Swiss-Cheesed Keel Guard

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BlueBlooded

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Hey y'all! First time, long time. This is my 1972 Starcraft 12' that my friend and I bought as our first boat back in 2013. We got it like this, but we sure don't do it any favors by constantly beaching it on shores of varying degrees of rocky-ness. It doesn't leak, but it's surely only a matter of time as the keel guards (is that what they're even called?) wear away due to abrasion and saltwater corrosion. More immediately, I gotta imagine this mess creates a lot of drag for my intrepid 6HP Johnson, giving me a measured top speed of 8mph on a flat lake with two people and a small dog.

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So I'm wondering, what are my options for damage this extensive? Could it be filled? Am I doomed to replacement by welding or re-riveting? I see a lot of tips on patching small holes, but I can't find many examples of jobs this big. Thanks!
 
I'd remove all traces of any 'white' corrosion, especially in those splits/scars. Wash well with white vinegar and a copper scrubbie brush, then rinse. Immediately dry with heat gun or hair dryer and apply good 'goop' within 30-mins to an hour of being dry.

Then I'd goop the snot out of it with JB Weld 2-part epoxy, thin multiple coats, sand previous coat(s), building it up to smooth. Nothing to lose ...
 
I suppose my concern with epoxy is whether or not there's one tough enough to withstand more beaching and dragging without just breaking apart and falling off. Obviously it'll have to be periodically redone as it wears, but that's different than I don't have any experience with using epoxies in this manner. Do you think JB Weld would stay adhered as it's worn away? I do try not to beach the boat hard or drag it across rocks, but try as I may, I can't control my girlfriend or my friend who technically still owns 50% of the shares of the boat. They aren't quite as...situationally aware as I wish they were. :roll:
 
The beauty of that option is you could apply extra coats if/when needed ... or better yet, have your buddy do it under your direction, maybe teach a lesson to be more careful, lol!
 
I think those ridges are called "strakes". I have a 12' starcraft that had same problem when I bought it. I filled cracks and gaps with bondo then put fiberglass over that. My cracks were pretty bad. To finish off, I only used fiberglass resin, no ( mesh) to put a smoother coat over it. Hope this helpsđź‘Ť
 
Fiberglass, jb weld, goop...it's all going to wear when you beach it. I get it, I beach my boat too and had to weld a strip on the main strake. Fiberglass as mentioned above is probably your cheapest and longest lasting short term solution while you save your money for another boat.

Sent from my CLT-L04 using Tapatalk

 
Up north when waterfowl hunting on ice covered lakes and rivers we have what's called Ice Runners. Basically they are aluminum angle welded over the strakes.
 
lckstckn2smknbrls said:
Up north when waterfowl hunting on ice covered lakes and rivers we have what's called Ice Runners. Basically they are aluminum angle welded over the strakes.

This is what I would do.

Use JB or whatever to seal up the holes, and then rivet a piece of angle over it to protect it in the future.
 
Strakes! Got it! Yeah neither of us weld so I'd have to find someone to do it, though I really should learn. That does sound like the most robust solution. In the meantime, I'll go with the JB weld and see how that holds up. Good tips, thanks guys!
 
BlueBlooded said:
Strakes! Got it!
You're actually talking about the 'keel' itself. Which just so happens to be of pretty much of the same design as the 'strakes' also put on tin V-hulls astride the keel (but inside the 'garboard strakes'), being an upside-down V-extrusion riveted to the hull.

Strakes add longitudinal strength to the hull and add lift by creating aerated water as water is pushed away from a planing V-Hull and exits keel exit the running bottom. If an inner fore to aft piece is added to further strengthen the keel', that is called the 'keelson' ... but we digress, just go fix the affected whatchamacallit area and git out on the water 8) !
 

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