I finally opened up the fore peak on my new to me M15 and pulled out the flotation to look at the hump over the ballast, and found it to be rust stained and oozing some mix of rust, oil and water There is some rough glass roving over the hump, with some rusting ballast pellets tangled in it (see photo 1012). The centerboard is not binding, and there are no other signs of leaks/rust stains etc- the boat is otherwise in amazing shape. It does look like someone may have reworked the hull/trunk join in the past(photo 0999 attached) and pivot pin is not original . My questions for all of you: 1. Given that the board is not binding, how much should I worry about this? Is the rust causing other damage (other than the ballast getting lighter :)) 2. Are there steps that should be done to stabilize the situation? What are the options? 3. Is it critical that it be dealt with before I put her in the water (I think its been a few years since her last launch)? 4. Is the hump and the keel all one big connected space? Are there enough voids in the fill to inject an oil or other rust preventative? Are the pellets just loose, or in some kind of matrix (now I'm imagining cutting into the hump and using a magnet on a rod to remove pellets...) 5. If one were to drill a drain hole, what is the best location? 6. Any guides out there for resealing the hull/centerboard trunk join and the interior of the trunk? Other areas to look at re water entry to the ballast? I've heard people mentioning going whole hog and removing the steel and replacing it with lead. Can anyone point me to more info on what is involved in doing that for an m15? I tried searching the photo site but came up cold.. Many thanks for all your thoughts- Alex Conley
