Keel question (from new member)

[62cruiserinc]

Hello!

I just received a 1962 Cruiser Inc 16' boat from a friend who wanted to get rid of it. It's in good shape but hasn't been used in 20 years. It was stored indoors away from the elements. The hull is a lapstrake above the waterline and plywood below.

I have not owned a boat of any kind before, but I have done a lot of woodworking. If I use the wrong terminology for a part or procedure, feel free to let me know what it should be called. I'm new to boating and realize I have a lot to learn. I would like to fix it up so we can use it for some pleasure boating in the area.


The keel consists of a long wood piece inside the boat, the plywood pieces from both sides of the hull meeting in the center of that piece, and then another long piece on the outside that is screwed through the plywood into the piece that is inside the boat. This sandwiches the plywood between the two keel pieces. The outer keel piece is in two sections, the front piece wraps down the bow and ends where the keel is horizontal. The rear piece starts at the end of the front piece and continues to the rear of the boat.

The previous owner says that there was a small leak where the front keel piece was joined to the rear piece. The front piece wraps down the bow and ends where the keel is horizontal. Where the two pieces join, there is a small gap between the pieces. He says there was originally a brass dumbell-shaped pin in a hole going through the gap horizontally. However, the pin wouldn't stay in because it was loose in the hole. What was the purpose of this pin? To hold the two pieces together at the joint but allow some movement?

The rear keel piece seemed loose, so I pulled down on it and it pulled down about a quarter inch and stayed there. So either the screw was corroded or the inside keel piece is rotted where the screw attaches.

I plan on removing the entire outer keel piece and checking for rot underneath it (where the plywood attaches). Since this piece is rather banged up (from hitting rocks, etc) I would like to replace it with a new piece. It's about 2 inches wide and about 1 1/2 inches high and 12 feet long. What type of wood should I use?

If anyone has any suggestions please suggest them!

Thanks
Steve

[Richard Jones]

I re-built a 1959 16' PennYann a few years ago. Never worked on a power boat before and pretty much learned by tearing it apart, piece by piece. Re-used what I could and used the 'shot' pieces for patterns. Pictures would help us all help you. As for replacing that outer keel strip, I would think that oak would be the answer. Perhaps with a brass strip attached to lessen wear. How are the ribs? A lot of these old boats have rotted, dry-rotted or cracked ribs. With your woodworking skills, it can be a very enjoyable and rewarding experience. Good luck!

[chuckt]

Buying some books helped me. Lots of goods one in the woodenboat store

[Bob Cleek]

If it pulled down a half inch and stayed there, something's wrong... probably very wrong. You should get somebody who knows what they are looking at to ascertain why that wood is so easy to move. Somehthing's not holding... or just not there anymore. Quite possibly the wood is decayed.

As for the little metal "dumbell," I've never seen a metal one, or a dumbell shaped one, but what it sounds like your are describing is called a stopwater. It's named for what it does... stops water from entering the boat across the scarfs in the keel. Usually, they are a soft wood dowel driven tightly into a hole drilled across the scarf line after assembly. When wet, the dowel swells and plugs the "line" where the two keel members lap one another, through which water could otherwise migrate if the joint became loose over time.