Sounds clever - a good thing to try anyhow. I might do something similar to mine, which had water in the keel to some degree (less I think than yours, my test holes yeilded more of some brief trickles than a big stream). I already sealed my test holes and rebuilt/repaired the apparent damage near the CB stop bolt where mine had been leaking. But in the off season...seems like filling all possible voids could help. Definitely some loose punchings in my keel as some were spilling out from my test holes (which were drilled at a fairly sharp upward angle). The only downside I can think of would be that with some voids left, the rusting punchings could expand within that. With all voids filled, any further expansion from rusting would immediately be pushing against solid material. cheers, John S. On 07/08/2017 11:10 PM, James Hymes wrote:
Hello all.. I bought hull 69 (not
"Coyote" M17 Flush Deck #69 ) in July, 2011(don't know how there are two hulls with same number) When I bought the boat the centerboard was stuck in the keel. I used a hacksaw blade and worked it between the CB and keel and removed most likely some gelcoat ( was it gelcoat or fiberglass in the slot of the keel).
After sailing a few times, I noticed water dripping out of a couple holes at the front of the keel of my M17 (the holes possibly caused from impacts). I drilled a couple holes along the bottom of the keel and water poured out of the keel in a stream. There was standing water in the cabin underneath the sole which had deteriorated the gelcoat just aft of the CB trunk. Not sure if this was related to the water entering the keel.
Did the following repair: Drilled 1/4" or 3/8" holes all around the keel exterior starboard and port, and injected a mixture of epoxy resin and filler starting at the bottom of the keel. Injected into lowest drilled hole until the epoxy started oozing out of a nearby hole. When it started oozing out of the nearby hole, I plugged the hole I was injecting into with wood dowel, then injected into the next hole. Working from the bottom up, my goal was to eliminate air pockets around the steel slugs, thus hopefully preventing air, water and steel to cause rust (expansion of steel slugs). I worked my way up the keel. At a certain height I drilled through the keel wall and encountered foam such as the foam found in seat cushions. I stopped at that point, since the steel slugs wouldn't occupy the same space as that (soggy) foam.
I also removed the rusty cast iron centerboard, had it sandblasted and refaired and painted it. I can't recall if the CB dropped after reinstalling it into the keel or if when I sailed with the board up and ran aground into a sandbar and filled the space between the CB and keel with sand causing it to be stuck...Need to get the hacksaw blade out again maybe.
Actually haven't sailed in a couple years due to the rotator cuff injury caused by lifting rudder over transom by myself (I'm a small guy). Finally just had the shoulder surgery, anxious to sail again in a couple moths hopefully...May need to hoist boat and remove centerboard to solve that problem, maybe drill more holes in keel to check for water....
Anyways, anyone got an opinion as to my epoxy fill repair to the keel?? Happy sailing, Jim
-- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com