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
