Introducing Katie-J

[pmnfernando]

dry fitting 3 mm G10 board

[pmnfernando]

note how i wasnt able to remove all the moist wood
you can see a darker circle around the epoxy plug.
after sanding all the sheerclamp i will run a dehumidifier for a week to see if i can lower the water content a bit more.
the plan is to reinforce the whole hull/deck join by applying a layer of biaxial covering the sheerclamp

[pmnfernando]

Hello again

what you are going to see is a sequence of photos pertaining to the removal of a rotten section from the stb sheerclamp plus a reinforcing piece of wood (darker wood) that was originally join to the sheerclamp. interestingly this reinforcing wood wasnt glued to the sheerclamp but only kept in place by the woven roving that was used to reinforce both wood at the chainplates
Needless to say, due to the nature of these chainplates, water ingress is ocurring and damaging the wood.

The section removed was about 15-20 cm and the plan is to laminate G10 in its place, add more G10 to bulk up in the thickness at the chainplates, mimicking what the older darker wood was doing, and finally laminate a couple of layers of biaxial.

[pmnfernando]

removing the woven roving that was applied long ago
i removed it by simply using a chisel, proving that the bond failed long ago

[pmnfernando]

after all the rotten wood is removed.
you are looking at the enlarged holes where the chainplates and stanchions were thru bolted

[pmnfernando]

same procedure done on portside this time
unlike stb side the glass was still doing its job but its gettind removed for new material will be glassed in its place
the difference is im keeping the reinforcing wood because it is dry.
in my opinion the reason why portside is better than std is due to the orientation of the boat in the marina, port side gets sun throughtout the day whilst stb gets none. port side gets dries up and stb stays wet.
notice all the other holes plugged with thickened epoxy
i used a small belt sander to remove the glass

[pmnfernando]

after the complete removal of glass
it was a messy job, im still itching from all that. (no i dont use a suit, because it would be IMPOSSIBLE to work on the boat, this is Asia after all, where in Feb we have around 25 C and 80% humidity, i recorded 30 C inside the boat today) can you imagine this place in July-August?!?!? its a sauna every waking second!)
i use talcum powder over my skin to try and keep the fibres away, it does help

[pmnfernando]

well.... the side cup boards were in the way.....and new ones were always in the plan.
Actually, for now i think im only keeping the main bulkhead and 2 semi bulkheads from the original build. Everything else is getting redone (its only more work after all ahahahaha)

[pmnfernando]

portside aft chainplate sheerclamp section
unlike the fwd one, which was dry, i am having this one removed as it is wet, despite being in the sun, in this case, the screws which holds the teak toerail are leaking thru the hull deck join and into the sheerclamp (where everything bolts)
so yeah.....more work!

[pmnfernando]

time for the STB cupboard to give way for what needs done

[pmnfernando]

after the removal of all the rotten wood in that section and all taped up to receive thickned epoxy poured from the deck.
there is more affected wood to be removed, but i have a small wet locker foward of that section, for which i will need to cut out a portion of its wall in order to acess and remove all afectted wood.
it will have to wait for next week and i couldnt leave the holes open for it might rain

[pmnfernando]

detail of one of the nuts holding the chainplate
it just broke when i used a spanner

[pmnfernando]

quick trip to the marina after work to remove some of the teak toerail and plug the holes.
teak wasnt actually that bad, but there was water ingress thru some of the bolts.

wont be using teak but a teak-looking plastic. no maintenance, no more trees cut down. (dont know about the carbon footprint of the plastic though)

the plan is also to laminate a layer of biaxial over the toerail to reinforce the deck hull join.

[pmnfernando]

Can anyone tell me what this is?

[atomvoyager]

It's an ATN Tacker for asymmetric spinnaker tack downhaul as explained here:

https://atninc.com/atn-tacker-sailing-equipment.shtml

[pmnfernando]

hi Atomvoyager

Thanks for the input, nice bit of kit!
was going thru some of the gear leftover from previous owners and found that. Text the last owner, didnt know what it was either, but kept it thru the years.

turns out it comes in handy to fly the spinnaker.!
fairly expensive for what it is, 200 USD for one suitable to boats up to 33 ft!

