Crack at top of keel

[Jim Bessinger]

Ive had a 1990 H30 for two years now and this season upon hauling out I noticed a fine jaged crack, running horizontialy about 3 to 4 inches below the hull, about half the length from front to center. What is wrong? Do the keel bolts need tightened? Is this normal? Ive not run aground.Thanks Jim Bessinger

 

[Don Riha]

My guess is its common

I have a 89 and I had the same problem about 5-7 years ago. We cleaned out the crack and patched it, but don't remember exactly with what. The following year it cracked again and we patched it again. It is still ok. My guess is the keel flexs a little and cracks the glas at the joint. I saw this on one other Hunter but there are not too many around here so I don't know how common it is. I am surprised it hasn't happened before now or it may have and been patched.

 

[Dean Strong]

VERY Common

I have a 1990 Hunter 30 with the same crack, as does every other Hunter sitting in the yard right now. It is not only common on Hunters, but on all fiberglass boats of this vintage with bolted on keels.The crack probably isn't from loose keel bolts. If your nuts are loose, you'll have seepage in the bildge.It's not a bad idea to try to tighten them if you want (I couldn't budge mine). They take a 1 1/8th inch deep socket on a half inch drive. I didn't actually check to see how much torque that size of nut takes; there is no way you could over torque. The nuts are considerably larger than auto lug-nuts, so you can just tighten them as far as you can.The crack is simply from the keel & hull flexing ever so slightly from the vast about of lateral pressure on the keel, especially when the boat is heeled.I'm hauled out right now, and after reading the many posts in the archives about this, contacted Hunter. Their recommendation was to open the crack with a Dremel tool, fill the crack with 3M5200, and glass over it. It should last at least a few years before the crack opens up again. I've got a current post about it on the Ask a Hunter Owner forum. Send me your e-mail address to D.Strong@Verizon.net and I'll forward the e-mail correspondence from the factory.It's not a tough job at all. You might check the archives to see what other creative things people have done.

 

[jcherubini]

Keel bolts

You asked, is this from keel bolts being too loose?No. If anything they're more likely to cause a crack by being too TIGHT.The bolts to not really hold the keel on. That is supposed to be the job of the adhesive. I have a H-25 now that needs its keel re-set because the prior owner had it bedded in 5200. 5200 is simply NOT strong enough to hold the keel on the boat. The keel bolts had kept the keel from falling off, but the water poured in round their holes within seconds of floating the boat and the hoist had to haul it back up immediately. Tightening the bolts will NOT keep water out if the adhesive is not up to the job.If someone at Hunter advised you to use 5200 and to then glass over it, Hunter needs to evaluate their support staff. Glassing over 5200 will do nothing but flake off in another year. Grind out the crack-- only a little-- fill with 5200, and PAINT over it. The 5200 is too flexible to handle brittle glass. I would not waste time glassing over a lead keel anyway-- there simply will NOT be any reliable chemical bond between the two. There are specialty adhesives made for keel-to-hull joints. East Coasters can contact Mahogany Company in Mays Landing NJ for one such product (where I am getting mine but I forgot what it's called-- I'll find out in the week if you must know).This is only a cosmetic fix anyway due to the differences in flexion between the keel, the hull, and the adhesive. If it is not leaking, that means it is not leaking. Deal with it superficially because it is only superficial. If such a crack meant the keel were going to crack off, you'd see major delamination between the lead and the 'glass. The boat would then leak like a sieve and the bolts would keep the lead on till you got hauled out or towed ashore. It's really only on hi-tech race boats or with really unscrupulous builders that the inherent safety parameters of the correct adhesion processes are disregarded.JC 2