e27 encapsulated keel void

[angus]

Hi All,

I am looking at the purchase of a 76 E27 and the survey
turned up the strangest thing. There appears to be a complete
void on the lower half of the keel below the encapsulated
ballast. This is forward of the bilge sump and runs the
entire length of the keel for the lower half on both sides.
The upper half is solid where the ballast meets the hull.
I found a reference to the ballast installation in the original
brochure stating: "2900 lbs of cast, shaped internal lead bonded
onto the lowest part of the keel", but there is no bond.
Could this be a step missed in production?? It has obviously
been there since production, I can't see the ballast having
moved up.

Anyone have any thoughts on this, is this intentional? It seems
to me that this would severely compromise structural strength,
not to mention that only the keel skin is there to resist an
impact with rocks!

Thanks for any input,
Angus,
Hopeful E27 owner.

 

[Jim Baldwin]

not sound right

Never heard of such a thing... How did the surveyor find this? He must have been tapping about and hearing hollow sounds or something.

No this is not right and may be the result of trapped air during lead pour or what?

I don't think I would buy that one without more information or explanation.

 

[Loren Beach]

Note that when sounding the hull with a hammer, the different tone you (or the surveyor) hear is the result of a void... but the void could well be only a quarter or half inch.
The precast lead ballast that was glassed into the keel cavity could easily have uneven places along any part of it that the resin did not completely fill in when they sealed it.

Other owners of Ericsons with internal ballast may have more precise information...

My .02 worth,

Loren

 

[Martin King]

Doesn't sound too good. That lead should have solid glass
all around it. I'd walk away from this 27 (there are plenty
around that don't have this problem) unless you are getting
a smokin' deal. You're looking at a problem that's going to
be expensive to fix, especially if water has found it's way to
that void. I know of another Ericson that had a big keel void
where a lot of glass had to be ground away to expose the void
and after the repair, the keel had to be templated to get it
fair again. This all adds up to many hours of labor. Think about it.

Martin

 

[Tom Grey]

My Ericson 25+ went in for bottom paint. Several weeks later I had a new keel and a big bill from the shop.

I too had a void in the keel that took on water - apparently from the bilge above. It was blister city, and the fiberglass surrounding the lead had to be removed, the lead braced, and a whole new keel built around it.

If I were looking at a new boat, I'd drill in and see if there is water in there. If so, forget it. If not, the void might not be all that bad as long as it is dry and solid. Just patch the test hole and enjoy the boat. There is an area a few inches from the end of the keel that has some foam filler with no lead (at least that's the way mine was). The entrance of water and the subsequent blisters were my problem, not a space between the lead and glass.

Good luck.

 

[Dave Hussey]

I know this is an old thread, but here is a pretty easy fix that doesn't require grinding away the fiberglass hull to expose the void....oh, my credentials....I own an E27 that had a grounding by a previous owner, which caused a football sized hole in the keel...I discovered this after the purchase, and repaired it myself with epoxy, filler, and glass cloth. I am no expert, but the results were more than satisfactory. Your Mileage May Vary.
First, map out the area of the void by sounding, and mark the area with whatever is handy (pen, pencil, etc.)
Drill several 1/4 inch holes near the bottom and the top of the area, about 6 inches apart. If any water is trapped, it will drain out. I used a shop vac and let it suck for several hours until no more water wetted the area. Then mix up a batch of epoxy (I use MAS, but any good epoxy will work) and a turkey baster, and inject the epoxy in the lower holes until it runs out of the upper holes. Tape the holes, and let it cure. A little sanding, and tidying up the holes, and you are done. In construction, the lead pig is set in wet polyester resin inside the formed hull, and pretty much fills the lower part of the hull, solidly. When I ground away the fractured glass on my boat, I made contact with the lead ballast about 1/2 inch in from the hull. The hull is about 1/4 inch thick, and there was about 1/4 inch of broken and fractured resin before I made contact with the lead. All in all, a solid boat.