[pmnfernando]

Making a hole on the locker wall to enable the removal of the rotted

wood.

[pmnfernando]

just a section of ths sheerclamp after removing the paint, showing signs of water ingress. ive begun to remove those small areas.
this only stresses my initial feeling that i must sand all the sheerclamp in order to fully acess its condition. no one would be able to visually tell that underneath the paint this was happening

[pmnfernando]

Hello again

I have decided to replace the keel bolts myself.
Would like to hear some opinions on this subject, maybe someone did it before, it would be great to have some input.

Atomvoyager sugested bronze (silicon bronze) as the material of choice for the new keel bolts.
This being an iron cast keel, and not a lead one, bronze might not be the best material after some of the research i did, but ppl do use it, with good results. I have read that if using bronze bolts one has to use a white lead compound plus linseed oil and coat every square mm of the bolts with it, to insulate from water and iron, preventing galvanic corrosion.

for the keel-to-keel stub interface i saw suggestions for 4200, 5200, and also Epifill, which is a high density epoxy filler, that can be tapped and drilled (by interlux), this bit doesnt worry me, i think all these products will perform accordingly

basically the keel is held in place by 6 main bolts, which tru bolt the keel. with nuts, washers and plates at each end.
one of the reasons why im replacing the bolts is the fact that, since the previous owners werent so anal about keeping the bilge dry, the bolts are corroded as are the washers/plates, which are considerably small by now.
then i have a foward 19 mm bolt which screws 45 mm down onto the keel and a aft , 12 mm bolt, also 45 mm deep inside the keel.
i guess these need to be galvanized steel, since they screw on the keel. let me know what you think

apart from these there are 6 additional 12 mm bolts, placed at either side of the keel, which must have been used as guides more than for holding power.they are also screwed a few mm into the keel. i dont think i will replace this ones, will just fill the holes.

i have yet to lift the boat out of the water and dig the bolts from underneath the keel, to observe which material have they used for the plates but my question is:
should i also get bronze plates for both ends of the bolts?


because the shape of my bilge is rounded (see photos attached) i was thinking of bedding them in a high density filler compound so that it creates a plaftorm to better distribute the loads. let me know about this also

i guess since im removing the keel, it would be wise to take the chance to strip it with an angle grinder and recoat the whole thing anew.

aniway thanks for any input you might give.

[pmnfernando]

[atomvoyager]

You had asked me earlier which keel bolt material is best. I said bronze but that may not be the most practical or affordable. You might be able to have them turned out of scrap prop shaft material. Bronze is best because it will last forever and the corrosion of the keel next to them will take forever to happen to a significant degree. Stainless will likely corrode in that environment and some grades are better than others. A good stainless bolt, well sealed might last many years but it's hard to predict. If you can't locate or afford bronze then galvanized steel is also good for your situation and may be your most reasonable choice. They will last many years if sealed well. If using bronze bolts I'd use bronze plates. For galvanized I'd use galvanized. I don't think it matters much which of these you use for the shorter 45mm long bolts.

[atomvoyager]

As for filling with thickened epoxy. It may be OK in this application since there will be little flexing involved but thickened epoxy is brittle and may be better to use it in small amounts over fiberglass cloth for max strength.

[pmnfernando]

hi again

its not that im doubting what you say, or even about the cost, as i can wait to make that purchase.
the thing is, everywhere i go look for info, pretty much everybody says: use bronze with lead keels not iron ones.

its amazing how in 2021 its impossible to find a straight forward answer to a question which deals with materials, some of them, that we ve dealing with for millenia! its making my head in to be honest.

as for bronze: would all thread rod be sufficient or would i need to get it in rod and then have the threads done?

cheers

[atomvoyager]

Hard to get a consensus on anything like this and to know how to filter out what's not important to your situation. And my opinion is not necessarily better than all the rest.
Yes, all thread is OK.

