Lead Ingots in Bow

Just removed 400 pounds of lead from the bow of our E 31I.
We moved some equipment around, and moved the stern anchor to the bowsprit. She sits level now with the water line about 2 inches lower.

Now we have room for another water tank, and all chain rode.

I heard rumors of this ballast being added for static balance leaving the factory. Is this ballast really required? We are gaining usable weight with the tank and chain rode, this should not affect helm, unless I'm totally wrong about weight and balance.

I'm afraid to sell the ingots and then find out we need to reinstall them.

Any opinions?

Getting the lead out.

This was indeed done at the factory and according to a conversation I had years ago with Bruce King, he had no knowledge of or understanding as to why the lead was put in there in the first place. I had 500# in my boat with the result that the bow sat low. His recommendation was to remove them which I did and now she sits on her lines. FYI, there ware at least 22 E31's with documented lead in the bow or those having had it removed. They range from hull #19 to #66 and I'm sure that there were others not logged on my list that at one time had lead ingots but had had them removed prior to a current owner knowing about their existence. It might be of interest that in our boat, there is a factory installed 25-gallon water tank under the V-berth and it was under that platform that the lead was glassed in. Additionally I have 91 feet of 3/8" chain and 300 feet of 1/2" rode attached to a 33# Bruce anchor, all controlled by a somewhat heavy yet stunningly lovely, era-correct Ideal windlass. You can rest assured that you've done the right thing by removing the ingots and that you'll never need to put them back in. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA

How was the lead attached to the boat?

We have some lead glassed in (completely covered) on the port side of our 35-3, and I've been wondering how hard it would be to remove, and if it was original or not.

It on our list to remove... I can think of more "multi-purpose" ways of adding weight if needed.

For E-31 purposes, I'll chime in here. I had a similar exchange with Bruce King regarding the lead in my E-31, hull #44. The feedback was the same as to Glyn -get it out of the bow, and like Glyn, I have the extra 25 gallon water tank under the V-berths. Something I have that seems perhaps different, but was OK'd to keep, is an additional load of ballast in the main bilge. I can't tell you how much exactly, but by what I can count, probably another 400+ pounds worth. There is just enough space for the whale gusher suction line in the aft portion of the bilge, otherwise it is packed with lead. Since this weight is where you want it, I was guided to leave it alone. If you want a little stiffer feel, and have an empty main bilge, I suppose you could relocate it and then still own it and have it stowed someplace useful....

Lead Removal

CoryBolton said:

How was the lead attached to the boat?

We have some lead glassed in (completely covered) on the port side of our 35-3, and I've been wondering how hard it would be to remove, and if it was original or not.

It on our list to remove... I can think of more "multi-purpose" ways of adding weight if needed.

Click to expand...

Cory,

The ingots I removed are about 3"x2"x14" (IIRC), they weigh 20lbs each and there were 20 of them stacked up like an upside down pyramid forming a flat top. The whole pile was glassed in under the V-berth.

I did a couple of exploratory cuts with a Dremmel and cutting wheel. I ended up just cutting the entire flat top off and removing the lead one chunk at a time.

I would think a brass hammer knocking around the area would let your know the edges, the sound is different on lead and fiberglass. Like tap testing looking for voids.

Good Luck,
Devon

It would be nice if there was lead ballast in the 39B too !

With the anchor and chain in the bow we could use some un-ballasting to make us more level



-Sven

Removing the ingots.

Cory and all, In the case of the E31, and I can only speak for that model, the ingots were laid in place in the bilges under the V-berth and saturated roving applied over them like a blanket and formed as best could be to the lumps and bumps of the 20# ingots. Removal was relative easy or I should say, removal of the roving was easy. A couple of cuts with a Dremel tool, a cold chisel and hammer and the glassed top was out of there. The hardest part was muscling a seemingly endless stream of 25, 20# ingots one at a time out of the V-berth, then the boat, up the ramp and into the car. Several or more trips like that from the boat to home finally got all of them secured. For years they were stacked in a neat pile in the corner of the garage and their job was to keep that concrete corner from floating away. Over the years I gave some of them away here and there until today they're only a fading memory. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

Description

Thanks for the description. That sounds exactly like ours.

I think Ericson added lead to handful of E35-3s after they realized they had a balance problem, but before they split the sb 50g tank into 2 25g tanks port and sb... a much better solution.