Keel to Hull Joint

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L

Larry14133

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Jul 17, 2006
75
Oday 302 Port Henry
The keel to hull joint on my O'Day 302 looks like it could use a little attention. It has been checked by the local shipyard and serveyer. The bolts are tight and and in good repair. There is no movement or leakage but their is a small gap in the aft part of the joint. I have been told there nothing to worrie about that it is shrinkage of the beding materail and there is no reason to drop the keel. Was going to recalk it before I bottom paint.

What is the best choice 3m 5200 or 4400, boat life?

Regards,

Larry
 
sailingdog

sailingdog

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Oct 22, 2008
3,502
- Telstar 28 Buzzards Bay
I would use 4200... but I would also ask a couple questions. First, how old your boat is, and whether the keel bolts have ever been inspected? Second, does the keel-hull join leak or weep when you haul the boat out??

If the boat is more than 15-20 years old and never had the keel bolts inspected, it might be a wise idea to drop the keel and check the bolts—and replace any that need it. This is especially true if the hull-keel join weeps when you haul the boat, as it is pretty likely that there is some water getting in and it may be causing crevice corrosion of the keel bolts.
 
Hermit Scott

Hermit Scott

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Sep 25, 2008
2,288
C30 Event Horizon Port Aransas
I have a catalina 30 which are notorious for this problem. I ground away all the fiaring compound and filled it with glass and epoxy to try to stop the cracking. Maybe it will make it worse, I don't know. On the leading edge and trailing edge I had about a 1" crack on both. Now I have about 3/4" of glass and epoxy. The sides of the keel have about 1/4" or so. I have the lift scheduled for this saturaday to pick it up and put it back in. I'll let you know if it cracks when picked up. If it does crack, I will open up the crack with a thin grinding disc and fill it with some quick dry marine caulk, bottom paint it, and then worry about it all the time. If it doesn't crack I will skip the marine caulk step and go straight to worrying about it all the time.
 
Hermit Scott

Hermit Scott

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Sep 25, 2008
2,288
C30 Event Horizon Port Aransas
Larry, The fiberglass job around the keel did not crack when the boat was picked up and hauled across the yard. We put her back in the water yesterday as planned. The real test will come after a year or two of sailing.
 
Alan

Alan

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Jun 2, 2004
4,174
Hunter 35.5 LI, NY
I know this kind of question has been raised a number of times. I replaced my keel in '96 after a wing was bent from a storm grounding. Prior to that I saw no sign of cracks or separation. Since the replacement I can't even locate the line where the keel stub meets the keel. I've never heard an explanation 'why' some boats will exhibit cracks while others will never show any sign of one.
My keel was installed with 3M 5200 and the standard keel bolt pattern. After the 5200 set up the seem was ground out, filled and fared. To this day it is completely undetectable.
 
Hermit Scott

Hermit Scott

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Sep 25, 2008
2,288
C30 Event Horizon Port Aransas
On the keel on my boat I couldn't tell where the keel stub and keel met either. I scraped it and checked closely while it was in the water. I ran aground in sand on the way to the boat yard, after I hauled it there was a small 1"crack in front and back.
I thought the problem with my year and model was that it has a plywood keel stub, and that they got wet and allowed more movement. But the later models that do not have a plywood keel stub also had the same problem.
The part that was cracked on mine was the fairing compound, (boat bondo). The underlying fiberglass was not cracked. Also I ground down to the 5200 joint all the way around. There were some places where previous repairs were done in fiberglass over the 5200 that were not cracked.
I have to conclude that the design was faulty. Some consider it faulty others just say that's the way it is. To me something that cracks under normal use is faulty.
SEARCH TERMS: catalina smile keelcrack keel crack C30 C 30 cracked
 
L

Larry14133

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Jul 17, 2006
75
Oday 302 Port Henry
Thanks for Help, I am going to patch it up with 4400 for this year and go with the fiberglass next year when i take it home to repaint the bottom.

Regards,

Larry
 
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