[CapnK]

NOTE: Due to a difference in the database backup I had, and the conversation that ensued in this thread after that date, there are some missing posts. I will be putting them back up here after this sentence, and though copied and pasted, no discussion is lost that way.

---Thread continues---

pmnfernando - "hi again
well, after some tought and the finding of a article/study about corrosion
im of the mind of using bronze despite the majority of the opinions when it comes to cast iron keels.
what governs this decision?
bronze is closer to cast iron then stainless steel. So, if you want to mix metals, do so by choosing the ones closer to each other so that the galvanic action is kept to the possible minimum.
Bronze being nobler than cast iron, will make the latter corrode, not the other way around. Meaning that the keel would corrode not the bolts.
Somehow this is makes more sense because there is a lot more iron to corrode in the first place! i guess i prefer the keel to corrode and not what keeps it bolted to my boat.
When it comes to stainless, personally, the issue is that everything might appear visually good, but underneath the keel is hanging by a thread. This is assuming all seals fail (but i think one should assume this kind of situation) meaning that, since all the bolts were replaced at the same time , they would be in the same advanced state of corrosion.
I will be, literally, pouring down white lead paste mixed with linseed oil, down the keel channels to insulate the bronze from the iron, unless someone knows of a better product to use."

CapnK - "Seems like to me that the choice of bronze is the better one. That said:
Have you considered simply encapsulating your bolt-on ballast? It would of course add wetted surface to the hull, but not being a race boat, not enough extra overall (I don't think - but I could well be wrong ) to affect performance in a negative manner.
If it could be done, I doubt it would be much more expensive (or work intensive,for that matter) than dropping and re-bolting the entire ballast keel, and in the long run, you would have no more worries about bolts and corrosion and leaking seams...?
Unless I am missing something...?"

pmnfernando - "you think that encapsulating a keel is less work intensive than replacing the bolts?!
tha i aware of, keel encapsulating is an engineering process on itself, i mean, the thing is factored into the build of the hull, this boat wasnt engineered like that not i would venture it being a DIYer.
replacing the bolts by myself (with assistance of a couple of boaters who also have never undertaken such project) is already a BIG project.
problems that i am expecting: nuts breaking, bolts getting stucked even after removal of nuts, dislodging the keel from the keel stub.
after this i need ONLY to grind the whole keel, prime it, fair it, prime it 4 more times, bolt it on (applying 4200 between the keel and keel stub), antifoul the lot. this alone will take more that a couple of weeks to achieve"

CapnK - "I do think it possible, and also probably easier! Here's why, my thinking, glad to hear input:
You aren't taking the ballast keel off, and thereby removing the structural/mechanical support it has designed into it by the original NA, in order to then place it back where it belongs and build an entirely new structure. *That* would need engineering, no doubt.
Instead, you are simply *adding* to what is already there - which is working as it should, if suffering somewhat from age. No engineering needed, as you're not taking anything away from the existing structure, instead you are strengthening it with additional material.
If it were a wooden boat and had a rib that was splitting, you would "sister" the rib - fastening wood on both sides of the split area in order to add strength and avoid failure.
Think of it as 'sistering' the existing ballast keel - with glass.
If boats that are considered 'well built' in Katie's size range have say 3/4" of glass on their encapsulated keel, adding that to your existing keel would, I think. make it pretty much bombproof. Taper the thickness into the hull above the ballast over a foot or so and I don't think it'd affect hull shape all that much, and it should be plenty strong - the existing structure would reinforce what you have added, and vice versa.
Doing this would avoid the expense of dropping the keel, buying new bolts, getting them set, etc etc - you would simply (haha!) need to grind and clean the area for the new glass, and then put it on there.
Not 'easy', but 'easier', I think...? And stronger, afterwards. Right? Or am I missing something?"

atomvoyager - "Kurt, I had thought about that option also but either method is a big job with its own issues. Some disadvantages to encapsulating is it adds lots weight and if he uses epoxy resin is costly even if he tried to get away with only 1/2" of glass, although he'd save some of that on the bolts and crane fees and additional laborers. Since it is old cast iron he would need to take extreme care and hope that future corrosion didn't expand the keel and split or bulge the glass. He might calculate the surface area involved and come up with some numbers on costs of materials. I'd also be tempted to just glass over the old keel bolts and go with encapsulating if the numbers make sense and I was certain there was no way for water to enter later from inside or out."

