Keel Smile
Jan.21,2001 Dear Craig, I've been off cruising up to Martinique, which has kept me from returning posts promptly, for which I apologize. First, on the mast step compression, you seem a little unsure if it has in fact happened, so have you had a rigger actually test the rigging tension with a proper gauge? Obviously vastly over tightened rigging could be detected with this method. Don't try to figure this out by pulling on the rigging by hand, you can't tell how tight tight rigging is without a gauge. The mast steps on these boats are pretty tough and you would really have to be hauling on the bottle screws to cause compression to happen. If your unsure the only real way to determine if it is a problem is to take the boat to a crane and lift the mast off the step a couple of feet and take a look. If all is well the mast can be immediately replaced. If not you can finish lifting the stick out. If you can't get a good visual inspection this is the only way I know to confirm or refute if there is a problem. Your boat would be the first time I have heard of this happening on a Banateau by the way, but that does not mean that it can't happen. On the keel smile, this is normally a result of the casting not being a perfect fit to the hull and is a pretty common phenomenon. It does not mean that either the keel or the hull is deformed. The gap is normally slightly larger when the boat is hanging in the slings. The cure is to have the boat weight lifted slightly in the slings. Clean out the gap as well as you can and rinse it out and let it dry thoroughly. Then fill the gap right down to the keel bolts with as much caulking as you can possibly stuff into it. Use lots. Let it set up overnight and the next morning ease the weight off the slings and back onto the keel and take up the keel bolts if necessary. We've got a keel smile on The Legend and while I first found it alarming we took our own advice on this and since then the gap has not reopened, based on the inspections we've done on the last three haul outs since recaulking. We do not suffer from any water weeping around the keel bolts so I assume all is well. Fair Winds, Brian Pickton Aboard the Legend, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
