> Hi Jens. Hope your having a good new year. I have
> been sanding my hull and keels. I found the inside
> of the keels are bulged outward and sound hollow.
> they have been dripping water since I brought it
> home. I made a boat stand for it and got it off the
> trailer. I drilled holes in the keels to let the
> water drain out. There was a lot of water in them. I
> think the water freezing made the bulges, so I cut
> large holes were the hollow sounds are. I thought
> the ballast was made of lead, but it seems although
> this is some lead there is also peaces of metal and
> copper pipes. Is this the way it should be? Should
> the inside of the keels be flat? I will try to send
> pictures so you can see what I'm talking about. Any
> advice you can give would be deeply appreciated.
> Tom
And here are the pics:
Stuff in port keel
Inside port keel copper pipes
Hole in starboard keel
Hollow in bottom of starboard keel
2006-01-22 Thomas sent me this update:
> Hi Jens. Doing more keel work, I found the pipes
> that I had thought were copper are lead. Some still
> had water in them. The dark gray area in the second
> picture is metal pieces that are wet and corroding.
> I plan to replace them with lead and seal it back in
> the keel . that's that's all still in the planning ,
> but I had to empty the keel to dry it out. The
> outside skin of the keel may need to be removed to
> make it straight. It has a slight bow in it. I'm not
> sure if it should be there?
Empty, dry and cleaned out keel
Dark gray area is wet steel pieces and corrosion
Metal parts taken out of keel 94 lbs
Lead taken out of keel also 94 lbs