CapnK - "Thanks James and you are correct both about water entering and the cost of resin. I'm going to have to crunch some numbers on that, as it is an issue that my Islander* has as well, which is why I've given it considerable thought.
There are a bunch of A-30's out there - 700 or so? - which have iron keels, and I wonder what is the number/how many have had issues with intrusion? Is it common to some extent, or more apocryphal? You would know better than I would...
I ask because I've seen lots of talk about the possibility, but have only seen maybe a half dozen people who have had the issue, or at least posted about it online. Most of those, if not all, the damage seemed that it was more from frozen water splitting the hull, instead of rust.
Regarding resin cost - perhaps some "engineering" could be done, as far as materials. What if you laid on a barrier layer of regular glass, and then topped that with carbon cloth - could you get a laminate that was thinner than the regular plain glass of production boats (and so less resin cost involved), but just as strong? Perhaps not as resistant to impact, but plenty strong WRT shear and other forces encountered under sail, not related to grounding...?
The barrier layer is to avoid galvanic action with the carbon cloth, which I understand can be an issue with some metals.
*(I think I may have licked the problem of bilge water and keel bolts, and will post up about that after I get the Forum moved to her new home.)"

atomvoyager - "The layup of various carbon/fiberglass you describe should work but I'm not familiar enough with them or the strength requirements on this type job to know exactly what would be needed here. I tend to overbuild to compensate and in this case that could end up a heavy and expensive mistake. Most of us use standard E glass fiberglass. Instead of using expensive carbon I would try to use S glass which is only slightly less strong than carbon or stronger in some respects. Vinylester resin could be substituted for epoxy to save cost. Then there's the big job of fairing all that glass and some of it working overhead around the turn of the bilge which is a young man's job ha-ha.
Of all the many A30s I've worked on and looked at I haven't seen any signs of corroding iron ballast so I'm sure it's not common. If frozen water collected in the bilge caused damage it should be easy to tell by the location of the bulging fiberglass. If it was in the ballast area then hard to know if it was freezing water within a void or expanding corroded iron. In the case of water, easy enough to drill drain holes outside and plug them later and glass over the inside of the bilge to prevent it recurring."

pmnfernando - "i honestly feel that encapsulating a keel is a far more intensive project than replacing bolts.
too much unknows too much details to handle which when out of hand lead up to catastrophic results.
and why would i want to end up with a heavier boat?!
since i gutted the boat´s interior the waterline went up by at least 3 inches. i think that, all in all, i removed 500 kg of material. some of it will go back but i still hope to have a lighter boat in the end, or at least the same weight but incorporating a 100 litre plus water tank and 80 litre diesel tank that the boat didnt had previously.
im happy with the decision of going with bronze bolts and having the chance to overhaul the keel in the process, remove all rust and making sure i take appropriate steps to prevent further corrosion down the line. these new bolts should be good for another 20-30 years, even more,
and when the time comes to sell the boat i can confidently say to the new buyer to not worry about the keel bolts, instead of saying that i encapsulated the keel by myself, which is something that would have me running from a potential buy if i was the one shopping."

pmnfernando - "since i m hauling out to replace the keel bolts, overhaul the keel i thought i might be a good oppurtunity to address the hull as well.
i was thinking of peeling the gelcoat entirely and repair any osmosis that might be present
this part its fine, i need to source/rent a gelcoat peeler and in 2 days the hull is completely stripped.
then gring he blisters, let dry, fill the low spots with thickned epoxy (do i need to laminate over the filled spots?)
i wont be applying gelcoat, paint is far superior and easier to work with.
does anyone ever done this? i am a but unsure about what produtcs and schedule to use in order to coat the hull.
any info would be precious!"

