Keel repair

[badrano]

I have 2005 Chap 256 SSi (owned for barely 2 weeks) and just noticed today that a section of the keel has lost all it's gel coat and the next layer is exposed. We have not done any grounding. Feeling around there is a soft spot that when I pushed on it, water squeezed out.

What is the process for going about and repairing this? I realize that a small section may need to get cut out to get rid of the water logged material.

How significant of an issue is this? What kind of $$$ could I be looking at?

 

[alldodge]

If you do it your self not that much, under $500 and could be much less. The issue is if you can find gelcoat. I bought some to fix mine by stopping by a local marine glass shop and they mixed me a small batch for free

 

[Scott Danforth]

depends on how far back the water-soaked substrate goes. is it just a keel filler piece or is it also your flotation foam.

 

[badrano]

depends on how far back the water-soaked substrate goes. is it just a keel filler piece or is it also your flotation foam.

I guess my concern, not knowing how long the fiberglass has been exposed, is there damage to the keel? I don't enough about the construction of the hull/keel.

What do you mean by keel filler piece?

I probably should not put the boat in the water until I figure out what's going on.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Sometimes the very bottom of the keel is a filler piece of wood. Sometimes that filler piece is not connected to anything else in the hull and if it gets soaked with water like yours is, its a simple fix. Cut out the rotten wood and replace with glass and resin

in that case your about $200 or less

however some boats tie all the pieces together and water that gets into the hull voids and foam doesnt want to come out. Those repairs are much more difficult.

i wouls start by removing the damaged fiberglass and digging out the rottern wood to see how its constructed. From there we all can help with advice and guidance

 

[badrano]

Sometimes the very bottom of the keel is a filler piece of wood. Sometimes that filler piece is not connected to anything else in the hull and if it gets soaked with water like yours is, its a simple fix. Cut out the rotten wood and replace with glass and resin

I happen to stumble upon the 2005 Chap SSi brochure and it explains the layers that go in to the hull. Basically a couple layers of different fiberglass and then a few layers of different coring on to flotation foam. Gel coat -> Hydropel -> Woven Roving -> Fiberglass mat skin coat -> Spraycore 2000 -> Marine coring -> Closed cell flotation foam.

It just popped in to my mind. Searching the internet and seeing pictures of keels that have worn due to beaching, the keel looks like it's been slowly sanded away over time and there is a smooth transition from gel coat to fiberglass. Looking at my pic again, everything is very jagged and looks no where near the pics I've seen of beaching. On my first outing with the boat, new boat, new handling, I'm wondering if the damage came from hitting one of the bunk boards. I do remember having a little bit of a struggle and hit the boards (mainly the front pair) at a bad angle to where the right board pivoted and was pointing upwards and the left board was normal (bunks are center pivot).

If this is the case, then the damage has only be exposed on two multi-hour outings. I read one thread elsewhere where it was suggested to let it dry out over several days and then start the repair with resin, etc.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

The pic definitely looks more like a scrape than beaching, unless that beaching was a sharp rock or metal. It really needs to dry out before any attempt at a repair can be made.

My Chap has a strip of wood down the keel that was glassed in as a reinforcement. My boat is a 1990, a lot could have changed in 15 years. Floatation foam was also only on the outside of the stringers. No foam at all along the keel.

 

[tpenfield]

Looks like a trailer loading scar . . .

Let the thing dry out. Use a wet vac / shop vac to pull any water out of the soft spot.

If you want to DIY, then maybe a patch of fiberglass where the hull is thin. Then gelcoat to finish.

Otherwise take it to a fiberglass shop and write a check (might be a big check)

Be more careful loading the boat.

 

[badrano]

It really needs to dry out before any attempt at a repair can be made.

Let the thing dry out. Use a wet vac / shop vac to pull any water out of the soft spot.

What is a reasonable amount of time to let it dry out? Is there a way to tell that it has adequately dried out?

Would the Fiberglass repair kit from West Marine be any good?

I would like to be able to take the boat out on Sunday. Is it reasonable to think that the repair can be done it time? If not, so be it and I won't take the boat out. The last thing I want to do is cause any more damage.

 

[alldodge]

It depends if there is water inside, only way to know if to open it up. If its opened and its dry, just mix the resin, patch and go boating. Resin doesn't take long to dry, and can do the gel later

Boat stays on the trailer (most likely) so unless there is water inside its all good.

On the other side, if there is water inside, its not like a few more weeks of boating is going to destroy it. Could do repair in the fall

Need to get a roller installed where the hull contacts the trailer to roll past. Once its sitting on the trailer it would not touch the hull.

 

[badrano]

Be more careful loading the boat.

Larger boat than my last one, different handling especially when there is a little current going on when trying to load the boat. At least the last 2 loading's were way smoother. I think we figured it out....I hope....don't need anymore dings like this one.

 

[badrano]

It depends if there is water inside, only way to know if to open it up. If its opened and its dry, just mix the resin, patch and go boating. Resin doesn't take long to dry, and can do the gel later.

