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)
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)