atomvoyager - "I've done a few osmosis repairs. Only once did we need to add a layer of fiberglass to the hull after stripping because the osmosis was so deep and extensive. The other times we did spot repairs with fiberglass and after the hull was dry, recoated with epoxy resin. Since you say there "might" be osmosis, let's hope there isn't. You can strip the bottom paint off with sanding or blasting and then examine the gelcoat. If there are only a few blisters then I'd only repair them without peeling the gelcoat. The gelcoat peeler I've used was very hard to control to get an even peel. You may find you end up taking off some glass as well and then you need to add glass just to fix that issue. If the gelcoat is still good and you plan to be hauled out for a couple months that it might take to thoroughly dry the hull then after that time you could apply an epoxy barrier coat over the gelcoat."

pmnfernando - "interesting you say that about the peeler
from what i saw in YT world , everybody complained about the machine weight, but they also said that if were not for its weight the whole procedure would have been more dificult. it does leave some trailing at the edges but i though you can knock those down easily with a 60 grit pass with a lightweight orbital sander.
do you recomend a specific sander for sanding the gelcoat and atacking those damaged spots?.i have a makita orbital sander which i dont like very much, that thing is good for light work, doesnt have much punch.
i was thinking about a Makita GV7000C with variable speed input (7 inch disk).
im going with alexseal products mainly because their new (18 months old) rolling additive, which bursts all the bubbles in the paint and enables a spray finish with a roller application. incredible stuff. very expensive but worth the investment, imo."

atomvoyager - "The only peeler I used was a small one, basically a converted 4.5" angle grinder with special attachments. It's light and easy to handle but at the expense of harder to keep it level. And with all the curves of the hull it isn't easy to control. I don't know the issues you might have with whatever peeler you use but that was my experience so use caution.
For big tough sanding jobs like removing bottom paint and sanding the nonskid down on a deck I also use a 7" sander/polisher. For grinding out spots of osmosis and prepping old unwanted thru-hulls for glassing over, etc, I use a #36 grit sanding pad on the 4.5" angle grinder. For more control of say removing excess glass after putting on a patch or interior grinding when I don't want the over-aggressive cutting of the angle grinder but better cutting than a random orbital sander I use a DEWALT Rotary Sander, Variable Speed, 5-Inch (DWE6401DS) with 60 grit hook and loop paper. It works like a variable speed grinder. I can only use it for 10 minutes at a time though because it overheats quickly so I can't really recommend it and would try a different brand if one were available.
I also heard about the Alexseal rolling additive. Are you talking about using it for the topsides or deck painting? I guess it allows you to roll without tipping? I might try it next time because I found it difficult to get the Alexseal to flow and level out doing roll and tip on vertical surfaces."

pmnfernando - "about the peeler i was talking about the gelpeel pro from paintshaver, which costs 1500 USD. heavy stuff but seen it on YT it really delivers.
Thanks for the tool tips. it did confirmed some of my choices so that was great
Yes, that additive allows one to roll without tipping over it. i.ve came across it on Boatworks Today, another vlogger, and the results are fantastic, its really user friendly. the additive itself aint that expensive (40/50 usd) and you use 10 ml per quart mixed, so it goes a long way.
i guess that sticking to what the manufacturer recomends and using their products also produces good results and for that reason i am going to apply their fairing compounds, finish primers and topcoat to keep everything compatible
I plan to use on both decks and topside. for the interior im going with interlux products as most of it isnt visible and for the visible bits one makes an effort and preps the surface a bit better."

