Trying to put keel back in trunk...any ideas?

Louise · Post by **Louise** » Thu Feb 06, 2003 3:20 pm

Am interested in hearing from anyone who has had the same problems as I, having struck my keel and knocked it loose. Niagara Falls below for a while. And horizontal is not the best way for the board to swing!

The boatyard is trying to put it all back together again after doing glasswork on the hull and keel, and there is still some movement. I am wondering if there are some measurements I can provide to the yard to get them to do their jobs properly. Would appreciate any referrals to websites or other.

Post by **Tim Bosma** » Thu Feb 06, 2003 4:49 pm

Louise,
From a 10-page letter from S2 about 7.9 specifics (I am not sure of where I got this document, but it is similar to the 13-page letter), I quote: 'The trunk is tapered at the bottom, as is the centerboard (at the top) to enable these two components to "key" together when the centerboard is in the full down position.....The intersection of the keel and trunk are solid fiberglass approximately 4-6" away from the trunk.'
Hope this helps

Louise · Post by **Louise** » Thu Feb 06, 2003 5:35 pm

Tim:

Thanks so much for the quick reply. Do you know whether there should be any wobble port to starboard when the keel is down? There seems to be about a 1/2 inch play in the board as installed by the boatyard.

And do you remember where the 10 page or 13 page document came from? I would love to see a copy of that!!!

Appreciate your time,

Louise

Mark Enns · Post by **Mark Enns** » Thu Feb 06, 2003 11:56 pm

Hi Louise,

Check out this website for Fleet 7.

http://www.homestead.com/Fleet7/

They have both documents here though I think much of the pricing is out of date. They also have the mast raising device drawings. (Why aren't these documents on our class website?)

The board should hopefully lock in position and not allow any side to side movement. This may be a difficult job to get the locking angle in the keel trunk mated properly with the angle on the keel. I would think they'd have to drop the keel down and wherever the "high spots" are touching they would need to pull the keel back out and gently grind off the high spots,then repeat the process over and over until the keel seats better. This may be a long and tedius process.

Good Luck

Post by **Tim Bosma** » Fri Feb 07, 2003 9:43 am

I will send a copies to John Leyland. I also have a 16 step recipe for mast raising/lowering that has helped us alot.
Thanks,

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 07, 2003 11:00 am

Tom,

I'd LOVE to have a copy of your 10 page letter from S2 (and / or the 13 page letter). Let me know if you can help me out. THANKS

Smitty
Gargle Blaster #352

Never mind! I just found Mark's message, THANKS any way.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Feb 09, 2003 12:43 pm

Somewhere I read that the factory seated the keel with the glass at the bottom of the trunk still wet, assuring a perfect fit; you might be able to do that again, which might be less work than grinding and filling repeated.

Jim Kloss
S27.9 #8
Ambivalence

Louise · Post by **Louise** » Thu Feb 27, 2003 11:25 am

I posted last month that I struck my keel on a submerged object, cracked the trunk, and damaged the hull. This was in December. The boatyard still has the boat, trying to mate the keel with the trunk SNUGLY. I did write to S2 Sailboat Support and they responded, but said they had never had to facilitate a repair. They had no wisdom to impart.

I got two great suggestions when I posted last month, but the boatyard can't seem to implement either the long process of sanding the highspots or seating the keel with the fiberglass still wet. I am crazy for any other thoughts...three months in the boatyard and still not fixed!!!

Appreciate any nuggets of wisdom y'all have to share.

Louise in New Orleans
lulubado@bellsouth.net

S2 7.9 Meter Class Association