keel composition?

[dobermanct_dave]

Hello-

I am in the process of doing a complete refit of my Vega, #2917. The current task is to strip the hull down to bear gelcoat and give a good many coats of barrier coat. On the stbd after and of the keel I had noticed a stripe of discoloring, which tended to weep water. I had assumed that it might have been just dew or maybe rainwater that was seeping into the bilge somehow getting there.

The other day I routed out the weeping holes with a Dremyl tool, and the seeping seemed to be coming from deep in the laminate. Today I drilled a few holes to finally sort it out. Looks as if there is a void in there that is full of some sort of brown sandy material (vermiculite?). Water from the hull area somewhare must be getting in there and saturating it, as there has been rainwater getting in from the stern. I am working on stopping that

Any sage advice? Here's a snapshot of what I'm talking about. http://users.adelphia.net/~bachandd/hull.jpg

Dave

 

[towlerg]

Hi Dave,

there was a thread about the keel void, also look at the files section
for Keel_Construction.jpg (Construction of the keel in early
petrol Vegas). This diagram is true for Vista 1043 but maybe not for
your much newer boat.

Very interesting re stripping gelcoat, why? Do you have osmosis?

George Towler "Vista" 1043

 

[dobermanct_dave]

Hi,

No, I'm not actually taking the gelcoat off, just a mess of old bottom paint and barrier coat that a previous owner slopped on, and which was peeling off..

I have noticed however that there are a lot of tiny voids just below the gelcoat, which showed up when I sanded down the mess. I think that the gelcoat below the waterline is a little thin from previous bottom jobs. So, I'm trying to fair it all up and seal it before I go ahead and slop all kind of barrier and bottom paint on it myself.

Was just curious if anyone else has found this area flooded, and what they did about it. Also if I am not the only one to find these small holes. They look like bubbles from the chopper gun. I'm thinking abount glassing in a drain plug much as the earlier thread mentioned.

Ideas?

Dave V2917