Keel part 3

The area the keel was on the hull isn't as bad as I thought.  I do need to replace a section of the plywood, but the rest of the bottom isn't so bad.  

Side note, with the keel off, the boat is very light.  I'm able to pick up the bow or stern and lift with little effort.  Gives me hope the boat will be close to the 910 pounds when it's done.

Keel removed

I finally got the keel off after cutting two bolts and got the other 4 unscrewed.

 

I kinda thought it wouldn't be good under the keel.  My suspicions were right.  You can see by the picture below that the plywood is very rotten.  It's a good thing I removed the keel.  I was able to scrape away all of the plywood with a few light passes with the claw of the hammer.  Looks like I will be replacing a portion of the bottom.  I may consider replacing the whole section or the entire bottom just because I can at this point.  Might be best in the long run.

 

I think this is the first time the keel has been off the boat.  There was no barrier between the keel and the plywood.  It had several layers of this dense foam/epoxy stuff. to fill in the gap between the keel and hull.

 

After I ensure all the needed wood is replaced, my plan is to epoxy and 1 layer of 4 oz glass on the bottom.  Then the keel will go on over the glass.  It's my thinking that this will help put a barrier between the wood and keel to help reduce the chances of water getting trapped between the keel and wood. 

 

As always, if you know a better way, I'm all ears and willing to consider anything.  I know many of you have far more experience than I do with this type of work. 

 

 

Keel removal

I am thankful to everyone the past few days who helped with advice and told me what to look for.  Thanks to everyone for creating more work for me.  Hahaha.  The Facebook group is incredibly helpful.

I was planning on sandblasting the keel today.  I took a quick look under the boat before I started the job.  I found that some of the wood separated from the boat and is rotten beyond repair.  I think having the boat upside down put more pressure on the bottom of the boat due to the weight of the keel.  Though it created more work for me, it also showed me more things that must be repaired.

My plans of sand blasting now changed to keel removal.  Some people suggested that in the beginning.  I am hoping this isn't a huge setback.  I should probably expect more setbacks as I dig further into the job.  :)

Gearing up for repair

No pictures this time, but here's an update.

The boat has been tarped this whole time and kept very dry considering all the rain we've received the last few weeks.

Part of the reason I haven't worked on the boat is because I needed to acquire the materials needed for the repair.  Because this is my first time taking on a project of this size I didn't know what I needed.  Here are the things I've recently purchased and ordered:

5 Gallon kit of West System epoxy and other tools needed to mix and apply the epoxy.  Total $700
Several colors of Paint $205
4 oz Fiberglass about $500  (I say about because the order hasn't gone through yet.)
Sandblasting equipment and media $50

I was advised to watch the weight of the boat because it should come in at 910 pounds.  I'm not sure what the current weight is for the boat.  I have no way to measure it.  Some people told me to just epoxy the boat followed by paint.   I decided to use 2 layers of 4 oz. fiberglass for the bottom and sides because the boat is old and I'm not sure how structurally sound is the wood.  The thought is the fiberglass will help make the boat more rigid. 

What's next?
The paint should arrive in the next few days.  Once that is here, I will sand blast the keel followed by filling in some of the deep divots with epoxy filler.  I will then do a barrier coat followed by primer and paint. 

While I'm waiting for the keel epoxy and paint to cure I can also start filling in some of the gaps and random holes in the hull.  It isn't bad, but a few places need some help.


The total spent on this project this post is $1455
Total for the entire project so far $2055

Bottom fiberglass removed

The follow pictures show the fiberglass removed from the bottom.  It was so easy to pull up.  It took less than an hour to strip off all of the fiberglass.  I think all of the material below the waterline came off with little effort.  You can see the sheets sitting on the ground.  Some of it just about fell off when I gave it a slight tug. 

I'm happy to also find out that the wood under all the fiberglass is in great shape considering the fiberglass was falling off.  There is little damage from the elements. 

The boat was then covered with several tarps to keep it dry.  We have quite a few days of rain forcasted.

A close look at the damage

Here is a closer look at the damage.  You can see the fiberglass is gone or delaminating from the bottom of the boat.  Some of the exposed wood is damaged due to the elements.  The last two pictures are of the stern.  Both are the same piece at two different angles.  The piece of wood that makes up the stern is too far gone and will need to be replaced.  Good thing I am a woodworker. 

Upside down

Now that the boat is oriented so that I can work on the bottom, I need to raise it up yet again in order to set it on some make shift saw horses.

Flipping the boat

Today's plan is to get the boat upside down.  The boat weighs about 900 pounds.  One-third of this weight is the 300 pound keel.  The boat is currently sitting on its side with the keel sitting on some blocks. 

I'll try to explain what I tried.  My first attempt was to get straps around the boat at the front and back.  One side of the straps much shorter than the other side.  The idea was to pull on the shorter side with the chain hoists which would cause the boat to roll.  This started to work until the keel was off the blocks.  The keel was doing its job trying to keep the boat upright.  The boat started to slowly slip in the straps remaining upright no matter how much I tried to lift it. 

I felt both good and bad about this at the same time.  I felt good because it gives me further confidence that this boat will be difficult to capsize once in the water.  Bad because I had to figure a new way to get it upside down.

I decided to grab the keel with one of the straps.  I wasn't sure how good this would work because I had no way to support one side of the boat.  I only had 2 gantries.  One on the front and one on the keel.  It worked surprisingly well.  The boat slowly rolled upside down.   I then set it back down on the ground so I could move the gantry and get under it properly to raise it off the ground again. 

How am I going to roll it back upside right?  I'm not quite sure yet.  =)   I'll figure that out when I get to it.