Hole repair
How I did mine: My repair was to fill the damaged area caused by the locking bolt being forced forward into the fiberglass keel trunk. I believe that this technique can also be used for your keel bolt hole. I cut-up an estimated 1/4 cup of fiberglass with a sissor...almost but not "chopped" fiberglass. I started with a long 1" strip of fiberglass and then slowly trimmed no more than 1/8 " per snip of the sissor until I had about 1/4 cup of loose cut fibers. Using a small piece of scrap hardware...small enough to fit into the hole, I attached a 1/4' X 4" bolt to that piece of metal using two nuts. The bolt was the handle for the flat piece of metal. I added epoxy to the cut fiberglass, just enough to create a fiberglass putty of sorts. I inserted the flat piece of metal into the hole and held it in position with the bolt. *The flat metal piece is the backing plate behind the open damaged area. (A helper holding the metal plate in position simplifies the job.) Using a plastic knife, I filled the damaged area by packing the it and then smoothing the area with the plastic knife. Leave a slightly raised area for future sanding. Pushing the metal backing piece of metal to the other side of the trunk, do exactly the same packing and then smoothing of the hole. I you are satisfied with your repair, using a pair of needle nose pliers to hold the nut, unscrew the bolt. The metal piece will fall to the ground and the bolt can be removed. Don't touch the repair for at least one day. After one day, using a probe, ascertain the alignment of the holes. Drill the hole to size (I used a 1/2" drill bit) first, then using a sanding block, sand the surface smooth so that the rubber washers will seal the hole from splashing water. **As this repair applies to your keel bolt holes: I suggest that you use masking tape left, right, top, and bottom of the hole, and mark that tape to determine the original center of the hole before you start your repair. You may have to compensate for the malalignment of the locking bolt by raising the hole center up as necessary. When redrilling the holes, us a fixture on your drill to assure exact accuracy of both holes. If you free-hand drill the holes, your keel will most likely hang at a slant! There is no way possible to free-hand drill and achieve any true alignment. If you are removing your keel, for the fiberglass backing a piece of wood crammed up inside the trunk and jammed into position with a second piece of wood simplifies the problem of packing the fiberglass "putty." I hope I haven't made this sound too complex. I'm sure that there are many other techniques out there, but whatever works for you is all that matters.
