Hi John, Don't panic, its not as bad as people think this is. You can either do the work yourself or have a yard do it for you. The repair will consist of removing the delaminated fiberglass which takes a short period of time with a good angle grinder, then knock out the portion of the ballast that is rusted. It probably won't be too much and then re-fiberglass. The key part after that work is done is finding where the water intrusion occurred. More then likely it leaked around either the stop pin or the pivot pin and perhaps the very bottom of the keel. On the montgomery owners photosite you will see where the likely leak spots are. I had a yard fix mine 3 years ago for about $800 which included blasting and coating the centerboard and it has been good ever since. On February 22, 2010 at 8:01 PM John Crews <johncrews@hotmail.com> wrote:
I own a 1974 Montgomery 17. The boat has been out of the water for several years. I just noticed a crack in the fiberglass of the shoal keel. I'm not certain of the construction but it looks like an inner steel or iron structure may have rusted, expanded, and split the fiberglass. The crack is roughly horizontal, about midway between the hull and the bottom of the keel, about 2-feet long, and nearer the aft end of the keel. The split is nearly 1/2-inch wide. I also just noticed a bulge and hairline crack on the opposite side of the keel. Any insight and/or suggestions?
Thanks.
Sincerely,
John Crews
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