On Saturday my Wavelength 24 went aground on rocks. Wave action pounded the keel until about 12 inches broke off. The obvious fixes are replace and repair. I am already looking into a replacement from the manufacturer. I could use some help finding a repair place in or near South Carolina. How do you repair a broken keel ? The keel is NOT fiberglass encased. It's bare lead alloy except for paint.
What do you do with a broken keel ?
- Thread starter AnchorDragger
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Dragger, if you have not already done so, send this picture to Tom Schock at W.D. Schock in Ca. Something about this picture doesn't seem to gel with your description. The Wavelenth 24 (by the way - a COOL BOAT) has a draft of 4'6". I'm wondering what you have remaining. Knowing the aspect ratio of this keel, it appears you have nearly that now. That in conjunction with the clean break, makes me wonder if a previous owner perhaps did a little extension work. I know that seems weird, but it just looks suspect. I considered just keeping quiet - don't want to send you on a wild goose chase, but think a little research might be useful.
Wow.. not good.. Schock specificatiions say that it is fiberglass covered, but not like a typical lead filled fiberglass keel..I see the trailing edge fairing strip bent back; it shows how much is missing ! Wow.. A useful fix for a crack like that is difficult to accomplish with the keel on the boat.. These guys may have some ways to repair it;
http://www.marskeel.com/repairs-modifications
A fix would be to drill the stub tip vertically and install 4 or 5 stainless rods into the stub .. the rods might be about 18" long with 9" sticking out the bottom.. then a replacement for the missing part could be cast of lead alloy, then drilled to accept the rods.. then the holes filled with epoxy and the boat set onto the new stub. Once the epoxy sets, the correct airfoil would be ground onto the new part.. then the fiberglass fairing installed.. A very precise and technical job overall.. I would not attempt that..
Best would be to get with Schock and have your insurance folks work it with them or the Mars Keel folks .. My guess would be a new keel for your boat and Mars would take the old one in trade.. Good Luck with the fix !
http://www.marskeel.com/repairs-modifications
A fix would be to drill the stub tip vertically and install 4 or 5 stainless rods into the stub .. the rods might be about 18" long with 9" sticking out the bottom.. then a replacement for the missing part could be cast of lead alloy, then drilled to accept the rods.. then the holes filled with epoxy and the boat set onto the new stub. Once the epoxy sets, the correct airfoil would be ground onto the new part.. then the fiberglass fairing installed.. A very precise and technical job overall.. I would not attempt that..
Best would be to get with Schock and have your insurance folks work it with them or the Mars Keel folks .. My guess would be a new keel for your boat and Mars would take the old one in trade.. Good Luck with the fix !
Do you know where it broke off? That much lead might be worth having a diver recover for you. Then drill and lag bolt back into the keel on the boat. . .fair and fill with fiberglass 
That is assuming, as was mentioned, that what broke off was lead. . .looks to be a very parallel and clean break from your picture
Just my 2 cents
That is assuming, as was mentioned, that what broke off was lead. . .looks to be a very parallel and clean break from your picture
Just my 2 cents
I think the bigger concern at this point is what the pounding did to the section of the hull that supports the keel?
Then again if all that happened is what looks like some dammage to 12" of the fiberglass fairing it may not be so bad ?
Then again if all that happened is what looks like some dammage to 12" of the fiberglass fairing it may not be so bad ?
A lead keel won't break off with that kind of line unless it had been cast in two pieces. Also, you cannot get that kind of damage on that style of design without major interior structural damage. Get the interior structure surveyed.
I have to agree with TLW's viewpoint. Lead does not break like that. It looks like the previous owner installed a keel shoe to increase stability. It's a pretty common modification for tender racing boats that race with light crews or in heavy air venues. Mars Keels will definitely be able to cast a new shoe if choose to replace it. It's a project that an advanced "do it yourselfer" can handle.
Interesting theory, and I wish you were right because my problem would go away. But my boat was dry sailed for the last 7 or 8 years while being raced against at least one other of the same model. Competitors would have noticed a 12 inch extension. I also have seen other Wavelength 24's on trailers. I think I would have noticed too. But I will measure my boat's draft to be sure.
I suspect the horizontal break resulted from having the keel wedged between the 1 to 2 foot rocks on the angled lake bottom and then bending to port then starboard repeatedly. Will know more after I retrieve the broken off piece.
I didn't say anything in previous post, not wanting to be argumentative, but this does appear to be a lead casting encased in FRP, not just paint. As someone mentioned, the fiberglass tape from trailing edge is still there. If there is no structural damage to hull, and insurance doesn't spring for a new keel (they should) you could look into thru-bolting a lead bulb - torpedo - at bottom of existing keel.
Are there no sailboat shops in area that can reset a keel? No different, really, than re-bedding one. Discussion of that elsewhere on this site.
Hate to mention what you already know, but sometimes people do things without thinking clearly - be sure, in measuring your draft, that you do so from the waterline, not just the depth of the keel itself.
