Damage to Keel - Self Repair?

[MacWombat]

Hey all,

I'm the proud owner of a 1983 Endeavor 33. During last season, I hit a rock going approximately 4.5 knots. The boat did not come to a complete stop, or even slow really, nor did it change course, but the sound and the feeling were undeniable. When I hauled the boat, I could see a 6" by 6" spot of damage on the front/underside. It doesn't look too deep (I hope?) and I don't see any cracks or signs of separation along the joint.

I am incredibly new to all of this and would appreciate any advice. I'd like to repair it myself (along with some loyal friends), but have no experience. If anybody could point me in the right direction, I'd be very appreciative.

Thank you!

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Mac'.

According to the “Endeavour Owners” website:
“All ballast is internally mounted inside the keel, which is molded integrally with the hull. Cast pieces of lead are placed in the hull, encapsulated in a polyester bonding resin, and then covered with a layer of woven roving to form a fiberglass cap. When finished, the ballast becomes a structural part of the hull.”
➥ https://www.endeavourowners.com/boats/e33/e33specs.html

Grind back the edges of the damage [beveled ±10-12:1], clean, and patch /w woven roving, and polyester resin.
Expect some of our boatbuilders to expand on this simple explanation.

[JoeRobertJr]

That looks like a great opportunity to develop some fiberglassing skills. I have found this manual to be very helpful in terms of procedures and techniques:
https://www.westsystem.com/wp-conten...anual-2015.pdf

[glenn.225]

How long has it been out of the water? And how long before it goes back in?

It will need to be very dry to effect a good repair. Good advice above.

I would suggest tape some plastic sheet well above it to make a bit of a tent to keep it dry and work in. Vapour barrier at a local hardware store is great for this and duct tape. Also tarp the ground so you don't have any run off. And a wet/dry vac.

And I say this in all kindness, you WILL need to keep your dirt and dust under control so not to piss off your fellow boaters. Fiberglass work is messy. I keep my boat in a club that does allow DIY work and we all (mostly) try to keep our work from affecting others.

[boatman61]

Hose it well with fresh water to remove salt ingress and let it dry before grinding back then hose again, let dry and then seal area well with epoxy before beginning the build up with glass cloth layers.

[MacWombat]

Wow thanks to you all for the speedy responses. The boat has been out of the water since November and has about a month before it goes back in.

I am looking forward (mostly) to learning fiberglassing skills and it seems (temperature wise) to be a perfect time to do so. I'll be following the advise here and am reading that West Marine PDF as we speak.

Thanks!

[MicHughV]

Before you do any repair work, you need to " feather" back the surrounded edges.
Simple enough to do, get a grinder or disc sander to remove all vestiges of bottom paint and provide a nice tapered "feathered" edge to the existing glass. I'd go for a nice clean 3" edge.
First layer of new glass goes over the edge by about 1". Next layer 2" and final layer 3".. This should give you a nice smooth finish.

If you're going to use the WEST system, I'm make a " putty" to fill in all big voids, prior to glassing. West provides a variety of ways to do this.

Get yourself a good mask ( and eye protection), as stuff will be flying everywhere and you don't want to breath any of it. While you are at it, wear sleeves and hand protection.....some good plastic gloves, or at the very least some throwaway surgical gloves.

[Chotu]

And a few extra tips just to help make things go more smoothly when you do it.

1) don’t be shy with the grinder. Get rid of all of that stringy weird looking fiberglass hanging everywhere. It’s wet. It’s nasty. It’s got to go.

2) You can only Fiberglass over a smooth surface. So, do like boatman said and after you have removed all of the crap, use a peanut butter like consistency bog to smooth everything. You can use colloidal silica to thicken. You might even want to sand that peanut butter after it kicks off. So it’s nice and smooth. Any dips or nooks and crannies in the surface, and you’re going to get air bubbles (voids). Ones you cannot remove.

