Cracks
Had the very same worry after pulling my 1987 H34 shoal keeled boat for the first time and saw the crack at the front of the keel and also some rust staining due to water penetration from the iron keel. I was told this is quite normal for this type of keel construction and is caused by the slight flexing of the fiber glass hull in normal use. The advice I was given by the boat yard was to let it dry out over the winter, sand off old bottom paint down to the gelcoat and fill with a good flexible water proof sealer, extending the sealer a half inch above and below the crack then repaint as normal with bottom paint. It seems this was good advice, as three years and three pulls later the crack is still covered by the flexible filler, the crack is invisible and no evidence of water penetration or related rust stains are in evidence. Hope this tip will be helpful.
