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What is going on with this old 12.5 ft aluminum boat?

C

captain blah

New member
Hi,
I recently got this beat up old boat and I'm trying to patch it up. It seems to have a weird design I have never seen before and I wonder if anyone knows more about this.

The boat appears to have been manufactured so that the keel is a separate piece riveted onto the bottom of the hull. So far so good, most aluminum boats of this kind are made this way. The weird part is that at the bow of the boat the hollow keel appears to have been designed to open into the the boat.
The keel piece is of course hollow, and there is a small hole in it at the stern end of the keel that appears to have been put there by the manufacturer (as opposed to being drilled later). But where it differs from every such boat I have seen is that the bottom of the hull at the bow is split into two halves, with a space of about 1/4" between the two sides, and rivets joining the hollow keel to the hull. This is obviously intentional, the way the two sides of the hull material are cleanly cut and fastened. So when the boat is on a trailer and I pour water into the bow it will flow through the slit in the bow and down the keel and out the stern hole.
The first picture (0747) is looking towards the bow and the dark line running under the front seat is the 1/4" gap that I am talking about. If you pour water in here it will run down the keel piece and out the 1/16" hole in the keel piece.
The second picture (0751) shows a close-up of the gap. As shown, it looks like the boat was made this way, rather than being some kind of attempt at a repair job or something.
The third picture (0752) shows another close-up of the gap. If you put a screw driver into this gap you are touching the inside of the hollow keel piece.
The fourth picture (0745) shows the drain hole in the keel at the stern. Obviously this hole makes sense so the keel won't split in winter if water gets into it. What doesn't make sense is the opening of the hull at the bow into the hollow keel.

My question is, what is going on with this apparently intentional design. Is this some kind of attempt to make a self-bailing boat or something?
It makes no sense to me so I'm hoping someone has seen this situation before and knows more about it to help me decide how to best fix this boat.

Thanks.
CB
(none of the images are appearing even though it let me upload them - I'm working on it)
 
Here are the pictures referenced above. Please ignore the order stated above since I originally tried to upload them in a different order, and just refer to the numbers.

0745
IMG_0745_25pct.jpg

0747
IMG_0747_25pct.jpg

0751
IMG_0751_25pct.jpg

0752
IMG_0752_25pct.jpg
 
I'd be hard pressed to say that forward gap is by design...but don't have a lot of first hand experience with the smaller aluminum boats...given the keel is hollow, with that gap, there's no way it will stay afloat.

Most of the brand name builders use a single piece for the lower hull and press it to the designed shape.

the easiest fix would probably be to seal the keel, after of the gap and try it out...a plug of one of the flexible epoxies used to seal aluminum boats...or some high grade polyurethane sealer...if it can span the existing gap...
 
Thanks. I was thinking the same thing. I've seen some expanding foam that's made for use underwater like in pools and ponds, so I may look further into that. I'm also considering whether flex seal paste could fill the gap successfully.
It doesn't seem like the boat should float (and it of course doesn't if left in the water) but it also seems to be made that way, so I'm wondering wtf. I don't have much experience with this kind of boat either so there may be something I'm missing and I'm hoping someone can shed light on this apparently intentional design. There is evidence that someone tried to fill under the stern edge of the gap with silicone, but it didn't bond at all and I can easily pull the whole blob out.
 
is there any OEM markings left - decals, HIN, anything to suggest who made it? That would be a start in determining the design aspects.

I'd be leary of any easy-to-obtain foam...but that's just me...haven't seen any long-term successful uses...good luck!
 
I should have mentioned that but no, there's no manufacture's info, capacity plate, or any clues as to where or when it was made. I wish there were, it might have helped in understanding this weird design.
I'm not sure of any of the available repair products, and given the strange situation I think that whatever I try will be just a guess as to what will work. None of the products I can find are intended for this kind of fix because it's just so weird.
 
I do not believe you could form the bottom at the front , without cutting out that center piece.----I am quite sure that people who built boats years ago knew what they were doing !
 
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