BUILDING A NEW KEELSON

Saturday, February 13, 2010

BUILDING A NEW KEELSON

Building a new keelson presented some real challenges that took a great deal of thought to overcome. The first challenge is that all seven keelbolts are on different angles from one another. This made is impossible to take a piece of wood, drill the holes, and slip it over the keel bolts. What we decided to do was to build the new keelson with a seam in the middle. Another reason for this decision was the difficulty in finding a piece of white oak that was 14 inches wide by 14 ft long.

The keelson was built out of four pieces of white oak measuring 1.75" x 7" x 14ft. We stacked two boards and fastened them together to create a board that was 3.5" x 7" x 14ft. Then we set the boards next to the keel bolts and traced then. Next, I took a router with a 1.25" half round bit and routed out half the hole for each keel bolt, and repeated the process on the other board.

Once we got two boards in place, they were fastened together with 1/2" stainless steel rod. When we put them in place for the final time, we will epoxy everything together also.

Now the outline of the inside of the boat and the keel need to be traced onto the boards, and the boards trimmed to size

more to come.

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She's coming back to life!

I've had many requests by interested folks to see photos of my new six-meter project, so I thought I would put them online for all to see. Thanks for checking it out!

Restoration is probably not the right word to use in describing what I am doing to the boat. While she does need a couple of major repairs, generally speaking the boat is in very good condition for a 75 year old vessel.

The good news is that as I've started digging into the repairs, I haven't found any horrible surprises - nothing that I didn't expect. I feel that I am up to the task of completing the required work and getting her in the water by the middle of May. (I can hear you laughing - knock it off)

I'm going to restore the underwater profile to the original configuration, with the rudder being attached to the aft edge of the keel, which will return her to "classic" status.

I do need to thank some people who have lent a great deal of help and support. First is my Dad, who is a top-notch assistant because he has a great deal of knowledge and skill (much more than me) in just about every area needed to complete this project.

I especially want to thank some of the guys from the Port Huron Fleet (Jim, Mark, and Phil.) They got me hooked on the six meter by taking me out for some racing on Ondine, then spent over 12 hours moving the boat from Richmond, MI to Troy, MI on a Saturday afternnoon. Their commitment to the six meter fleet is very apparent. Also, special thanks to Vinnia's previous owner Bud Kirk.

Also, Joel Kar (thanks for the traveler), Sean Murphy, and Rob Hasting. Most importantly my family, Heather and Jack, who have been very supportive and tolerant of my boat habits.

Keep checking back for updates.