wrfindlay - "Just found this thread! Im glad I’m not the only one who is restoring a pioneer 9. I got mine in November 2020 at a local boat yard and have been attempting to get it into sailable order for this season (I’m in Northern Ireland). It was a bathtub (had 4/500l of stagnant water inside) when I got it but am hoping I can get the mast up this week or next! So progress has been good! I’d put a couple of pics here but can’t seem to figure out how to compress them enough from my phone! to see some have a look at my Instagram page where I’ve been documenting my progress https://instagram.com/wee_boat_resto .
I’d be interested how the lines have been run to the jammers and winch on the coach roof as that is something I’d like to do at some point.
I’d also be interested in a few closer pics of your main sheet track arrangement as mine doesn’t have one! "

pmnfernando - "Hi Great to have another Pioneer 9 owner onboard here in the forum!
I cant understand how to upload photos in this newer version of the forum.
i try to attach a file but it doesnt work.
send me your email and i will send it there"

pmnfernando - "I have been searching for 1 inch silicon bronze all thread and been failing miserably at finding it
i did found some 1 onch rod but the price is simply thru the roof. im talking about 2400 USD total.
i guess its time to browse other alternatives
what about mild steel?
and if so does anyone recommend a suitable painting/isolation/protection schedule, to act as barrier between it and the cast iron
thanks guys"

wrfindlay - "Hi Have sent you a private message. <---(Note: That PM has unfortunately been lost in the software change, please resend if needed. Sorry, and Thanks! Kurt)
From what I can see is that each photo has to be smaller then 500KB (0.5MB) and my phone takes photos and they are closer to 2500KB (2.5MB) each!!
Im afraid i can't offer much help on the keel bolt front. My boat had an encapsulated keel and keel bolts but the encapsulation was extremely thin (1 layer of light fibreglass) and had been damaged and repaired so i removed it and ground the keel back to bright steel and then epoxy primed and painted it. My keel bolts had been encapsulated in some sort of resin which I chipped away and removed as i wanted to see them! They had some surface rust but were in good condition. From what I can tell they are simply plain steel (Possibly High tensile steel?). "

[pmnfernando]

"I have been searching for 1 inch silicon bronze all thread and been failing miserably at finding it
i did found some 1 onch rod but the price is simply thru the roof. im talking about 2400 USD total.
i guess its time to browse other alternatives
what about mild steel?
and if so does anyone recommend a suitable painting/isolation/protection schedule, to act as barrier between it and the cast iron
thanks guys"

[atomvoyager]

I mentioned in my post to you on May 6 that bronze may not be affordable if you can't find old scrap like prop shafts to have machined to size. In that case I suggested galvanized steel. I don't have much experience sealing and protecting steel and iron so you probably have a better idea than myself after all the research you've done.

[pmnfernando]

i think i might go with galvanized, that bronze is just WAY to expensive

interlux 's Primocon is suitable for galvanized steel, so i will go with that as a primer, and then anything epoxy based that's suitable for underwater metal will do

[pmnfernando]

Hi again!

Does anyone has experience with Expanded PVC Foam Sheets?
Saw that material being used to build a hard bimini cover and tought it could be an option for my own bimini.
Any hands on reviews on that material?

[atomvoyager]

I've used Divinycell which is a PVC foam and Core-cell which is a SAN polymer. I just completed an integral water tank using Divinycell. Either one will work fine but Diniycell is lower cost here. When wanting a denser core I've used Coosa Board, which is high density polyurethane foam with reinforced layers of fiberglass. A friend of mine last year made a beautiful and elaborate hard dodger, I think from Divinycell, and I'm sure a bimini is doable and should be easier to build. It's tempting to use those cheap polystyrene-type house insulation foam sheets but they are not structurally strong enough to bond well and not fall apart.

[pmnfernando]

Hi again

i am planning to replace the keel bolts and painting the boat, starting in late october.

the boat has a long fin keel which is 750 mm tall and 2600 mm long, ie, it has a large foot print compared to modern keels

my idea to separate the keel from the hull is following:

instead of lifting the boat up from the keel, leave the keel/boat resting at about 200 mm from the floor on wood chocks placed atwartships, properly spaced so i can get a pallet jack underneath to scoop the keel from below.

use 8 boat stands placed pretty much underneath the boat rather from the sides (which is what one does when the keel is on the floor). i would have 1 V shaped stand for the bow, 4 main ones on the side plus 1 vertical stand placed inline with the bow one and 2 more stands in line with the 4 main ones, these last 2 stands would be roving ones, so i can add support to acess the hull areas hidden by other stands.

