Odd that they should appear in a 19 year old boat, all but the last three years in fresh water - perhaps the annual haul-out helped avoid the problem, and the 2½ years immersed did the damage...
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The ugly truth - osmotic blisters; in the early stages, certainly - the largest is only an inch in diameter, but it is only going to get worse. At this stage, remediation isn't necessary nor worthwhile, so she'll be back in the water like this for another year or so. Odd that they should appear in a 19 year old boat, all but the last three years in fresh water - perhaps the annual haul-out helped avoid the problem, and the 2½ years immersed did the damage... |
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The prop. shaft strut base and keel fitting, after surrounding fairing has been removed and strut detached from keel; the base has been wire-brushed, but the keel fitting is yet to be cleaned - there is no evidence of any sealing compound. Interestingly, there is evidence of two washers that were used as shims on the port side of the strut base, presumably to compensate for some minor misalignment. The keel fitting bolts holes are threaded, and appear to be the primary mechanism for tightening the strut - the nuts inside the keel are really just lock-nuts. The presence of the shim washers and the absence of sealant probably explains the leakage - the fairing around the base of the strut was cracked and distorted, offering no barrier to water ingress. |
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To refit, we wire-brushed the keel fitting and bolts, and applied sealant generously around bolt holes and perimeter of strut base, replaced shim washers and screwed in base until sealant starting squeezing out; left overnight to harden before final tightening and fitting of lock nuts. A rough application of epoxy fairing (not shown) was applied around the edge - we'll see how it holds up... |
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Alignment of the prop shaft after re-fitting the strut - it is slightly to port in the packing box. Note also the water seeping out from around the edge of the packing box in the keel; no evidence of this getting into the boat, so we decided to live with it. Emma double-checked the operation of the propeller for us. |
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Yuk - seepage around rudder stock, coming out when the rudder warms up in the sunlight. Not a large-volume problem, so I'll just scrape away soft and loose material around the join and pack with sealant. Since we're going to have to remedy blistering anyway in the foreseeable future, this seems an acceptable short-term fix until the next haul-out. |
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Yuk two - a delamination crack on the port side of the rudder, trailing edge. Noticed water seeping out, sounded with a wooden mallet, and eventually stripped away the extent of delaminated fibreglass from the resin (foam core?) below; will fair, and possibly re-fibreglass, tomorrow. Intriguing shape - manatee? Or possibly, Elvis... |
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| The rudder crack in various stages of repair; sanding after initial fairing opened up some bubbles in the fairing, so we applied two coats of resin to seal them off. |
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