Tracy, That UV dye trick is cool, I wish I had thought of that back in 1998 when we first discovered Calypso’s laminate fractures at the forward end of the keel.
We did some vacuum bagged laminations during our rotten balsa core repairs. It worked fine when we could be sure to obtain a complete seal around the edges. In many places there were too many surface irregularities or other features that prevented a complete seal (maybe we just needed a much bigger vacuum pump). As to the keel bolt torque settings, I have read tales of caution about over torquing keel bolts and disturbing the “J” hook or nut buried in the keel. On Calypso we located the “windows” cut in the lead that contained the big keel bolt rod end and nut. We were able to insure the lower nut did not rotate when checking the keel bolt torque. IIRC we used 150 Ft lbs on the large keel bolts. (Calypso has approximately 15 keel bolts of several sizes to attach both the iron and lead elements of the keel.) Martin DeYoung Calypso 1971 C&C 43 Port Ludlow/Seattle > On Apr 16, 2022, at 11:31 AM, Tracy Tims via CnC-List <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Martin, David, thanks for the eyeball+brain time and advice! > > - Updated pictures at > https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.icloud.com%2Fsharedalbum%2F%23B0h532ODWJEHCio&data=04%7C01%7C%7Cb807c25e14064a44b3f108da1fd75567%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637857306966379179%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=8%2B7AFo7%2BaVCurEa%2FISobyflWdX5JY2MMMu7SN0FrSm8%3D&reserved=0 > - I’ve decided I’m dealing with original construction—there’s fibreglass that > could have only been put in place before the structural grid went in. > - I do have a fiberglass guy, and apparently he’s a gelcoat wizard. But > everyone has their methods and preferences and I probably am slightly more > obsessive than he is. > - Over a period of days I progressively filled the sump with water + > fluorescent dye and then inspected the keel with a UV flashlight each night. > - It didn’t start leaking until it was a couple inches above the aft keel > bolt, and when it got to the limber hole it poured through. The UV dye helped > me see the flows. > - There is no evidence of any leaks through keel bolts, and my fiberglass > guy, who’s a keel specialist, said the stub-keel joint is in excellent > condition > - I ended up removing almost all the filler yesterday. > - I’m going to have to seal the fwd face of the divider and somehow > reconstruct the limber hole area. > - Today I will pressure wash everything and start drying it out. I made a box > big enough for the keel and I’ve got 20 lbs of dessicant. > - Then I’ll grind out the remaining filler and suspect material. > - I’m going to borescope that upper air space and figure out what C&C did up > there. > - Then plan the repairs. > > Additional questions: > - So really torque the 1” bolts to 350 foot-lbs? No one has crushed laminate > at that torque? > - Should I plan to do vacuum bagging where I can make it work, or not bother? > > - Tracy > 1986 38-3, Toronto
