Hull Bilge Construction 36RH 81

[tcooper]

On my 36 it appears the hull was laid up and then stringers and bilge was set in and glassed into place. Does anyone know how this was done? is the bilge a liner or is it the bottom of the boat? What came first during assembly was hull built on stringers or stringers set in hull.

Reason for question, when previous owner re-bed keel, the bolts were tightened the gelcoat cracked around three the bolts. I'm hoping that there is not a problem with a gap, possibly caused by water intrusion between hull and a bilge liner.

Any help would be appreciated

Tom

 

[Frank Langer]

I noticed no on is replying yet, so I'll give you a partial answer, and others can chime in with greater expertise. As I understand it, Ericsons were built with the hull laid up, then the TAFG stringers glass in place afterward to stiffen/strengthen the hull.

A previous owner must have really cranked on those keel bolts! :0

Are you getting any water leakage around the keel bolts or in the bilge? If not, I would simply monitor the gelcoat cracks to see what develops. If the bolts are leaking, especially around the gelcoat cracks, then repair would be needed.

Let's see what others think as well....

Frank

 

[tcooper]

No it doesn't leak. I have two 1/4" SS laser cut plates and was going to bed in place. I figure it would add strength and assure a good seal. Bilge pan is not real flat so I would use wax paper between SS plate and leveling flat before sealing plate to pan. Fear of the unknown......

thanks Tom

 

[Frank Langer]

Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure about wax paper in this application--would caulking or a rubber insert of some kind be better?

Frank

 

[markvone]

E36RH Keel Bolt/Bilge Cracks

Hi Tom,

Welcome to the site! Congrats on your E36RH purchase. I assume you bought E36RH hull #12.

To answer your question, the hull shell is laid up and the TAFG (grid of upside down "U" shaped stringers) is glassed into it. In the bilge area where the keel bolts come through, you are dealing with a solid, 2-4 inch thick fiberglass keel "stub" which forms the top ~ 6 inches (from the outside) of the keel (it's root) and is part of the hull shell. There is no bilge "pan" under the keel bolt nuts, that is the (very thick) bottom of the boat.

To get water leaking into the bilge via the keel bolts, it would have to get past the horizontal sealed gap between the bottom of the stub and the top of the (lead) keel, into the sealed keel bolt hole in the stub and up into the bilge from under the nuts and washers. Resealing this path was the reason the keel was dropped and rebedded, either to stop existing leaking or as preventative maintenance for a 30 yr old boat. I would not be worried about the small gelcoat cracks leaking, all the sealing is done below the washers and nuts. My only (very small) concern would be the cracks expanding from the existing cracks. I would just mark the cracks and monitor them for any expansion or change. My guess is the stub and keel bolts are way over engineering for the loads they see. That said you have to be comfortable about the safety of your boat. Thinking about the keel falling off can give anybody a creepy bad feeling!

If you Google "TAFG site:ericsonyachts.org" using the "Images" tab in Google you will get five pages of pictures of the grid in various Ericsons and a couple of dropped keels showing how long the bolts are going through the "stub".

Mark

 

[tcooper]

Wow, thanks for the insight. It make sense from what I'm seeing. I'm doing a fair amount reconditioning of my new boat; starting at bottom and working up. I'm sure I'll have more questions. Thanks again.

Tom

 

[Loren Beach]

Welcome!

Wow, thanks for the insight. It make sense from what I'm seeing. I'm doing a fair amount reconditioning of my new boat; starting at bottom and working up. I'm sure I'll have more questions. Thanks again.

Tom

Plus One on being welcomed to our little corner of the Web!
As you poke around your boat, be sure to put some pics into your "album".
Just save 'em as jpg's and reduce them to no more than 800 pixels on the longest side before uploading them. The u/l is about a three step process, but actually straightforward. If you have questions, just drop me an email. :nerd:

I like the Holland-designed Ericson's, having crewed on an E-33RH for many years. Fast and Fun boats.

Regards,
Loren

 

[Sven]

Hi Loren,

Just save 'em as jpg's and reduce them to no more than 800 pixels on the longest side before uploading them.

I think the new version of vBulletin does the scaling for you now. Not sure if it happens on the client side in a script before uploading ?

Oh, and add my welcome to the pile too



-Sven

 

[Lawrence B. Lee]

Gallery

Tom,
When you get a moment go to the home page of this site and click on links and downloads. Then click categories and then give EYo Galleries a tap and mosey down to G-4 where you will find pix of Ericsons being born.

Good Luck

Larry Lee
Annabel Lee E-32-200
Savannah, Ga

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