Achilles 24
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Achilles 24 |
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Keelbolt Removal and Replacement.
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These pages describe the steps taken in removing and replacing the aft keelbolt on Zethar and are for illustrative purposes only. I sought professional advice before starting and during the job and you should do the same. Symptoms....
It started after working out of Falmouth Bay in a S.E. breeze mid-September, nothing too dramatic and although I let her bow fall off for the bigger lumps there were one or two I couldn't avoid so there was a thump now and then to shake things up a bit. The weep meant a breach in the hull to keel join but this was easy to find as the place was marked by a small patch of rust and cracking in the antifouling at the after end of the keel on the starboard side. The gap was revealed with a scraper.
The rest of the join was good and there was no other cracking, not even on the port side aft. The offending gap was cleaned and left to dry out. Zethar had been epoxied in 1986 and a skin of epoxy covered the hull to keel join, so I disturbed that as little as possible. The bolt was removed using an open ended spanner with a three foot (1 metre) length of pipe for leverage. Although it was tight at first and for the first few turns the bolt undid easily enough. As far as I know Zethar's keelbolts are all original and I was pleased to find that the drawn bolt was in good condition for close to 30 years old. Click the pictures below for larger images of the bolt before and after cleaning. A length of new 1 inch dia BSW (British Standard Whitworth) threaded bar is included in the pictures for comparison.
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