Do you think this is a good answer?

[Juanca]

I am prepairing my vessel for a long trip. She is a Hunter Lengend 40, 1985.
I bought her in 2006. And when I was sanding the keel, I found some big holes in it. When I took out the antifoulling I found out some soft patches. I scratched with my fingers and they turn into sand!!!
I wrote to Hunter customer service and sent them some pictures.
Here is the answer. Please tell me what do you think.
Thanks

""Some keels had pockets inside the keel to be able to obtain the proper weight and shape, by the picture water may have gotten into this pocket at sometime or another and froze, the best repair would be to grind these areas and fill with epoxy and then apply a barrier coat and bottom paint.
Thanks,
Don Martin
Hunter Marine Customer Service
customerservice@huntermarine.com""

 

[tcbro]

I don't know about the explaination......

....for the pockets but the repair suggested is reasonable. Fill it with thicked epoxy.

 

[Steve677]

Castings...

The casting process involves ramming a sand/oil mixture called petro-bond around both halves of a split mold, then removing the mold. The two halves of the mold are then carefully put together and filled with molten steal through a spru hole cut through the sand. Risers are also cut in the sand to make sure the mold fills completely and that the steel/iron shrinks properly. If the sand mixture is too dry or the spru or risers aren't cut carefully you can have sand drop into the cavity and the result is sand inclusion in the casting. In some cases you might not even know it, in most cases the sand will be close to the surface. An quality control inspector should have pulled that casting and melted it down again but it is a little too late for that. Filling the hole is a good answer and should be all that you need to do.

 

[newly anonymous]

probably Bondo

that substance "turning to sand" when you scratch it is probably some type of Bondo. Be amazed that it lasted this long.

Thickened epoxy is certainly the way to go.