place the pallet jack underneath the keel and take weight, take the nuts from the top, chip away whatever sealant/adhesive there is, and lower the keel off the hull.

should i do this or get , say 4 x 3 t bottle jacks where i rest the boat from the beggining pumped up to give me enough clearance and have they lower the keel onto the pallet jack?

the boat will be without the mast

thanks for any input

[CapnK]

If I m understanding correctly, it sounds like to me that the 8 stands + pallet jack would be more 'controllable'.

[pmnfernando]

Hi CapnK

I was also leaning towards that option to be honest.
the thing going with this approach is: i need to almost take the full weight of the boat in order to get those 3 mm that will let me remove some of the wood shocks so that the keel can be efectively lowered when the time comes to separate it from the hull.

am i seeing it wrong?

[CapnK]

Seems to me that the 6 + 2 jacks would support hull just fine for/while keel lowering. I've seen much heavier vessels held up by that number of them with no ill effect. You are chaining jacks together under boat so they can't move out, right?

[pmnfernando]

hi

yes i would be chaining them for sure! dont want them wondering about at that stage.
i have since decided to part with some more money and have a crane lift the boat.
i will build a skate for the keel out of 18 mm ply, have the boat land on it and stands, undo the top keel bolt nuts and start attacking the hull keel joint. then have a second crane coming to lift the boat up from the keel and land it again on the stands.

i have never done this, and by the time i bought the pallet jacks (the marina where im at do not have ANY gear) and other stuff i might as well pay a bit more but have it done in a safe manner.

thanks for the input!

[pmnfernando]

the cat is out of the bag

[pmnfernando]

30 min fiddling about with the peeler, couple of digs, but nothing that cant be repaired, depth set (i hope) for the rest of the boat. you can see that towards starbord it was getting cleaner

[pmnfernando]

closer look at the layers. it seems the hull has been re-gelcoated twice since new.

[pmnfernando]

after the pressure wash

[pmnfernando]

keel seal fail

[pmnfernando]

about 4 hours with the peeler.
always a bit tricky to start, more dings and scuffing than i would like but then it gets better. it was tricky to get an exact setting on the depth so i opted to leave a bit of the original primer on since i will need to sand further to remove the vertical ridges.
below the water line the same setting was getting cleaner results (less layers or thinner layers) so it ends up removing a fraction of a milimeter of grp.
to even out those ridges im using a orbital sander, with 40 grit and going gently, multiple passes. im guessing i will spend 4 hours doing this initial fairing for each hour of peeling. at least!

[pmnfernando]

after peeling the rudder this old repair presented itself. got me thinking..."hum that is some extensive damage right there"
later i found an edge which had failed, got the chisel in and off it went....

[pmnfernando]

somebody just slapped a ton of compound into this rudder

[pmnfernando]

turns out somebody made a leading edge out of plywood and just faired it in, no glassing. obviously the whole thing is waterlogged.
wasnt expecting this at all. any ideas as to why?

[atomvoyager]

It's possible that the original rudder was not balanced enough and caused a heavy helm so a previous owner added some wood to make it more effective. You can measure and calculate the total surface area of the rudder including how much of it is forward of the shaft. 10 to 15% added forward of the shaft should make it semi-balanced. As long as the existing extension is in that range you can copy it and glass in the new piece.

[CapnK]

I think James is most likely correct. When I designed the foiled Com-Pac rudder, they had been an all-trailing surface. I added 15% area forward of the pivot and it made all the difference in the world in how the boat handled in every way.

[pmnfernando]

thanks for the input guys!
it does makes sense having that extension to balance the rudder

[pmnfernando]

right after the last bolt was cut and the sealant broke.
cut them with a sawzall. took me 90 minutes but got it done

[pmnfernando]

keel before griding

[pmnfernando]

after griding
the keel looks amazing, virtually no rust