Tuesday 13 December 2011

Scrape Metal

The keel saga continues.
While a storm is raging out there (the third in two weeks), I am in the garage working on Mekicevica's keel.
Next step is to clean back to sound metal. I start by scraping-off the bottom paint with a chisel.
The laborious process of removing the bottom paint.
This is a lot of work but avoids the toxic dust produced by dry sanding, or the equally toxic mess made by wet sanding. It is also more environment friendly than chemical stripping.

Thursday 8 December 2011

Painful Extraction

Phase I of the keel project completed. The keel was removed. This involved drilling a few holes until we could find the last three bolts. Big thanks to the people of the Grevelingen boatyard for their help.
Mekicevica's keel extracted.
The way the boat was designed, you cannot get to the three aft most bolts without breaking a lot of polyester. Moreover, two of the bolts are always immersed and therefore subject to corrosion. I guess these faults are the price you pay for the fact that the box of the centre plate does not take much interior space.

The bis surprise was that the bolts are not cast as part of the keel as I had expected (and seen on pictures published on the Manta 19 website). They are separate bolts on tapered holes. Could it be that some previous owner has done some maintenance and modifications on Mekicevica's keel?

The good news is that the bolts were in very good condition. Even the two that are always under water had rusty heads but the cores were in pristine condition.
Now the bad news: The inside of the keel was even rustier that I had feared. Large slabs of rusty metal just drop-off as you touch them.
The very rusty inside of the keel. In the background, sad, keel-less Mekicevica.
The quote I got to have a new keel made is much too high, so there will be some re-construction work on the rusty keel.

Monday 5 December 2011

It is Winter

It is now definitely Winter!


Maybe we closed the season a bit too early, but the trouble of launching and recovering at the Bruinisse Slip From Hell put us off a bit. We are considering getting Mekicevica a permanent berth next year.
In the meanwhile we found her a place in Scharendijke, on the West end of the Grevelingen where her keel is going to be attended to.
Her keel is showing rust streaks coming from the junction with the hull, a telltale sign of corrosion of the keel bolts. To preserve our piece of mind and the joy of sailing, I am going to drop the keel.
Rust coming from the junction between the keel and the hull, a worrying sign of corrosion of the keel bolts.
While I am at it, I am planning to sand-blast the keel and give it a coat of epoxy, both on the outside and in the slot of the centre plate. Than I will have a professional re-assemble the keel and seal the junction.
Apart from that, I am having a new centre-plate done, which I will also coat in epoxy.
That should keep me busy a good part of the Winter. Watch this space!