My keel thinks it's a popsicle!

[Project_Mayhem]

Oh I've more than earned that sticker! I spent more hours than I care to remember removing bottom paint last year.

I've used Jamestown products in the past and still use some of them today. I'm not a fan of their resin only because their "fast" hardener takes like 30 minutes to kick. The EcoSolvent works very well. I primed the resin pumps and mindlessly tossed the container on deck. The container melted leaving partially cured resin in the cockpit. It cleaned up very nicely. Fumes aren't too bad either.

I'm planning on doing more exploratory grinding but I did come up with another idea... If I drill a hold from the bilge or higher up in the keel I might be able to inject resin to fill in the cracks.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

We went to start the engine on my boat today. For some reason it wouldnt start. I opened the lazzarette and thought to myself, "Hrmmm... That carb smells like its spitting a ton of fuel." I went back to starting. I took a quick look around, tried starting again and then had that Aha moment. I had disconnected the gas line. There was a small puddle of gas by the motor. I cleaned it up and reconnected the lines. After letting the fuel pump run for about 30 seconds it fired right up with no shortage of blue smoke (2 stroke). the cabin smelled very strongly of gas but I shrugged it off and let the engine run for a bit. Then my girlfriend noticed something unusual. She said, "There's something leaking from the keel"
I was a bit baffled and the walked towards to boat to investigate
"This isn't water. I think you'd better take a look"
I was still a bit puzzled but I had a feeling I knew what it was. When I got on the ground I could see a lightly colored fluid pouring out of one of the centerboard screw holes (it's currently removed for repairs). We both took a closer look and with a bit of doubt we agreed that it was probably gas. I immediately went to pull the cover to the bilge. As she climbed into the cabin I dipped my fingers into some fluid sitting in the bilge. It was gas. We talked for a minute and noticed that the fluid was disappearing. As the fluid drained out of the bilge the stream from the keel got weaker. I believe she found the reason why the keel had cracked to begin with. O'Day's are notorious for leaking, water got into the bilge, seeped into the keel and froze.
With no obvious cracks in the bilge our best guess is that it's leaking around the rusted out keel hooks. I'm thinking that one fix might be to pull the C/B bolts, tape over the hole, pour some resin or Git Rot into the bilge until it tries to ooze out the bottom. Once hardened the C/B holt holes can be drilled and re-tapped. Thoughts?