When you say open it up, do you mean poke in to the soft spot and remove material?

 

[Baylinerchuck]

It’s really hard to see exactly what you’re dealing with there. Any torn or cracked gel and glass in that area needs to be ground back slightly. Can you tilt the trailer so that’s the low point. Did water get into the bilge from this gouge?

Force dry air in that area with an air compressor or heat gun on low. Once dry, resin takes less than an hour to cure. Make sure the repair is reinforced with chop strands in the mix.

 

[alldodge]

If its soft then water has gotten in, how far is the other issue. As BC mentioned it would need to be ground out to see how far. It may just be a small area but could go the entire length

 

[badrano]

It’s really hard to see exactly what you’re dealing with there. Any torn or cracked gel and glass in that area needs to be ground back slightly. Can you tilt the trailer so that’s the low point. Did water get into the bilge from this gouge?

Force dry air in that area with an air compressor or heat gun on low. Once dry, resin takes less than an hour to cure. Make sure the repair is reinforced with chop strands in the mix.

As far as I know, no water in the bilge. From the second outing, no water came out the drain plug.

Took another look and poked at it with a screwdriver. In the pic below, the red (~3 1/2 in) is where all the soft spots are with the softest in the middle. Not knowing how thick each layer is, it looks like there is a small hole and gently poking at it with the screwdriver, I'm definitely poking at the next layer...not sure if it's the fiber mat or getting in to coring material. Green are, the fiberglass is still hard/firm.

If I understand everything:
1. Everything has to dry out
2. Do some grinding but how far/much grinding to do?
3. Fill in with resin, maybe a small section of fiberglass is needed first
4. Apply gel coat

Sorry for all the questions...I'm definitely a fish out water with this.

 

[alldodge]

Fiberglass is pretty easy to do
Get a sander and start just going for it. Keep sanding until you find dry stuff. Once all the wet is gone, use some 1708 and resin, and soak the cloth rel good. The cloth an resin should dry fairly clear and no bubbles. Add more layers as needed until the profile looks good.

Now sand smooth with fine sandpaper

Once smooth, now mix gelcoat and can paint it on. May need a few coats, and sand smooth and polish

Should say this is how I would do it, others are probably different

 

[Scott Danforth]

how wide is the damage circled in red? is it 3.5" wide, or 3.5" long and about 3/4" wide?

 

[badrano]

how wide is the damage circled in red? is it 3.5" wide, or 3.5" long and about 3/4" wide?

3.5in long, 1in wide

 

[tpenfield]

Before you start grinding and cutting and just to be sure about things . . . to avoid getting yourself into a 'mell of a hess'

> Does the described area feel 'soft' because the fiberglass is thin?

> Is there any evidence that the damage has actually broken through the fiberglass?

> Does water continually drip from any of the damaged area?

> Is the area where the scrape is located visible from inside the boat? such as the ski locker or other area? or is it hidden?

Usually, the keel is an area where the fiberglass is fairly thick . . . so it seems unusual that a scraping off of the gelcoat would result in a perforation of the hull. However . . . if there was an air pocket in the fiberglass, then you might get the situation that you are describing.

Can you get any better pictures of the damage area, particularly the area that you feel is 'soft'?

 

[badrano]

Before you start grinding and cutting and just to be sure about things . . . to avoid getting yourself into a 'mell of a hess'

> Does the described area feel 'soft' because the fiberglass is thin?

> Is there any evidence that the damage has actually broken through the fiberglass?

> Does water continually drip from any of the damaged area?

> Is the area where the scrape is located visible from inside the boat? such as the ski locker or other area? or is it hidden?

Usually, the keel is an area where the fiberglass is fairly thick . . . so it seems unusual that a scraping off of the gelcoat would result in a perforation of the hull. However . . . if there was an air pocket in the fiberglass, then you might get the situation that you are describing.

Can you get any better pictures of the damage area, particularly the area that you feel is 'soft'?

> Does the described area feel 'soft' because the fiberglass is thin? The area of real concern is/was squishy. I pushed on it and water dripped out.
> Does water continually drip from any of the damaged area? No. Today it seems drier but still squishy/soft.

> Is the area where the scrape is located visible from inside the boat? such as the ski locker or other area? or is it hidden? Lucked out and pulled the table stand out and looked through hull and can see some kind of change in the fiberglass in the area of the damage.



The more I think about this, I can't see how hitting a bunk board hard would cause this. I also notice the gel coat starting at the water line at the bow and along the entire keel line has been roughed up. For all I know it could have been there already. Also when I got home and pulled the drain plug, a lot of water came out. At first I didn't think anything of it because we took some water over the bow in the Point Pleasant Canal (NJ) because the changing tide/current can kick up some nice little waves around the bridges. But now I'm thinking more about it, I was taking on water but I no idea if the bilge pump kicked on. Why do they build these boats without a bilge pump alarm.