New Owner needs help with "Bottom" Issues

[seadoggie]

My brother and I are the proud owners of Elegance, a 40' Hunter Legacy, 1985. She has been well maintained (Thanks Neale!). We hauled her for the winter, and started sanding the ablative paint. There were cracks in the paint over the joint between the hull glass, and the keel. At the interface, pulling away the flakes showed a little water trickling out, appearing to be caught between the hull and the keel. I am sure there has been some flex there, and we will be checking the keel bolts/nuts when we find a monster socket. Finally, my question: What is the best material to seal this type of defect back up? Seems like something with a little flexibility would be best to keep from cracking at the interface, but what can we get to stick to this metal/glass interface? Thanks to any and all who can help! Eric

 

[Ed Schenck]

I have had the same 5200 seal in my "smile" for ten years. No noticeable change, no new cracks.

 

[rivettw]

Got the same as Mr. Ed. 37' cutter. 5200 at the seam, hull and keel. 3 yrs, no problems.
Wally

 

[seadoggie]

Thanks guys for your response. What do you mean by a "5200"? Also, now that we have opened her up, what would be the best material to seal her back? Thanks, Eric

 

[Steve Dion]

5200 is a 3M product that is used as a caulk/sealant. It has amazing strength. I assume that Hunter used this stuff to aid in the attachment of the keel to the keel stub.

If you have a West Marine Catalogue you can read about some of it's qualities.

There are only a few places on a boat there it really should be used. You DO NOT want to use it on thru hull fittings, on deck hardware etc. Most anything that you plan on removing in the foreseeable future.

Always check out the properties for these caulks/sealants before using these products between two surfaces.

 

[amcmahon]

Seadoggie, one quick point about 5200, it gets very runny in cold weather (like MD) if applied to a vertical surface, it will not stay in place. The first time I used it was to install a new transducer for the sonar. It was late December in southern NC. Temp was in the 40's and the 5200 started ozzing out. I solved the problem by putting a 100w light right next to the new thruhull and left it over night. That was 8 years ago and its still holding great.