Sorry you have to deal with this. Insurance route would be best, but that may present a problem, also, regarding cost of lead keel + $hipping + labor versus the book value of the boat. be sure to at least use BUC value, not NADA.
Are there no sailboat shops in area that can reset a keel? No different, really, than re-bedding one. Discussion of that elsewhere on this site.
Hate to mention what you already know, but sometimes people do things without thinking clearly - be sure, in measuring your draft, that you do so from the waterline, not just the depth of the keel itself.
Sorry you have to deal with this. Insurance route would be best, but that may present a problem, also, regarding cost of lead keel + $hipping + labor versus the book value of the boat. be sure to at least use BUC value, not NADA.
As much as i can see the gap sitting on the trailer its just not making sence to me
From and owning TWO J24s POV and hitting plenty of rocks with lead keels in many size boats I have sure never seen a piece of lead shear off like it was carefully cut?
From and owning TWO J24s POV and hitting plenty of rocks with lead keels in many size boats I have sure never seen a piece of lead shear off like it was carefully cut?
Tomorrow I will measure the vertical distance from the waterline to the broken keel end and take a couple of closeup picture of the break. Will post the results here.
Kloudie1, Thanks for the Mars Keel recommendation. Burlington, Ontario is 900 miles from my S. Carolina location. I hope someone knows about a good facility closer than that.
All I can tell you about the fiberglass encasing some have mentioned is that that is not what I found when I sanded down the now red painted lower part of the keel just a few months ago. I found paint and then lead immediately under the paint. Anyone looking at it would say the same thing. I put on two coats of Interlux Interprotect, which I bought in advance because I was expecting fiberglass. It served as a primer for the two coats of red VC-17. I cannot say what the surface layers were when the keel was built in 1984.
Kloudie1, Thanks for the Mars Keel recommendation. Burlington, Ontario is 900 miles from my S. Carolina location. I hope someone knows about a good facility closer than that.
All I can tell you about the fiberglass encasing some have mentioned is that that is not what I found when I sanded down the now red painted lower part of the keel just a few months ago. I found paint and then lead immediately under the paint. Anyone looking at it would say the same thing. I put on two coats of Interlux Interprotect, which I bought in advance because I was expecting fiberglass. It served as a primer for the two coats of red VC-17. I cannot say what the surface layers were when the keel was built in 1984.
http://www.wdschock.com/boats/wavelength24/wl24_specs.htm
You will notice at this WD Schock website that they specifically say the keel in encased in fiberglass. Can't wait wait for your pics & measurements. real mystery going here!
You will notice at this WD Schock website that they specifically say the keel in encased in fiberglass. Can't wait wait for your pics & measurements. real mystery going here!
What to do with a broken keel?
Here's another possibility. The original keel pour could have been done in two pours. The first pour may have cooled too much before the second pour was started. That would have created a cold joint which has little strength.
Here's another possibility. The original keel pour could have been done in two pours. The first pour may have cooled too much before the second pour was started. That would have created a cold joint which has little strength.
Close-up keel pictures
I measured the vertical distance between the waterline and the keel support plate on my trailer. As close as I could determine it matches the 4 ft 6 inch specification. Also the distance between keel stub and keel support plate is 12 +/- 0.5 inches. And I see some kind of coating over the lead where the break occurred. I saw only lead in the places where I accidentally broke thru the paint when prepping the keel for a coating of VC-17. The thin layer is tan. I don't know what material it is.
A friend located the broken off keel piece in 4 feet of water this morning, but he didn't have the equipment needed to recover it. He marked the location for a recover attempt on Thursday. Estimated weight 100 to 125 pounds. Water temperature is about 57 degrees.
I measured the vertical distance between the waterline and the keel support plate on my trailer. As close as I could determine it matches the 4 ft 6 inch specification. Also the distance between keel stub and keel support plate is 12 +/- 0.5 inches. And I see some kind of coating over the lead where the break occurred. I saw only lead in the places where I accidentally broke thru the paint when prepping the keel for a coating of VC-17. The thin layer is tan. I don't know what material it is.
A friend located the broken off keel piece in 4 feet of water this morning, but he didn't have the equipment needed to recover it. He marked the location for a recover attempt on Thursday. Estimated weight 100 to 125 pounds. Water temperature is about 57 degrees.
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The tan layer, I believe is a fairing compound, but it is way too thick to have been used just too true the foil shape. Besides that process would be outside the glass. The lead casting (if you can call it a casting, is very rough. My guess is they used that fairing layer to arrive at the designed shape of the keel. Over that you appear to have a thin layer of CSM and gelcoat. It appears that other horizontal lines are present on the lead. May just be scratches from your grounding, but also could be potential "seams" from a bad casting job.I don't see much here that I would want to salvage.
Comes down to insurance??? Have you talked with Tom Schock???
Comes down to insurance??? Have you talked with Tom Schock???
I agree with Ted, the keel was not cast in one pour. The fact it was encapsilated in fiberglass hide the fault. Your choice would be to remove the keel completly. There are companies that produce replacements. I would expect the choice would be expensive.
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