Pics of the keel.

[Dferr]

I was told that this is somewhat normal. Although it looks pretty bad to me, the water that is in the bildge is not leaking out, so I guess water wouldn't leak in. I would like to be able to sail the boat for one season before I would have to drop and re-bed the keel. From the looks of things what would you think?

Thanks,
Don

[valentor]

Don;

The cracking indicates that there is movement in your keel joint. Once the boat is launched, gravity will pull the keel away from the hull - possibly compromising the seal. Also when you sail the boat and it heels, there is a very significant torque applied to the joint.

I had a similar problem on my 1978 E-34. Every spring I would apply 5200 to the outside of the joint to keep the water out. It got a little worse each year until eventually the joint seperated.

What had happened was that the fiberglass holding the keel support had failed and the leading edge of the keel dropped about 1/4 of an inch. The aluminum keel support held the keel, and it looked very much like your photo. The resulting leak required a 2000 GPH pump to keep up with the inflow of water until I could emergency haul the boat - the little 500 GPH pump couldn't keep up and the boat was actually sinking.

The repair was VERY EXTENSIVE - hundres of hours, lots of fiberglass and aluminum, lots of fairing. In the end, the repair was successful and I just finished a season (the first of six) with no gaps whatsoever in the keel joint.

Once that joint is compromised, it will worsen and eventually the keel will part. In my case, this was caused by delamination of the fiberglass around the keel support.

Best Regards;

-Steve

[rssailor]

How wide is the gap? Has it gotten bigger since last season?? These are questions that you should try to answer. If I was you, if the money is there, I would fix the problem before it could get worse. Prevenitive maintenance is usaually better than trying to fix something in an emergency. Ryan

[CaptnNero]

Hi Don,

It may just be that the keel bolts need to be torqued, or it may be more serious. An issue such as the keel attachment calls for getting a professional involved. Of course in the extreme case without the keel a monhull sailboat becomes more stable upside down.

See another thread documented severely corroded keel bolts (http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=3448), and that is yet another possibility besides Valentor's structural degradation. A hard grounding can also disrupt the keel to hull joint.

Good luck with your detective work and please keep us posted.

[jkm]

[QUOTE=CaptnNero;23383]Hi Don,

Of course in the extreme case without the keel a monhull sailboat becomes more stable upside down.

The most definitive and indisputable statement ever made in this exchange.
Well put, Neal!!

[Loren Beach]

I would worry about crevice corrosion given that water is, to some extent, getting in around the keel-to-hull joint where the large SS threaded rods (aka keel bolts) are.
Any boat, from any company, at the age of this particular Ericson should have the keel lowered and rebedded at 20 years. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...
:nerd:

If you do a search on keels on this site there is a lot of good discussion. Here is one: http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=295&referrerid=28
And here is another:
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=3448&referrerid=28

We lived with a small crack at the forward mating joint of our keel for quite a few years, and then had it fixed.

A trip to the boat yard will reveal many many boats with "smiles" at the front of the keel-hull joint, FWIW.

If the boat is good otherwise, go for it. And then have the keel rebedded and sail it for another two decades.
:D

Loren in PDX