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Eric:
Sorry to hear about your Keel/Trunk problem. I will have to be more
careful with my boat in the future. I have hit things while under power
with no noticeable damage, but suspect that they may have been softer
than what you hit. That's why I got the Huminbird.
On the subject of repairs.... I built a stitch and glue kayak several
years ago and used epoxy from Raka. http://www.raka.com/ It's good
stuff and considerably cheaper than the West epoxy at the boat store.
There was lots of discussion on the boat building group about West vs
Raka and it was finally agreed that their stuff was essentially the
same, but that West spends a lot of money promoting and supporting their
product. Raka operates out of a small shop (basement?) in Florida and
has about zero overhead. Anyway, I bought a gallon and half (1 gal
resin, 1/2 gal hardener) for about fifty - sixty bucks and they shipped
via UPS in three days for cheap.
With regard to jacking the boat up to remove the keel: I dug a hole for
mine using a post hole digger (several holes side by side and then
cleaned out the waste -- just like mortise and tenion work in wood) and
dropped the keel into the hole. The post hole digger allows you to dig
a very deep, narrow, hole without lots of effort. That way you don't
have to worry about dropping the darn thing as the hole keeps it
upright. I still have the hole around here somewhere and would be happy
to ship it to you if you will pay postage.
I am a bit skeptical about using a cast resin approach for repair as the
glass cloth and/or mat are what give fiber glass its strength -- and I
think the areas you are repairing need all of the strength they can get
--- as evidenced by your accident. Any repair should try to connect the
new glass cloth/matt to the remaining trunk -- probably by overlapping
with existing structure, but I like the stainless steel insert idea too.
In that vein, I wonder if it might make sense for all of us to add steel
bands around the top and bottom of the trunk to distribute the shock
load under conditions such as you encountered. Maybe something like a
big long stainless steel hose clamp around the top and bottom.... Of
course if we strengthen the trunk too much it will just rip out of the
hull in a similar accident -- so maybe it's best left alone.
How did the asymmetrical sail work out? I hope it wasn't a similar
disaster.
Regards
Rye
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Eric:
Sorry to hear about your Keel/Trunk problem. I will have to be more careful with my boat in the future. I have hit things while under power with no noticeable damage, but suspect that they may have been softer than what you hit. That's why I got the Huminbird.
On the subject of repairs.... I built a stitch and glue kayak several years ago and used epoxy from Raka. http://www.raka.com/ It's good stuff and considerably cheaper than the West epoxy at the boat store. There was lots of discussion on the boat building group about West vs Raka and it was finally agreed that their stuff was essentially the same, but that West spends a lot of money promoting and supporting their product. Raka operates out of a small shop (basement?) in Florida and has about zero overhead. Anyway, I bought a gallon and half (1 gal resin, 1/2 gal hardener) for about fifty - sixty bucks and they shipped via UPS in three days for cheap.
With regard to jacking the boat up to remove the keel: I dug a hole for mine using a post hole digger (several holes side by side and then cleaned out the waste -- just like mortise and tenion work in wood) and dropped the keel into the hole. The post hole digger allows you to dig a very deep, narrow, hole without lots of effort. That way you don't have to worry about dropping the darn thing as the hole keeps it upright. I still have the hole around here somewhere and would be happy to ship it to you if you will pay postage.
I am a bit skeptical about using a cast resin approach for repair as the glass cloth and/or mat are what give fiber glass its strength -- and I think the areas you are repairing need all of the strength they can get --- as evidenced by your accident. Any repair should try to connect the new glass cloth/matt to the remaining trunk -- probably by overlapping with existing structure, but I like the stainless steel insert idea too.
In that vein, I wonder if it might make sense for all of us to add steel bands around the top and bottom of the trunk to distribute the shock load under conditions such as you encountered. Maybe something like a big long stainless steel hose clamp around the top and bottom.... Of course if we strengthen the trunk too much it will just rip out of the hull in a similar accident -- so maybe it's best left alone.
How did the asymmetrical sail work out? I hope it wasn't a similar disaster.
Regards
Rye
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