Re: P-19 Keel gaskets?

The Costas (uffda@sonic.net)
Mon, 14 Jun 1999 08:21:38 -0700


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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>As I related in my story, I need some help in sealing my keel from water.
My boat is a 1995 model, where the bolts in the top rest in recesses on the
keep trunk. The issue didn't seem to be keeping the keel down, rather it
was a good place for the water to lurch out. Any ideas on weatherstripping
below this area, gaskets, etc. would be most appreciated!
>
>J.J. Falkanger

JJ

Been there, done that. When I got HC, also a '95 model, she leaked like a
sieve. I tried the weather striping, a second gasket, and even tapping it
shut! With Darrow's help I finally came up with a solid fix.

First, the "recesses" that you talk about sound like the bolts have worn
down through the trunk top. The top of the trunk needs to be flat. IM came
up with a fix, they inset four metal plates into the top of the trunk for
the bolts to rest on. The second part of IM's retrofit was to install a
solid, soft rubber gasket (wetsuit material). This was glued to the bottom
side of the trunk cap. The first time they installed it, it came loose as
the glue was too soft (like weather stripping glue) so the pressure of the
water pushed it out. That is the same trouble I had when I tried weather
stripping and camper seal tape, both leaked at the seams, and the glue was
so soft that neither lasted a full trip.

With the steel plates and new gasket in place HC only leaked when pounding
into a chop or motoring at hull speed. I noticed that the water was
squirting out of the front of the trunk so when HC was on her trailer I
crawled under and checked things out. I found that the keel doesn't fit
very snug in the trunk, and the space between it's leading edge and the
front edge of the trunk was over and inch across. Looking up into the trunk
I could see that this gap could act just like a cylinder of a pump with the
chop acting like a piston to pump water into the cabin. I came up with all
kinds of crazy schemes, but the simple fix of jamming a small piece of
sponge (from inside the cabin) into that gap just before the keel seats
seems to work fine. The last thing I did was to switch from using the hold
down clamps to bungees to keep the keel down.

On our last outing we took in about a cup of water (couple hours of sailing
and motoring) before I realized that I had forgotten to put the chunk of
sponge in place, after finding it, and jamming it in the hole we once again
had a dry boat!

Larry