Here are some more photos of the keel repair.

Way inadequate backing plates!  Not to mentioned they are eaten up.  Couldn't see this corrosion with the nut on their and the goop they used.

Looking aft at the bulkhead

Looking forward at the bulkhead and to port.  This is under the nav station

The mast step is at the bottom.  This is while the boat is still in the water.

This is after the guys grinded some.  Looks bad.  Really bad.  That black stuff is delaminated fiberglass that is saturated with water.  Not good.

 We put over 20,000 miles on Appa since we bought her in 2012.  All of it with the keel being mounted to the boat with the stub in this shape.  Testimony to the build of the Wauquiez that the boat showed no signs of this problem till I found the first hint of it back in June 2015.

Aft most keel bolt holes are unscathed.  

Damaged is more to port side of the stub.  The keel got hit on the starboard leading edge when she ran aground all those years ago.

Keel bolts themselves are in great shape.

The more dark areas are to port and this shot is taken looking aft.

This is almost the final grind.  The delam runs all the way through.  We grinded about 25mm off and rebuilt it with 26mm of woven and biaxial fiberglass.  14 layers worth.

More to come...

The big Appa repair

  It all started with me having nothing to do in June of 2015.  I was recovering from chemo and sitting on Appa wondering what in the hell I was doing.  I felt like shit but knew I had to do something to keep my mind occupied.  So I decided to rerun the watermaker hose.

I was in the bunkbed cabin and reached down to feel for a better place to run the hose and cut my finger.  I couldn't see that area so I used the camera and captured the images below.  My heart sank when I saw them.  This is some nasty damage.  I immediately thought the boat had been run aground at some point in her life.  I was proven correct.  I also thought this was going to be expensive and again, I was correct.

This first photo is the bulkhead in the bunkroom.  The camera is facing aft.  This is way under the floor.

 This photo is facing forward and is under the seat on the starboard side.

This is old damage.  The previous owner Steve denies running aground so it happened in the Caribbean in 1992 or 1993 at the latest.  Steve's survey missed this as did mine.

Fast forward a summer of misery and some sailing to March 10th.  David and I ripped out the battery box and got the boat ready for repairs.  Mast pulled on the 13th.

This is the battery box under the settee area with the mast seen to the left.  

 David helping me remove the battery box.  What a pain that was.  Epoxied and screwed in.

Doesn't look too sane now!!

Battery box had major damage to it also.  A leak developed at some point and rotted out the bottom.

So once we pulled the mast, the keel bolts started to leak.  Not good.  Not good at all.  David and I took Appa to Canal Boat Yard the next day and we decided to pull the keel.

You can see the gap in the forward edge of the keel area.  This is before the keel bolts were loosed.

Ethan the Magic Fiberglass man

Keel off!!

This is the mast step area with 4 keel bolts showing daylight.  The bulkhead is at the top.  That area is all rotted.

Second keel grid area aft.

Second forward most keel bolt from the outside.  See the cracking?  It is also bulging downward.  Classic signs of a grounding.  A bad grounding.

Scraping the keel right after it popped off.

Stray boatyard animals!

The start of a two month and counting boat yard stay!  At $64 a day

Just prior to removal.  Heated bow saw blade helped cut through the old sealant

Forward keel grid area.  Bulkhead is to the left and just forward of the mast.

Keel bolts still on and tight.  Weight of boat still on this area also.  Not such a great fit eh?

Keel bolts coming off in prep for the drop!

The last one.

Cracked area.prior to going on the hard.

Same area with the boat on the hard.  Closes up pretty nicely.

Long lever to get the bolts off.

More coming!