Keel repair question?

[water_rat03]

Ok, long story short I bought a boat from a friend. I didn't need the boat, but he was in serious need of money. In helping a friend I aquired the boat sight unseen. It has a new engine, mercruiser I/O (about 50 hours on it now) and a new drive (about 30 hours on it now). Runs great, seats need replaced.
Anyway, got it home and was cleaning it up when I found a hole in the keel, down low. Further inspection he had 2 rollers on the trailer that were busted up, and it looks like he rammed around loading it and cut the bottom. It is a 76 Ebco Tri-Hull open bow, the hole is in the middle of the keel just below the windshield and slightly in front of the windshield. The hole is about 4 inches long and split at it's widest point about 1/4 to 3/8 inch wide.
I crawled under it, sanded it, cleaned it up and layed a layer of fiberglass over it. 24 hours later I sanded it again and laid another strip over the patch, about 4 inches wider than the first patch. 24 hours later sanded it smooth.
Today took it to the lake for a test run. It leaked! Not bad, jut dripped in.
This winter I am going to replace the floor, it is soft, when I do I plan on spending time going over the whole thing but until then I want to run it on weekends.
Now for my questions. I plan on adding 2 more layers of fiberglass and gelcoat. Will the gelcoat stop it from seeping? It is not split open but when we pulled it out of the water it was dripping from the repair. Also, does gelcoat add any strength, or is it just a finish layer to seel and add a nice colored finish.
Now, the floor is soft just behind the windshield. Today when I would hit waves or a wake the passenger seat would bounce up an inch or two, and the floor would flex on the soft spot. Is this a sign of a bad boat bottom, or just the floor? As I said this winter I am cutting the floor out and replacing it, but is this flex normal for a boat with a bad floor? Or do I have more problems down there?
Long post, but I wanted to get everything in. Thanks everyone for reading and any assistance you can offer.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Keel repair question?

Boat decks are NOT supposed to Flex! You have BIG problems below decks. That hole in the keel has probably been there for a while and has allowed water intrusion and probably rotted your stringers. Search the forum for Stringer and deck replacement. Lot's of help available.
IMHO you cannot wait till winter. Your boat is not SAFE and should not be on the water. You should begin repairs immediately Safety should be your #1 Concern.

I'm just sayin...

 

[water_rat03]

Re: Keel repair question?

Thanks for the reply. I did a little research on deck and stringer repair, found what looks to be a good post on replacing stringers and the floor.
Part of the story behind this boat......
I owned the boat for several years. One thing that I liked about it, the keel did not have any chips or damage usualy found on older boats.
3 years ago the outdrive went bad. Instead of fixing it, someone offered me more for the boat than I had in it, so I sold it. He took it right to the local marina and had a new outdrive put on. It sat at the marina for a year and a half while he made payments for the outdrive. He got it paid off, got it back, and used last summer and this summer until recently. Ran into money trouble and sold it.
So, knowing the history of the boat I know the crack was not there 3 years ago.
I think I will take the advice, put it into the shop right away and get started.
What are the odds that this can't be fixed? Could there be damage to the hull causing problems that can't be seen from the outside? Where the floor flexes when on the water is right where the soft spot is.
Thanks again for the reply.

 

[bigredinohio]

Re: Keel repair question?

This can be fixed but it's probably best to do the repair from the inside. If it was my boat, I'd be sure to sand the area with a low grit (anything under 100 grit should work). I'd take some wax paper and tape it on the outside of the keel over the damaged area and layup the glass from inside. Be sure to make the next piece of glass you lay larger then the last so you have overlapping. Start with a couple of layers of csm, then use woven roven between layers of csm for added strength. Once complete, you can remove the wax paper, sand with the proper grit, fill if needed and add gelcoat.

A good resource is watching videos on youtube.

 

[water_rat03]

Re: Keel repair question?

Thanks for the advice. Stupid question, what is CSM?

In a couple of weeks I will have some other shop projects cleaned up. I have decided that when I get the room to work I am going to follow advice here and get busy on the floor and probably from the sounds of it the stringers.

Whenever I get going on it hopefuly I will be sharing some pictures.

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: Keel repair question?

Rat,

CSM = chopped strand mat

I agree with Woody on this. A little flex in the hull side okay but never the floor. Definitely sounds like bad stringers at minimum. Really dangerous.

Also pics help us help you better. Show us some pics.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Keel repair question?

From what you have posted so far, I truly believe you just have stringer and deck problems that is causing the flex. When you get the deck and stringers out it is a fairly easy fix. Big Red's instructions pretty much hit it on the head. To make it a little easier you could go with 1708 Biax which is a combination cloth and mat that is strong as heck. While your at it you should check your transom too!!! If the stringers rotted chances are good that the transom is starting to go as well. You can drill some exploratory holes, 3/4 inch deep down low on the transom from the inside and see if you get light brown dry shavings or dark brown wet shavings. If its dry you can use 3M 5200 to seal the holes. If not you should tear out and repair the transom as well. Pics would really help us to help you.

I'm just sayin...

 

[water_rat03]

Re: Keel repair question?

Again, thanks for the help.
I will take some pics tomorrow if I get a few minutes, but I don't have a lot to show yet. I did use a marine fiberglass repair kit over the hole in the keel, and sanded it smooth. I sanded the area to be repaired, but for now it looks like a patch. I will snap a few shots of that.
After reading the replies on here I stuck my head down the storage hole in the floor. Here is what I found just looking in there with a flashlight.
The stringer right under where the floor is flexing appears to be broken. Meaning the fiberglass has a diagnal crack right where it is flexing. I am assuming the wood is rotten, OR the previous owner hit something hard and busted stuff up. My guess is the first.
It looks dry and clean inside the hole. The wood on the underside of the deck looks dry, light wood colored from what I can see. No visible rot or breaks.
Under the windshield is a support that runs side to side. I think this would be called a bullwork, or something like that. It also has a diagnal crack from bottom to top in the fiberglass. I again assumed rotten wood. SO I took a 3/8 inch drill bit and poked a hole through the glass to see what came out. Expecting water to come dribbling out as this was behind the hole in the keel.
Instead when I pulled the drill bit back out it was covered in dark brown / black goo that resembled mud. Rotten wood.
I could push on the fiberglass hull from the inside, just inside of the storage box and flex it slightly. Not sure if this is normal, or good. It looks good, no obvious visible cracks or breaks. In the very front, just behind the broken support that runs side to side I do see a glob of something nasty. It almost looks like someone sprayed some expanding foam in. Just a small handfull. Tomorrow if I have time I am going to scrape that out and see what is under it. I suspect the crack in the keel I was dealing with is right there, and the previous owner sprayed some weather sealing expanding foam into the crack. I will also get pics of that tomorrow.
I haven't pulled the carpet or what's left of the seats out, but will get what I can for pics and see what everyone thinks. Looks like I will be learning some fiberglass boat repair in the near future.
Thanks again for the help!