Fiberglass keel repair

[JayK]

Recently I bought a 79 Oday 25 and I noticed that there is a small hairline crack in the front of the shoal keel on the left and right side. Basically its right around the area that the daggerboard comes out and 6 inches or so from the bottom of the keel. I dont have all that much experience with sailboat keels but is this something to be worried about? I am especially interested in what I should use to fill this hairline crack. Some sort of fiberglass repair putty? It feels structurally sound and I dont notice any weird sound when taping on it with a hammer.

 

[Ed Garcia]

Keel Repairs

I had to do a repair on my 1978 O'Day keel. Apparently some one had run aground and left a 1" x 2" x 1/16" deep divot in the glass in the same area, but no cracks. I just ground the edges smooth and used a epoxy filler to fill and finally sanded it flush. Once the bottom paint was on, you can't even see it. If I were you and they concern you then grind it down till they disappear, any deeper than about 1/8" and you might have structural damage. But that can be repaired in the same way I did. If it is worst then grind back a larger area and apply both epoxy and fiberglass to the area. There are plenty of good books on glass repair around. Its not hard and very rewarding to be able to fix your own boat. Good Luck.

 

[Tim Huss]

repair

I would grind it back feathering afew inches on each side you should grind as deep as the crack is, until it is gone if you have recently hauled it let it dry thoroughly, once it is dry depending how severe it was lay it up with layers if you had to grind past the first layer of mat into the roving replace with roving then matt make sure each layer is larger than the one under it alway put matt between your layers of roving, as far as resins I prefer west system but polyester will work ok If you grind and it is not past the first matt as long as it is not very large cathair mixed with resin will be fine you shouldnt have to hard of a time just make sure it is dry good luck Tim

 

[JayK]

Thanks

Looks like I am going to make sure the area is dry, grind out the area using a dremmel, and then use a high quality epoxy filler to fill it in. Thanks for the advice!Jay