For and about Montgomery Sailboats, Update: The boat is off the trailer, the center board is removed as well as approximately 9 lbs of steel ballast from the starboard shoal keel just forward of the center board pivot pin. Question: If I am successful in sealing the shoal keel water leaks, what do you think the probability that steel ballast will continue to rust and expand resulting in future cracks? Background: 1. The shoal keel that I have opened is dry. 2. The ballast is very cohesive. Some of the punchings have actually fused into solid lumps. 3. Port side is not cracked. 3. I am concerned with the amount of shoal keel skin that I would need to remove for ballast access it will be difficult to retain the shoal keel shape. 4. For my current situation, it is actually easier to obtain lead shot to replace the steel ballast. Because lead density is 1.44 times greater than steel, I believe I will have a noticeable lower CG on the starboard side if I only replace ballast on the starboard side. Tim de Lacy Waterbound Hull # MMP 173320981 -----Original Message----- From: tdelacy@wavecable.com <tdelacy@wavecable.com> Sent: Monday, August 23, 2021 8:13 PM To: 'For and about Montgomery Sailboats' <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: M_Boats: 8/23/22 Update Re cracked shoal keel drill results Bob, 1. Re: Drilled hole - no water. A. However, water intrusion is not unreasonable, if there was a path into the shoal keel. B. From the time the tree fell until I was able to relocate the trailer into a replacement metal tube and fabric structure was several months during our raining season. (1) I did have to pump water out of the sump. (2) I did have an amazing amount of water trapped in my tarp covering the boat and in the cockpit. (3) My fabric structure is dark green and is several degrees warmer than the outside temperature. a. Combine the elevated interior temperature with our unusually hot summer and it is not unreasonable to assume the shoal keel has dried out. 2. Re: picture P8230005. A. This is just aft of the centerboard trunk in hull, starboard side, similar port side. B. Is this a possible water path into the shoal keel? (1) Water could easily enter this opening after the sump filled. (1) Should I seal these openings or are they intentional vents? 3. Commitments this weekend and labor day will slow any progress on my end. 4. My next focus will be to design a cradle to lift the boat off the trailer and remove the centerboard and allow access for shoal keel repair. A. I am leaning toward removing the steel plugs and replacing with lead. (1) I assumed with my hull number that I was in the lead ballast build. a. However, it isn't often you see lead rust. 😊 5. I am assuming my sump is water tight, see P8230007. A. You usually do not get that nasty growth if there is a reasonable exit water path or the shoal keel is water tight and was completely filled with water. Tim de Lacy -----Original Message----- From: tdelacy@wavecable.com <tdelacy@wavecable.com> Sent: Monday, August 23, 2021 4:21 PM To: 'For and about Montgomery Sailboats' <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: M_Boats: Re: 8/22/21 M17 Recommendation shoal keel repair attn: Dave Scobie Thank you for all your comments. I'll execute the drill option, recommended by Mr. Eeg. I'll provide feedback. When I decide on the repair, I'll try to document all my steps. Would be nice to add a recipe for recovery to the collection of M15 and 17 repairs. Tim de Lacy -----Original Message----- From: <mailto:swwheatley@comcast.net> swwheatley@comcast.net < <mailto:swwheatley@comcast.net> swwheatley@comcast.net> Sent: Monday, August 23, 2021 9:13 AM To: 'For and about Montgomery Sailboats' < <mailto:montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: M_Boats: Re: 8/22/21 M17 Recommendation shoal keel repair attn: Dave Scobie I tend to agree with Bob that your crack was not caused by the falling tree. In addition to freezing water, the other thing that could cause that crack is rusting steel, which expands as it oxidizes. You will need to decide whether just to fair it and fill it or do a deep dive and replace the steel with lead. -----Original Message----- From: Bob Eeg < <mailto:montgomeryboats@hotmail.com> montgomeryboats@hotmail.com> Sent: Monday, August 23, 2021 11:03 AM To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats < <mailto:montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: M_Boats: Re: 8/22/21 M17 Recommendation shoal keel repair attn: Dave Scobie Tim Drill a 1/4 inch hole on the very bottom of your keel and see if any water comes out. I can see RUST inside that crack which indicates water. Water freezes and expands and cracks the keel. This happened on Miss T a 17 owned by John Edwards and that crack is the same. John actually bought Tom Buzzi’s 17 recently as a replacement. I don’t see how a tree would crack your hull from the inside out like that. I hope I’am wrong Bob [cid:5B798252-10FD-498F-9FC5-2EC532883BAC] Sent from my iPad On Aug 23, 2021, at 6:49 AM, <mailto:tdelacy@wavecable.com> tdelacy@wavecable.com wrote: Dave, Last November, I had a tree crash through my fence and boat shed. My M17 saved the ground from being damaged. After removing the debris it appeared the only damage was to the starboard mooring cleat. Unfortunately, today as I began my list of items to restore my M17, I found the exterior starboard centerboard shoal keel was cracked from the tree fall damage. The previous owners had taken good care of the boat and the shoal keel was not cracked. I suspect the force of the tree impacting the starboard stern mooring cleat raised the boat bow up and gravity slammed it back down upon the trailer. Do you have any references of how I should proceed? I did quite a bit of epoxy repair to my former harpoon 5.2. I am looking forward to venturing into polyester fiberglass with gel coat finish. I could not attain a painted finish as good as the gel coat. However, as this is the underside, I am leaning toward rebuilding the surface with epoxy? Additionally, re: the stop pin. As I do not intent to race but cruise, do you recommend faring in the stop pin or leaving a proud external stop pin (reference friends early 70's M17). As I am in the Puget Sound region, I expect I will have to pull and recoat the centerboard every 5 years. It just seems an accessible stop pin would be beneficial. Tim de Lacy -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> https://www.avast.com/antivirus <tree crash.jpg> <boat impact.jpg> <P8220027.JPG> <P8220028.JPG> <P8220030.JPG> <P8220034.JPG> -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> https://www.avast.com/antivirus
