There's a 1" round plug/repair on my keel, what is this?

[Ludicrous40]

So I'm sanding my bottom today, and the day keeps getting worse. From the picture you can see newly found blistering (it goes from bow to stern and is in a band about 8 inches from the keel), but then I find this "plug"……please tell me that this is some factory thing, and not a hacked a repair from the previous owner…..I can't imagine why anyone would drill a 1 inch hole in this location. It is right on the keel, and is right under the gas tank, probably in the forward part of the cockpit.

I'm assuming the worse, where I'll need to open up this hole tapering in all directions to lay in fiberglass, but I'll have no access to the top….

Venting……there is so many spots on the chines where the gelcoat is gone from whatever this guy used to hit…….discouraging day………and now I know I have to do a barrier coat among other things…..

 

[Brent]

Looks like a water pickup scoop was removed.

 

[SCPARKER]

Its a hole they cut when they pull the hull from the mold. It helps relieve pressure.

 

[warthog5]

Its a hole they cut when they pull the hull from the mold. It helps relieve pressure.

Hmmmmmmmmm? Never seen that done before.

 

[Ludicrous40]

IMO sketchy at best. Will likely taper around it and layer in fiberglass. Given the location, should I use something different from a laminating fiberglass? For example, if I use raka, is it fine for laminating, or do I need to sand between coats to ensure adhesion?

Any thoughts on the apparent blisters? (I started another thread for this) I just don't understand why they run from stern to bow, and only in a 6" band off the keel. They're small as they weren't visible at all until I used sandpaper, and we had scraped the whole hull with no evidence that they were there. I just want to scream "I'm not supposed to have this problem with a Parker!!!!!!"

 

[TWOBOATER]

What year is your boat? Most blistering ceased to exist when builders switched to vinyl esther resins somertime in the 80's. Break through one of the blisters to see if there is purple liquid inside, or if it is just a solid blob of gelcoat. if it's solid it's not a blister.

 

[warthog5]

Does the Boat sit on a Owens and Son trailer?

The reason I ask....They have pretty much full keel contact and constant staying wet carpeting may cause this.


Owens and Son builds a nice trailer and are help in high regards, but I have found some shortcommings to them.

The #1 thing is the boat sits higher.....Which causes......

Higher wind reistance in long tows and you have to back in deeper....This can cause the truck to get wet.

Wet truck and Salt.... Bad Combo!

 

[Ludicrous40]

2003 2520XL

I'm talking to a surveyor right now as they seem to be the only non-biased experts out there. I just sent him a bunch of pictures. His "knee-jerk" reaction without seeing the boat is that there has been a repair to the hull in the keel area, and that it was obviously done incorrectly. He has full knowledge of the Parker construction, materials used, etc.. which is why he is thinking that something has been done. Given the quality that is Parker I'm hopeful that this is a "moisture under the gelcoat problem" and not within the fiberglass. I have to believe that the construction the has resulted in little to no blister problems in Parker boats, should minimize the issue here. If there are no voids in the fiberglass, then it is "hopefully" just under the Gelcoat…..I'll let you know how it works out.

Anyway, I'm going to have him check the moisture level in the hull. I can't fix it until the moisture is out…..

 

[SCPARKER]

Ask Parker... I promise.... I had one on my 21SE and asked the same question. They blow air in it to get it to release easier from the mold.

 

[Ludicrous40]

Thanks SCParker, I'll do that.

 

[grouperjim]

Its a hole they cut when they pull the hull from the mold. It helps relieve pressure.

This^^^^^^^

It's common to every parker I have owned and have worked on which is many.

 

[Ludicrous40]

So I'm assuming that there's nothing structurally wrong with it…..but why wouldn't it get gel coated?

 

[Megabyte]

A call to the factory would erase all doubt.
252-728-5621

 

[Photoguy]

...or send an e-mail. I've always found that the factory responds very quickly. In fact, I've even gotten replies 'after-hours'.