Earlier I posted a help question concerning the schematics on the internal cradle configuration for the keel because my boats keel had been damaged when she was beached during hurricane Arthur.
I just learned that my boat is a write-off because the internal cradle has become delaminated.
The discovery of this very dangerous situation was a fluke. Had my boat simply been lifted out of the water and placed on its trailer / cradle there would have been no indication that the keel had been compromised.
As luck would have it my bilge pump crapped out a week before haul-out so there was some water in the bilge. When I took her out for repairs at Moose Island Marine in Eastport ME, the boat was carried a distance from the water to the boatyard by the travel lift. While the boat was still hanging in the air, one of the workers noticed water running down the keel and upon closer inspection reaalized that the water was coming from inside the boat. He then pushed on the keel wing with his foot and the keel swung back and forth!
Further internal inspection with a camera probe confirmed the delimitation of the internal cradle and the cost of repairing it was more than the insurance company would pay.
Had this keel fallen off while under sail we likely would have had an instant catastrophic capsize, which is not good in most waters but even worse in the cold water and massive currants of the Bay of Fundy.
How did the delimitation occur?
When the boat was blown ashore during the hurricane she was laying on her port side with the winged portion of the keel dug into the gravel. When the tide rose 25 feet in the storm the boat was carried further down the beach. She never righted herself because the wing keel was ploughing its way through the gravel until she stopped at a sandstone ledge.
The next day we tried to float her but the weight of the gravel on the wing would not allow her to right herself. We then spent a couple of hours shovelling gravel and mud off of the wing and she popped up with the next high tide.
We thought we had survived with minor damage to the port hull and rudder and sailed her for the rest of the summer. We had no way of knowing that the keel had been compromised.
I am posting this tale of woe as a warning to boaters who are buying a winged keel boat. It is highly unlikely that others will experience the combination of factors I did i.e. 25'+ tides but any beached vessel with a winged keel will have extreme leverage placed on the internal cradle from the weight of the sand, mud etc. The debris needs to be removed asap or the rising tide will stress the keel.
So if you are looking to buy a used winged keel boat you might want to have it suspended so the boats weight is off the keel and you can check it for flexing. That is the only way you can check to see if the keel has been compromised.
I just learned that my boat is a write-off because the internal cradle has become delaminated.
The discovery of this very dangerous situation was a fluke. Had my boat simply been lifted out of the water and placed on its trailer / cradle there would have been no indication that the keel had been compromised.
As luck would have it my bilge pump crapped out a week before haul-out so there was some water in the bilge. When I took her out for repairs at Moose Island Marine in Eastport ME, the boat was carried a distance from the water to the boatyard by the travel lift. While the boat was still hanging in the air, one of the workers noticed water running down the keel and upon closer inspection reaalized that the water was coming from inside the boat. He then pushed on the keel wing with his foot and the keel swung back and forth!
Further internal inspection with a camera probe confirmed the delimitation of the internal cradle and the cost of repairing it was more than the insurance company would pay.
Had this keel fallen off while under sail we likely would have had an instant catastrophic capsize, which is not good in most waters but even worse in the cold water and massive currants of the Bay of Fundy.
How did the delimitation occur?
When the boat was blown ashore during the hurricane she was laying on her port side with the winged portion of the keel dug into the gravel. When the tide rose 25 feet in the storm the boat was carried further down the beach. She never righted herself because the wing keel was ploughing its way through the gravel until she stopped at a sandstone ledge.
The next day we tried to float her but the weight of the gravel on the wing would not allow her to right herself. We then spent a couple of hours shovelling gravel and mud off of the wing and she popped up with the next high tide.
We thought we had survived with minor damage to the port hull and rudder and sailed her for the rest of the summer. We had no way of knowing that the keel had been compromised.
I am posting this tale of woe as a warning to boaters who are buying a winged keel boat. It is highly unlikely that others will experience the combination of factors I did i.e. 25'+ tides but any beached vessel with a winged keel will have extreme leverage placed on the internal cradle from the weight of the sand, mud etc. The debris needs to be removed asap or the rising tide will stress the keel.
So if you are looking to buy a used winged keel boat you might want to have it suspended so the boats weight is off the keel and you can check it for flexing. That is the only way you can check to see if the keel has been compromised.
