Work continues on the damaged keel.

As a reminder, the keel kissed a rock in the Victoria, B.C. harbor in 2019. This was not the first time the keel has found a rock. I know of at least two prior incidents of keel-rock contact.

As we dug into the keel, we found that an unknown filler was used in the prior repair. The material is rubbery and elastic. If you press it with a fingernail, it returns to the shape it was. The rubbery stuff appears to cover a significant part of the forward part of the keel.

After talking to my contractor, I chose to stop exploring and button up the keel for now. The rubbery material appears to have been stable since the older repair was made. It looks like there is enough fiberglass thickness on top of the material to feather in a patch and get a good bond. So that’s what will happen and we’ll assess it again at haulout (or earlier if the diver notices something amiss).

Photo gallery

I will add photos to this gallery as the keel project finishes up.

Paints

The paint used for the bottom is Sea Hawk Cukote™, light blue #3442.

The prop and strut were painted with Pettit Prop Coat Barnacle Barrier.