a year later used it to find an umarked rock. the repair required redoing the fairing and the joint was straight.
I'm hull # 198, and I've also seen #199 close up. What's your Hull# - maybe they made a change
 
Dec 22, 2012
95
Hunter 27-3 103 Gables By The Sea
Mine is 323. No matter, the deep and shoal were the same. Both keel deep and shoal drawings are dated June 2001. It would make no economic sense to do it any other way. The boats get keeled at the end of the production cycle. The only difference in the boats is deep or shoal, nothing else changes. So if there was an unsold boat or an order change in production then they could make it deep or shoal at the last minute. The ratio of deep to shoal as a good guess was 85% shoal and 15% deep. My guess on the poster is loose fairing material. Only solution is to carefully grind away and check the laminate in the area of the keel as well as the internal hull reinforcements in the area. Additionally you can sound out the area with a small hammer to see if it sounds solid.
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
Would be interested knowing the length at the top of the deep fin keel, same with shoal keel, as well as the length of the stub. The shoal keel and stub would be the same length but have wnondered what the length of the stub shown in the photo Marsmetal is.