Encapsulated Iron Ballast Keel issues [E27]

We continue with closing off the openings we had to make within the keel sump tank to carry out the repairs. We try to make that keel stronger than ever.
We then leave for work but unfortunately weren't able to return to boatyard for another 2 weeks. So we really were looking forward to the few hours we had this Sunday gone. We planned to lay few layers of fibreglass and test the electrical panel. During this short visit we find yet another problem with the keel, this time we suspect water has penetrated into the laminate.
#yachtrefit #boating #boatyard #boatrefit #sailingyacht

[@crelark]

I have experienced the same problem with fresh water entering the encapsulated keel of my Fisher 25. At first, the prospects of rectifying this may seem daunting but it can be done. In my case, the water did not damage the laminate nor did it cause the iron ballast to rust due to lack of oxygen. Indeed, if the water is not saltwater and oxygen cannot enter the cavity, you could arguably ignore it and just stop the ingress of rainwater from above and fit a garboard drain plug at the lowest point in the keel. However, if you forget to drain the keel before winter on the hard, there is a danger that the water could freeze and expand causing undue structural stress and de-lamination. So, I went about fixing mine as follows. My boat was stored in my large boat shed ready for the refit I was about to undertake. Firstly, I drilled several holes into the lowest part of the keel on either side to drain about 20 litres of water. I then cut out a section of the fibreglass cap covering the iron ballast from the top in the bilge. Into this I poured a large quantity acetone to help carry away the residual water. Once this had evaporated, I placed heaters inside the boat and around the keel to start the long drying out process. I then scraped out as much of the old expanding foam from around the ballast as was possible and used a small blower heater to blow warm air into the cavity. Once exposed to the air, the iron ballast did start to gently rust. So, after several months, and when I was satisfied that the cavity was dry enough, I plugged the drain holes at the bottom of the keel and filled the cavity with Fertan rust converter. The following day, I drained the Fertan from the keel and left it to dry for several more months. Then, I re-sealed the drain holes I had drilled in the keel and filled the cavity with an epoxy-based, closed cell expanding foam produced by Sicomin. This high-tech foam can be applied in a moist environment and ,when cured, does not absorb moisture. Finally, I re-laminated the section I had cut out of the cap above the ballast to re-seal it. OK, it was a long-winded job, but not a difficult one, and I just incorporated it into my refit schedule. I wish you both all the best with your project.

[@sailingsqualo]

Wow! Thank you for such a detailed description of the process you went through. We did drill holes in the bottom and the top in the bilge, only few droplets of water came out. Before we received your comment we bought an expanding epoxy foam, however from reading the TDS of the Sicomin foam you mention, it sounds like a better choice so we will go with sicomin. Thank you for sharing your experience. 🙏😊 Best regards, Ziggy & Nat

[@kenhughes3714]

Gold Star for effort .

[@sailingsqualo]

🙏😊

[@andymarshall2201]

Guys you deserve to have 10,000 subscribers by now, your videos are excellent.

[@sailingsqualo]

Thank you so much Andy 🙏 I hope your words come true and one day we will be celebrating 🥳 10,000 subscribers!

[@markdubbert6326]

Great watching, don’t give up👍

[@sailingsqualo]

Thanks 😊 nah, we won’t give up 😉

[@leoboonhart4153]

Another great video. You guys are one of the few authentic channels on YT.

[@sailingsqualo]

Awww, how kind of you. Thank you heaps! 😃

[@c.a.mcneil7599]

You have a great plan don’t second guess. You got this not from guessing but from network. Thanks for sharing great editing also. ❤

[@sailingsqualo]

Thank you 🙏

[@jonunya3128]

I really enjoy your channel; very down to earth, nice craftsmanship, a pleasure to watch!

[@sailingsqualo]

Thank you ever so much ☺️ Glad to have you as part of this community.

[@islandman9619]

Man! I just started watching a few of your episodes and you really got some work on your hands. When you're done with this, you're going to feel so incredibly proud of your work, but getting there is not for the fainthearted. I wish you all the best and hope there won't be any more major surprises. You're determined; you'll get there! Aloha!

[@sailingsqualo]

Lol yes, we do have a lot of work ahead 😅 we will get there! We won’t disappoint. However this may take a while.. 😉

[@bozenagaecka1071]

Kolejny milowy krok i jak to bywa kolejny niespodziewany problem ale wiem, że dacie radę bo to nie pierwsza taka zaskakaująca sytuacja. Przeżyliście więcej takich "niespodzianek" i daliście radę więc i teraz będzie dobrze! Kiedyś będziecie wspominać te wszystkie "niespodzianki" żeglując i oglądając te wszystkie wschody i zachody słońca, które jeszcze przed Wami! Jak to mówią ... "co nas nie zabije, to nas wzmocni". Pozdrawiam!🌍🌅⛵i trzymam kciuki za rozwiązanie problemu!

[@sailingsqualo]

Dziekujemy mami za wsparcie 😘 pozdrawiamy!

[@vincentbertault1521]

Just found your channel. Congratulation on your purchase, they are really rock solid boats. Really like your journey here, passion wonderfull honest straight to the point problems solving which are endless on a boat refit. You might be interested to looked at Mad from Sail Life channel. He has numerous methodological episodes of related work to yours. Great editing with comments and updates. Good luck hope to see you soon out of the shed.

[@sailingsqualo]

🥰 how nice of you, thank you. You’ve made our day ☺️ Best, Ziggy & Nat

[@SVQueenbee]

Beautiful job. 🙂

[@sailingsqualo]

Thank you 😊

[@SVQueenbee]

@@sailingsqualo I love watching you guys hard at work, keep your spirits up😁

[@leifdrabls5345]

To dry out the ballast comprtment in the keel, I would have used an oil free small compressor, injected the air in the bottom of the keel and wented in the top. This will dry out very efficiently, especially if you find a way to heat the air before it enters the keel. Regards Leif.😊

[@andrewfranklin302]

When you are sailing into the sunset, all these problems will feel far behind and all the work will have been worth it .

