Crack in Keel!!

[WKNK]

I recently bought a 1981 Ericson 38'- just found out there is 9" CRACK IN THE KEEL. No appreciable gap there.. My question is - can I dare to use the boat until I can get it repaired in 3 weeks??? Please help - we had some fairly major plans this weekend, but I certainly don't want to endanger anyone....The seocnd part of my question - is how are cracks like this typically repaired, and afterwards, will it be good as new? (Can you tell I'm milding freaking here?) thank you!!

 

[Jim Payton]

I don't know a lot about this kind of repair, but I do remember some articles in some old issues of Lattitude 38 about an Ericson named 'Maverick' that developed a major and I mean major crack while the two guys were sailing around the world. I seem to remember that they had it repaired and finished the sail. You might try searching Lat 38's web site for info on that. It was a real interesting article because they had to sail some distance with the leak in open Atlantic water??

 

[mufflaw]

I'm assuming the boat is on dry dock at the moment. If so then the crack has already started to dry, which is important to the repairing process. A crack this size is usually of no structural concern (consult a profesional on that ). If you use your boat, you will have to start the drying process all over again. If your boat is already in the water, not a problem use it and then haul out. Consult a Boat yard on the proper repairs.

 

[Geoff Johnson]

I think you have to be more specific about the crack. I believe your boat has a lead keel that is bolted on so I assume you are referring to a crack appearing where the keel is bolted to the hull and not a crack in the keel itself. This is fairly common. However, given the age of your boat, you should consider having the keel dropped to check the bolts for corrosion and then rebedded. On my 1985 32 this cost $1200 about five years ago. I don't think the reference to Maverick is relevant since its crack was not in the keel but in the hull and the Ericson 39, if I am not mistaken, has an encapsulated keel, not one that is bolted on.

 

[sailcarole]

Following up on Geoff Johnson's reply: I had a keel-to-hull leading edge crack for several years before it became a "sinking" situation. More like 40 inches long. At every haul-out I'd try to fill in the crack, or hire someone to tighten/loosen the keel bolts. It was a challenge. Nobody could loosen the bolts, much less tighten them. Finally, after a grounding, the bilge pump was kicking on every 30 minutes and the problem had to be addressed. I convinced a yard to tackle it--which as stated in the previous thread, meant dropping the keel and rebedding it. WE believed it was a manufacturing fault--a tiny gap between the hulls that finally enabled, after years of use and some groundings, water to seep in around the gap. Good luck. Don't panic until your bilge pump can't stop running!

 

[Geoff Johnson]

No, the real danger is corrosion of the keel bolts. If any salt water is allowed to get to the bolts, it is a very bad situation and if you let it go your only remedy will be to remove the keel, have the old bolts drilled out and replaced. A new keel might be cheaper. When my keel was dropped, the yard rebedded it with epoxy, not 5200 (at the recommendation of Pacific Seacraft). However, 5200 was packed under the washers in the bilge. Since then I have added collars to keep all water away from the bolts. You can see a picture of them here:

http://www.ericsonyachts.com/infoexchange/showthread.php?threadid=1042&highlight=pvc