Keil Covers

[DayCruiser]

I was thinking of buying a Keil(sp?) strip to go down from front to back of my 18ft boat. The ad says it protects the body of the boat when mooring it on the shoreline and docking. Just enough to cover the bottom part of the V and most of the way up the front. Lifetime warrenty comes with it. Says it doesnt effect performance. <br />Do these type things work?<br />Would it put too much drag on the boat?<br /><br />Thanks

 

[ziggy]

Re: Keil Covers

daycruiser, i think your talking about a keel gaurd. protects the keel of the boat when beaching. i don't know how it would protect anything while docking, since it's a thin strip mounted to yer keel. i have no experience with it. but since it wraps around your keel, i does probalby protect it while beaching. don't know how it affects proformance.

 

[qapd]

Re: Keil Covers

DayCruiser,<br /><br />I have a KeelGuard on a 19' Mako. It will sure save your keel if something happens while loading on the trailer.<br />If you beach your boat a lot, I would recommend one. As far as effecting performance, it has no effect at all.<br />The warning I will give you is they are a pain to remove. After 8 years the aft end started to release. I caught it on my roller. KeelGuard replaced it with no questions asked. I provided a couple of pictures. The easiest way I found to remove the remaining glue after pulling away the shield was to heat with a paint removing heat gun, scrape with a wooden shim, and remove the glue with acetone.<br />Best glue I have ever seen. Man was it sticky. Waiting for it to warm up to install the replacement.<br /><br />Larry Smith

 

[DayCruiser]

Re: Keil Covers

Thanks for the input!<br /><br />I was thinking if you pulled up to a dock and the keel hit the docks edges.<br />Nice to hear it doesn't effect performance. I guess I better plan on it staying on permantly and painting around it if need be.<br />There are alot of Islands in my area lake that would be fun to explore<br />I had the boat bottom painted and within a year it already had scratches on the Keel area. Instead of touching it up every year it may be best to just buy the cover