[@sailingsqualo]

Precisely, 🌅⛵️ that sort of image is what keeps us going 😊

[@silvanocometta9760]

You may solve the lights issue in an easier way. Add a lamp (switchable red and white light) above the panel (shining downwards, partly onto the panel). This way the individual red spots will be less annoying and you can read the labels. When you are in a hurry, reading the switch labels is key. Best regards.

[@sailingsqualo]

I think the only way is to either change lights altogether, or we thought we could place the panel behind a smoky acrylic panel 🤔 I agree that finding the right switch in a hurry is key :)

[@robertmcgregor7233]

Not an expert in any way but could you possibly drill a small hole above the moisture and one below and inject some sort of solvent that repels water and dissolves/evaporates itself quickly.? Then seal the holes up and the rust will not continue as when any oxygen inside the keel is used up over time the rust process should stop as it has no oxygen to feed it. Again not an expert but it might be something to consider, if not a good idea at least it was something to reject before going onto whatever ultimately works. 🤔 Brilliant episode again 👍

[@sailingsqualo]

Thank you. We will look into that, not sure if such solvent exists. Definitely sealing up the holes sooner than later and cutting off the oxygen supply will starve further rust.

[@robertmcgregor7233]

Acetone (nail varnish remover) Is ultra absorbant of water And the best evaporating solvent readily available to purchase by the public Could introduce into the keel and let sit for a while then drain from a second hole below the moisture level and it should draw the water/moisture along with it 😁

[@robertmcgregor7233]

Maybe pure isopropyl would be better but a bit of research would be needed If there are any chemist's reading please respond (or contact your local college/University and speak to the chemistry dept.

[@sailingsqualo]

Great idea, we like your style 👍

[@robertmcgregor7233]

Hope you don't mind me commenting again, If you were to go down this route I've been thinking of how to do it. (off work with a broken ankle and bored so got nothing else to do lol) If Ziggy was to seal up the holes with the rust coming out but open a hole at the highest point in the keel for pouring alcohol in, This hole could then be sealed to allow the contents to sit and draw any moisture away from the iron and fibreglass. Like acetone, isopropynol is very hydroscopic (water is absorbed by it) If you wanted to you could even put a valve. Into one of the hole patches (bike tyre valve from an inner tube with a square of the rubber still attached) then with, a pump a small amount of pressure could be pumped in. This may be overkill as given enough time to just sit the water/moisture would be drawn out. After some time drill a hole at the lowest point in the keel and drain all the water/solvent out for disposal, sealing the drill hole afterwards. Looking deeper into it acetone may not be the best for fibreglass But pure isopropyl would be absolutely fine. And readily available to buy in bulk. Not cheap but a hell of a lot cheaper than cutting the keel to bits. I have seen this done on youtube but can't for the life of me find the video (I spent a long time looking and just can't find it). Good luck (again sorry to keep posting). 👍

[@peterdenbreejen9838]

On the control light in red or white why not put a dimmer inside? 1 dimmer for all will do.

[@traceysmith6964]

In all the sailing I have done, you become so familiar with your switch panels and all equipment, you shouldn't need lights lol

[@sailingsqualo]

Thank you, will look into that whether it’s possible to dim all lights with one dimmer. I would have thought we would need one for every light.. hmm🤔

[@bendaves77]

Place a dehumidifier inside the boat and cover the keel with plastic.. so the dehumidifier will draw the moisture out of the boat rather than the entire building.. I don't think your keel is worse than most people who have boats built in the 80s and 90s.. you will have it out of the water long enough that she will be dry.. I'd focus more on covering the keel with extra layer of fiberglass to keep the water from intruding inside

[@sailingsqualo]

We will be applying Moisture Barrier Coat from West System below waterline. It is 6 coats of west system epoxy with additive for extra moisture protection. Let’s hope it’s sufficient. 🤞 Otherwise we would have to strip it to bare fibreglass to lay more glass.

[@Baddco]

Check out KZbin channel Refit and Sail. He uses pads to vac and heat parts of hull. Could you hire or buy and sell on after?

[@sailingsqualo]

Yes, someone else recommended this channel as well. We checked it out and subscribed already 👍 yes, the pads and vac are based on the same principle of hot vac system, perhaps he made himself a DIY version of it, or bought the original system.. not sure. I was looking into buying a second hand, couldn’t find any.

[@traceysmith6964]

Oh dear guys, you have structual issues , yet your discussing the intensity of led lights ? Have you ever sailed before ?????????????????????? As far as drying the cast iron ballast, i dont thing you will ever get it dry unless you can remove the encapsulated ballast from its sheathing lol

[@nick.caffrey]

Why don't you ask someone what 'manners' are? You destroy your useful information with the jeering manner.

[@traceysmith6964]

@@nick.caffrey ok Nick. How long you been WOKE ? Myself have been sailing a life time, have rebuilt 2 large yachts, my arse has covered over 300,000 nm. If I was doing something wrong I would prefer criticism than someone praising me. True friends usually say what you don't want to hear, you my friend would praise them to death, the pick to peace's what they did wrong

[@traceysmith6964]

@@nick.caffrey obviously I was being as polite as possible !!!!!

[@johnmaguire2185]

The issue with buying an old boat. The only time they are cheap is the day you buy one. By the time this refit is done it will have cost the price of a very good production boat ready to sail away.

[@sailingsqualo]

Couldn’t agree more 😊 she will be a real gem once we are done 🙌