3) do the feathered edge all the way around the entire area you plan to glass, taking back the good stuff to make that 3 inch margin that MicHughV is talking about. But also do it like Gord says. Make sure you taper a nice ratio. Measure how thick the existing glass is, and then feather it out with a nice margin that creates a nice ratio there. You can’t really feather it out too far. Your eye will guide you.

4) The glass looks pretty thick there. What you want to do is make sure you replace it with the same amount (thickness) that is missing. So take a measurement of how thick the glass is, and get back to us. We might be able to suggest what Fiberglass to buy and how many layers so that you end up with the same laminate that has been damaged.

5) after you stack up all the layers in a similar way to what McHughV said, you will find that around the border, it sticks up a little bit. It might end up a little too tall there. A little proud. So you take the grinder over that one more time and just smooth it so it blends in with the rest of the hull.

6) from there, you are ready to prime and paint.

PS: “grinder “ means a variable speed buffer/polisher with 60 grit or so sandpaper stuck to it.

[psk125]

Everyone has provided useful advice on what to do. You are lucky that your encapsulated keel is filled with lead instead of iron! Do work to dry it all out thoroughly before starting with the epoxygoop. Any water trapped inside may come back to cause problems later.

[boatpoker]

That laminate is resin rich. i.e. there is much more resin that is ideal. Excess resin makes the laminate somewhat more britttle. There is a very good chance the resin has fractured all the way though to the ballast. You will probably see these hairline fractures or perhaps even some see some minot delamination in the immeditate area.

As others have said it is critical that this be completely dry before attempting repair. Try this .... drill seven or eight 1/8" inch holes all the way through the damaged area into the keel and cover with saran wrap held on with tape. I suspect that within 24hrs you will see water inside the saran. If you see water, apply a new piece of dry saran and check again the next day. Repeat until there is no moisture showing inside the saran wrap.

[capt jgw]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Hose it well with fresh water to remove salt ingress and let it dry before grinding back then hose again, let dry and then seal area well with epoxy before beginning the build up with glass cloth layers.

If you seal with epoxy, you must use epoxy for the laminate. Polyester and vinylester do not reliably stick to epoxy, but epoxy sticks to just about everything. Many pros use whatever resin the boat was built with, which in this case is probably polyester. Makes it all same-same. Others use only epoxy as it adheres better to the original layup. Your choice.

[rhubstuff]

Let me add a note on personal protection. Wear a Tyvek suit with a hood and use an industrial grade breathing mask with clean filters, and an eye mask. You want to cover all exposed skin to the maximum extent possible. Ground fiberglass consists of a lot of microscopic silica and can cause permanent injury, especially internally. Do NOT breathe the dust. At all. Good luck with the repair.

[Tetepare]

Or just glob it up with Marinetex and call it a day. Though with that size fill glass and epoxy may be less expensive

[MacWombat]

Ok thanks for all your advice. Here is what I have formulated as a list from all of it:

1 Clean with fresh water

2 Dry area
a. Drill Seven or Eight ⅛” holes all the way through the damaged area into the keel and cover with saran wrap held on with tape. Check after 24hrs

3.Create tarped environment to protect nearby boats

3. Wear Tyvek suit with a hood, gloves, industrial grade breathing mask, and eye mask.

4. Grind (Variable speed buffer/polisher with 60 grit) back damaged area.
Don’t be shy

5. “Feather” back surrounding edges:
Use Grinder/Disc sander to remove vestiges of bottom paint, 3” edge:
1st layer 1”, 2nd layer 2”, 3rd layer 3”

6. Measure how thick existing glass is

7. Use “putty to fill in big voids”

8. Replace fiberglass with same amount of thickness removed

9. Once stacked, there will probably be a raised edge around the border. Smooth this out with the grinder.

10. Prime and paint

Am I missing anything or did I misunderstand anything? Any videos of any of these steps you would recommend?

My continued thanks.

[rhubstuff]

You just wrote the book on how to repair a damaged keel. Nice work! You'll do fine on the repair.