[Alberg30] Keels

[John Birch]

With a hull number of 23 are you sure you are not dealing with a lead
ballast?

The first few A-30's were lead then they went to iron. Regardless iron or
lead, all are cast and not shot.

Is there any more water in the keel than before you started pulling it
apart?

If the answer is no, I would suggest for your consideration, leaving well
enough alone and seal it up with glass. Do you think using cedar or redwood
well glassed might be a thought if the original wood served a structural
purpose for the rudder shoe?

John

----- Original Message -----
From: <RABBIT649 at aol.com>
To: <public-list at alberg30.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 1:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Alberg30] Keels


> I own #23 and this is what I know about the keel and the area of which you
> speak:
>     1)I can't speak for later boats, but it has always been my
understanding,
> corroborated by the experience of exposing the iron ballast in the rear,
that
> the ballast is not "iron shot, balls, ingots or what have you", but a
solid,
> cast, single, shaped piece of pig iron.
>     2)  Exploring the area under the engine that is the deepest area of
the
> bilge at the very aft end of the boat, at the 'heel" that holds the shoe
for
> the rudder pin, I discovered an area where the covering over the "ballast"
> was cracked and holding oil and bilge water. When I went to remove the
> covering, it proved to be, not fiberglass at all but an area of something
> like Thoroseal Hydro sealing cement in which was embedded, as a filler or
as
> a spacer, a 14" piece of 2 x 4 common house stud. It was a work of days
> getting all this structurally extraneous material out of there, but when I
> finished, I found I had exposed the very rear of the pig iron ballast,
which
> at that point had maybe an 8 " high x 4"wide cross section, and behind it,
> that is between the rear of the ballast and the rear of the boat, an empty
> area in the shape of a slice of cake about 18" long, 8" high, 4 or 5
inches
> at its widest near the ballast and tapering to an edge where it met the
> inside of the rear edge of the boat where the rudder attaches. I actually
cut
> and shaped a series of  1" oak "layers" to glass in to fill it up and then
> thought better of it because of what they say about oak not being a good
bond
> with glass because of the acid and not holding up against rot. So, at the
> moment,  the boat remains on the hard,  and my plan is to collect scraps
of
> fiberglass and old resin and fill it in.
> The only pause I have is over the cementitious material in which the iron
is
> bedded. Having exposed the rear cross section, as I said, I notice that
there
> was a half-inch of cement around the ballast between it and the inside of
the
> hull. I'm a little concerned about sealing moisture in with the cement,
> because this cement-like material is porous and the water in it will
expand
> when frozen and, I fear, rust and bust the iron ballast out through the
hull
> somewhere. With only that half inch cross section exposed, it's hard to
know
> how to dry it out.
> Any suggestions?
> By the way, I know nothing about the area in front of the ballast, but I
> believe there are no 'false parts' of an Alberg 30's hull, and no foam
used
> in the earlier ( linerless, original mold) boats.
> Paul
> #23 Ashwagh
>
>
> In a message dated 6/20/01 8:11:38 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> timmins at optonline.net writes:
>
> > I'm not sure if that gray powder is cement or not, but I've run into it
> also.
> > For the first three winters that I've owned her and kept her on the
hard,
> by
> > spring I always had a gray wet dripping coming from the forefoot area of
> the
> > keel. Every year I would put some sort of sealer or epoxy over the area
and
> I
> > still had the weeping the following winter/spring. Winter 99/2000 I
decided
> > to FIX it finally. I stripped her down in the area and found a couple of
> > small cracks. I ground out the area and drilled holes to air out the
> wetness.
> > The holes I drilled went into a void that had WET gray sand-like stuff.
The
> > stuff I encountered wasn't cement since it never hardened up. The void
area
> I
> > encountered is underneath the interior fiberglass ballast cover in the
fore
> > cabin. My boat is #497 with liner. The fwd cabin has a floor hatch that
> lifts
> > out and about 6-8" under that is what I'm referring to as the fiberglass
> > ballast cover. To finish the story with minimal detail, I filled the
holes,
> > fiberglassed over the area, faired it out, put on a barrier coat,
painted
> and
> > launched. Winter 2000/2001 had no "Grey Tears" coming from the hull, so
I
> > guess I fixed it.
> >     I'm not sure if anyone other than a Whitby employee will know what
that
> > gray stuff is. I figure it was (is) just a space filler to secure the
iron
> > shot, balls, ingots or what have you that makes up our ballast. If your
> gray
> > sand is dry, be sure to seal the hole completely and be glad your
ballast
> isn'
> > t water logged. Also, if you drilled your hole aft under the engine and
I
> > drilled forward at the forefoot and we both got the gray stuff, that
must
> > mean the ballast area goes all the way between.
> >  Regards, Brian
> >    ----- Original Message -----
> >    From: Peter Amos
> >    To: public-list at alberg30.org
> >    Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 5:51 PM
> >    Subject: [Alberg30] Keels
> >
> >
> >    I drilled a small hole in the interior surface of the keel below the
> > engine, to take a screw for fixing a bilge pump switch. I was surprised
at
> > how thin the fibreglass skin is at this point. The bit came out with a
dry
> > grey powder on it that looked like cement dust. Was dry cement used in
the
> > ballast area,if so why?
> >    Randy's query about a foam filled area in the keel and cracks when
> blocked
> > may have solved one of my problems, an untraceable leak while motoring
or
> > sailing.Much less when anchored.Not shaft,cooling system, rudder tube,
> > through hulls or bilge pump outlets too near the waterline.
> >    If a hole can be drilled in this foamed area, if there is one in the
A
> 30,
> > exactly where should it be?
> >    Peter Amos
> >    Tait Tait #478
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