It's been almost a year since I have posted last. Current status is as follows:
The Keels have been completely refurbished:
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| Cracks in my Vivacity Sailboat Keel |
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| Pouring the Lead Ballast |
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| First of the Ballast, removed from forms |
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| Bottom Layer of Ballast for each of the Keels |
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Interior Shot of Keel Top, after all lead
has been placed and mortar poured |
- There were numerous small cracks on the exterior of the keels. I widened most of these (so they were a "V" shaped groove), and then I filled them with epoxy resin thickened with structural fillers.
- After patching, I coated the exterior keel section with several layers of interlux interprotect (a barrier coating), and then three layers of anti-fouling paint.
- I dug out most of the steel punchings from the interior of the keels. A small amount remained in the bottom that I just couldn't get out. I was having such a tough time of it that I was afraid I was doing more damage than good by getting that last little bit. I painted a couple coatings of un-thickened epoxy on the remainder at the bottom, in order to hopefully seal them from any water.
- I then melted scrap lead and poured it into wood forms that matched the interior dimensions of the bottom of the keel ( this represented about 250 lbs of the 760 lbs of ballast that I was to add. I set these into a bedding of mortar in the keels. I then added the rest of the scrap lead and mortar to the inside of the keels. My rough calculations show that I am about 25 pounds too light, but since the weight is now situated much lower in the keels than originally, I'm not too worried. I poured the final bit of mortar into the keels about two weeks ago. I will probably wait about another month for it to dry out more before I cap the interior top of the keels with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin.
