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Sunny today, first day for a week. Back down at the slip, cleaning up the area where the rudder swings. Looking closely at the keel and I saw some disturbing cracks. Sanded it back. Sighting along the keel, I can see the area around the cracks is bulging. It is the area where the water is still dripping out, where the keel is sitting on the trolly.

I would think that the weight from the boat is causing the keel to flex at this point (but not on the other side) but I do not know why the fibreglass would not be strong. That there is a leak underneath about this point makes me seriously wonder about what is going on. Not good I think. : (

What do you think I should be doing?

Hi Troppo

I wonder if she's been dropped ?

Bear

Troppo,

You may need to support the keel area either side of the damage area to relieve the pressure of the boat on it while you make repairs.

You should measure up the location of the stern post and determine where the bilge bulkhead is and then if possible where the keel ballast starts forward of that in the water tank. Then transfer that as a drawing on the outside of the hull to give you an idea of where the damage is in relation to every thing else inside. This may give you a clue to what is going on.

From what I can see from your photos the damage is in the bilge area. Is there still water in your bilge and water tank? If so, I think you should empty them.

Then again, is this a large osmosis?

One thing, get someone who knows about fibreglassing to do that repair.

Louis, Is all the weight sitting on one bearer as in this first post?

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1048

That's a lot of pressure!
I agree with Phillip, i think its time to get a professional to do it.

The weight is spread across two bearers. The first bearer is just aft of the mast so I am thinking the other bearer should not be overloaded.

It is possible that some time in the past some damage was done which either weakened the area or was not a very strong fix. I notice a few repairs to the bow so she hit something hard some time back.

Tapping on the keel, I think it is hollow at that point so I will drill a hole half way up the keel and just pour in a heap of epoxy : ). Nah. Needs a professional. But after I read that West system doc that Tom (Tales) posted up I should be almost as good as a professional. Just kidding. Might be time to take her off the slip and onto a hardstand.

[for full view of pic, right click and select 'view image']

I've taken some pics of inside the bilge. At the bottom of the bilge you can see what looks like an old crack running along the edge at the bottom of the bilge. I'm thinking she took some damage previously and it is only showing now that she is up on the trolley and has pressure on that point. It was either damaged or damaged and repaired but not repaired strongly enough.

The size of the crack looks pretty serious. I want to get it fixed properly. If I had known it was there I don't think I would have bought her as I think it's gunna cost a bit to get fixed. : (


Overall view of bilge through access point below steps. You can see the bilge-pump pipe going down to the left. Because it curls, it never pumps all the water out. I had planned to strap an old fibreglass tent pole to it to get it straight and down to the bottom. On the right is the fresh water pipe and some sort of gauge to tell how much water is in the fresh water tank. I have not really looked at that gauge before.

[to view pic best, right click, select 'view image'.]


It is easy to see the crack along the bottom. That's not my screwdrive. Actually, I guess it is my screwdriver now as it came with the boat.

The slipway trolley beam goes underneath the bilge and the area I pointed out in a previous photo of the outside where the cracks are and the bulging bit would be about the middle of the pic on the side of the crack.

So, now I understand why water was leaking out and the bulge/cracks appeared on the outside. She is freakin stuffed on the inside.

Troppo,

Don't despair it's fixable!
Have you gone off too the hard stand yet?
Have you found someone to do the fibreglassing?

It has to be fixed, so you need to look at the damaged area from the outside and that can only be done if you take a grinder to the GEL COAT ONLY as its not structural and then you will be able to see if its poorly applied gel coat or damage fibreglass below it.

This action will probably determine exactly what you are going to do next. Fix it, patch it etc.

And just another point, do you think they have poured resin into the bilged to cover the damage?

Thank you Phillip. Currently waiting for a reply from the club about putting Windchaser on a hardstand. Have not sourced an ace fibreglasser yet.

My thinking is that if I can get Windchaser onto a hardstand then the work I was thinking of doing next year I can do now. Take off the toe rail and clean it up, redo the deck fittings, etc. If I get those things done before the wet season then Windchaser will be the better off.

What I hate is that I had started on the v-berth then stopped that to get onto the slip for an antifoul then stopped that to sort out the rudder problem then stopped that to work out what to do with the bilge crack. That has shot my nice tidy renovation plan all to pieces. Grrrrr!

It is interesting at the club how folks have come over to have a look at Windchaser. One person knew it was a Top Hat. Others didn't know but were very interested once they had a look. "Big inside" and "nice lines" were typical comments.

Wow reading all this is why when I get my Top Hat I will bring it to my factory and just strip it back to a shell and replace/fit everything. It may be a year till she goes back but it wont need anything major for a long time "I hope". Such a great site everyone, thanks for posting your wisdom

Hi Frank

Just so you know, the problems mentioned in this old thread have been worked on and reported in other threads. It is amazing what repairs can be accomplished over time.

Earlier this year I had Windchaser out for an antifoul and the rudder, which I had to strip back to bare wood and build it back up again, was still looking like a new one. I am very happy about that. Like the other bits and pieces which have been done, I have had a great deal of satisfaction as the boat has become more seaworthy and more enjoyable to use.

troppo