[Public-List] Exposed Iron Keel

Mon Jul 7 19:23:36 PDT 2008

My hull was basically the same as Rachel's, except that the previous owner 
had glassed over the front end (the previous survey mentioned that it needed 
to be done).  The false bilge had also been covered & had cracked.  I dried 
it out, cleaned it & poured more resin & then a layer of glass.  So far, no 
problems.

David Swanson
Strayaway Child
Alberg 30 #229

Oriole's bound, the tickets came today!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rachel" <penokee at cheqnet.net>
To: "Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all" <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>; 
<jdmcrury at yahoo.co.uk>
Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 10:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Public-List] Exposed Iron Keel

Yep, I found exposed iron keel on my boat.

In my case it was in great condition, showing no rust.  I think that
was due to the fact that the bilge had been dry, and the boat used only
for short seasons in a freshwater climate, then covered winters.  Of
course I wanted to keep it that way!

In the end it would probably have been easiest to remove the entire
sole, and the various plywood boxes and dividers that make up the
sub-sole, but that's not how I tackled it. But if I were to do it
again....

I cut out the bottoms of the "battery lockers," leaving an inch or so
of ply all the way 'round to support new box bottoms later (which I
planned to screw in, so I can remove them to inspect or clean the area
beneath in future). I also trimmed the athwartships dividers between
the sub-bilge sections, so that I could run continuous sections of
cloth.

This was not fun task - mostly due to cramped access - but I ground
down to fresh glass on the sides of the bilge for a few inches above
the ballast, then encapsulated the ballast top and up the sides with
layers of biaxmat saturated with epoxy.  The original fabric and resin
used was not really up to the task, in my opinion.

That took care of the top.

As part of another little project, I excavated the entire "false bilge"
that is aft of the ballast pig, in the depths of the bilge under the
engine.  That consisted of a fiberglass top the PO had laminated on,
plus the remnants of the original resin pour (unreinforced, so of
course it cracked).  Beneath that was something like a 2 x 6, set on
edge running between the after end of the pig, and the back end of the
boat where the rudder and shoe are.  The 2 x 6 was surrounded by
cement.

To back-track a bit, the ballast pig is not a "triangle" as they
usually are.  I read that they took the mold used for the folkboat pig,
which would have been a "triangle," and built it up about 8" with
forms, then poured the pig for the A30. This makes sense as the after
side is a flat, vertical slab about 8" tall.  The "false bilge,"
consisting of wood, cement, and a resin pour over the top made the
whole thing one level slope, fore-and-aft.

Since I wanted to get a look at the pig, and since I could see that
bilgewater/fuel/etc. had been allowed to seep into this area over the
years, I dug it all out.  It's not at all structural.  The back of the
pig was completely exposed in the wood/cement area.  Once I had it all
cleaned up, I thought about whether to put it back or not.  I decided
not to.  It makes a good "sump" and I just couldn't see any reason to
put the false stuff back.

Instead, I made a little, custom-fit "wall" for the back of the ballast
pig using the type of pre-made FRP board you can get at McMaster-Carr -
I think I used 3/4"  or so - then I fiberglassed (over the whole thing,
plus generous tabbing) the whole thing in with biaxmat, biaxial tape,
and epoxy resin.  There!  :)

Let me know if I can clarify further.  I'm fairly well acquainted with
the area :D

I also have to give credit to the person with an early hull number (37
or so?) who had mentioned finding this same thing on his boat.  I found
it by searching the archives.  It was very helpful to sort out what I
was finding to be able to read about it.

Rachel
1967 Alberg 30, #221

PS I've seen at least one other A-30 with a garboard drain plug about
10" up from the bottom of the hull, so the "false bilge bottom" must
have existed on many (all?) of the boats.  It's typically hidden, of
course.

On Jul 7, 2008, at 9:33 PM, James McRury wrote:

> Hi All
>
> While beginning to clean out the bilge in my A30 #124, I noticed that the 
> iron keel just aft of the main cabin bulkhead is mostly exposed, with the 
> 2 inches of tabbing around the edge of the exposed keel also having 
> separated from the keel. I was unable to view the rest of the keel aft of 
> that (due to some time constraints).
> Shouldn't the keel be glassed in completely along the entire length? Has 
> anyone else come across exposed keel? It looks like the original 
> configuration, besides the detached, flaking fibreglass tape/tabbing..
> Any suggestions to fixing this? I'm thinking that the solution would 
> entail grinding away the flaking tape down to solid glass, and then 
> glassing in the top. I'll admit that I'm a noob to all of this, so any 
> advice would be greatly appreciated.
>
> I can post pictures later this week after I take them (I won't be down 
> again until the weekend.)
>
> Thanks.
>
> James McRury
> #124.
>
>
>
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