The Winchester Mystery Boat: the carnage continues...
After an extensive winter refit, we took Bullet on a rough and tumble Farallons race in 20-30 knots of breeze and very steep seas. Falling off a couple nasty waves was a bit tough on her:
![]() |
Nasty cracks at the leading edge of the keel were taking on water.
This is not good. Nothing like getting a call from the yard on a
Monday morning that starts with the phrase "serious structural damage".
In the picture below, you can clearly see that the mast step is lower
than it used to be...
|
![]() |
Proper repair required pulling the mast and mast step,
removing the bathroom floor (left side of the picture), and reglassing
the floor around the front edge of the keel (the pointy depression in
the middle of this photo is where the hull was cracked on the outside.
The crack didn't extend visibly to the inside, but reinforcing inside
seemed only prudent).
Then, the floor was completely rebonded to all the bulkheads (main bulkhead, bathroom walls, hanging locker).
|
![]() |
Eventually, the stubby and the mast step area is filled in altogether. The slightly raised area (mast step) is exactly where the depression is in the picture above. Previously, the mast step was only supported on the two stringers--now it's completely supported underneath. |
![]() |
And on the cabin side, the floor is rebonded to the main bulkhead as well. |
![]() |
Of course the outside needed some repair as well. The old core
is removed from the front of the keel and filled later with solid glass. After all this work, that leading edge of the keel is exceptionally well supported and shouldn't be going anywhere! |