Keel Seal

[Tommy Bahama]

I'm taking the bottom paint on my Islander Bahama 24 down to the gel-coat for repainting. I've discovered (among other things) that the keel has a seam along the trailing edge or rudder slot that continues along the botton of the keel. This boat is fabled to be a solid hull/keel with about 1800 lb of lead inside the keel. I'm not sure what to make of the seam but I do need to dig out the old seal in a few areas and replace it. I'm pretty sure how to fill it back in but what I want to know is; can just glass over the seal once I fill it to keep it from deteriorating or does the seam need to be accesible for some reason? The old material looks like standard thickend epoxy and not plyable like the deck to hull seal.

Thanks for any thoughts,

Tom

[Tim]

Your boat was probably built in a two-piece mold. The two halves, when built, were then joined together at the centerline. This is a common construction method, and is the most likely explanation for the seam. Builders often didn't spend much time concealing the exterior of the seam in places like keels. Also, deep keels are notoriously tough to glass from inside, which may explain why the seam has opened up.

Glassing over the seam as you suggest will work fine based on the information you've given.