First of all, thank you for those interesting and instructive photos. That's the first time I've seen the inside of the
false keel cavity, and how the
keel bolts are set up in that area. I wish I could come to VA to see it firsthand.
For the benefit of all Triton owners, current and future, I would like to request that you take as many photos of this area as possible, as it's not often that one has a chance to see exactly how a portion of their boat is built. It's certainly easy to see how and why water gets into that cavity, and is also a little startling to see exactly how minimal the
false keel construction truly is.
Now, that said, on to the problem.
jhenson wrote:The keel bolts holes in the bottom of the false keel are about twice the diameter of bolts themselves, and have been allowing water to enter this cavity since the bedding compound beneath has been compromised.
It's not quite clear to me where you are talking about. Is this where the bolts pass through the fiberglass hull and up to the bilge, or where they enter the ballast
keel? Or is there a third option? (Hint: there is. I figured it out later on in this post, so you can sort of ignore this...)
jhenson wrote:After a couple of days, I decided to chop out the form foam inside so that I could have a look at the keel bolts. They appear to have some corrosion (pink color), but in my uneducated opinion are far from failing.
From what I can tell, those bolts look to be full-diameter and in good shape. Some pinkish hue would be typical, particularly where the bolts have been inbedded in water-saturated grossness. I can't really say "AOK" from looking only at this photo, but my gut feeling is that there is nothing to worry about, bolt-wise.
jhenson wrote:I guess my current line of thinking for the repair is as follows:
1. Poor thickened epoxy around the base of the two keel bolts.
2. Poor thickened epoxy on the bottom inside to repair the crack behind the ballast
3. Cut an access hole in the port side of the false keel large enough for me to get my hand inside.
4. Work a filet with layers of cloth along the bottom inside of the false keel.
5. Bevel and repair the upper section of the hole from the outside.
6. Fill the cavity through the port side cut-out with foam.
7. Repair the hole or holes cut in the port side.
One of the reasons Pearson initially used the
false keel was because the deepness and narrowness of the
keel deadwood, as designed, was such that it could not be effectively laminated from inside. I think you may run into some difficulty trying to get fiberglass properly secured inside the narrow bottom of the cavity, but other than that, it would be a sound way to repair the area.
I agree that you want to minimize how much you might rely on fiberglass sticking to the lead ballast. That said, you can still wrap fiberglass around the bulk of the
false keel from outside, perhaps in addition to your inner repair. The benefit of the external reinforcement is that it would end up, well, reinforcing the exterior (duh) better against future mis-blocking or lifting situations.
Given the nature of the
keel's current condition, you'll have to glass over part of the ballast in order to resecure that starboard side. When you do this, I recommend wrapping glass around the entire bottom of the
keel and up the other side in that area, if you can. I see that your blocking may be in the way, so you might not be able to do this. In any event, for best adhesion I would say you should grind the lead with coarse paper immediately before you begin fiberglassing. You want clean, bright, rough metal. Then, I'd apply a coat of unthickened epoxy and let it cure till just tacky, and then install your fiberglass.
Since you need to replace the foam inside the
keel, another repair option would be to basically remove that entire starboard flap. Leave the port side in place as a form, and use it to secure your new foam material inside. After shaping the foam on the starboard side, you could simply laminate new fiberglass over the whole area, essentially recreating the old
false keel in place.
The
false keel needs to be fairly strong since it supports the lower rudder gudgeon, but it doesn't have to be ridiculous, either. I can almost guarantee that any repairs will end up being stronger than the original section, which obviously was junk and causes problems in nearly every boat so equipped.
My "Eureka" moment:
Actually, I was just looking at the photos again and suddenly got a better idea of the situation at hand. What you're proposing when you talk of glassing inside the
keel is for the forward section, at the top of the ballast pig, as seen in the second photo. OK...now your idea makes more sense, despite my prattling above. Filling the recesses at the bottom end of the keelbolts is a good idea because even though the existing openings don't go anywhere, any water that did get in there might pool around the bolt itself and could accelerate corrosive action.
I know this is a rambling post, but hopefully it's of some help, at least, if you could follow my stream of consciousness. Since I sort of went back and forth, let me know what I can clarify...
