build status

[admin]

DAMMIT!

We were going to race the i550 last night for the first time. Got down to the boat and my friend/crew Tom had just pulled up, too. He said, "it's listing a bit." Yeah it was. ???

Got on board, climbed in through the hatch and holy sh*t, there's a ton of water below. Not "in danger of sinking" but in 48 hours of sitting in a slip, it had taken on approx 10 gallons of water. In a week it would have sunk, or at least been swamped...I don't think it'll actually sink.

Only thing I can figure is: the water must be coming in through a crack/fissure in the keel box. So I guess the best thing to do is:

1) take a drill, come in through the front of the box. Drill a hole big enough to insert the jig saw and cut an inspection port into the keel box.
2) examine keel box closely for a crack and for signs of water penetration.
3) pour water (maybe use food coloring) into the exposed interior keel box and see if it comes out through the bottom/and or into the bilge--this would be a "tell"
4) maybe sprinkle talcum powder around inside to try and track where water is running through it to identify ingress areas.

My keel has an inner carbon fiber sleeve and a heavily constructed plywood "box" around the sleeve, so this is a bit of a mind-bender. see diagram.

leak.jpg

Anyone have a better idea?

[Mist]

Is it possible to drill a small hole in the plywood keel box and hook up a fitting to a bicycle pump? Slowly press air into the box and listen for leakage. Seems like a minimally invasive method to achieve a repair that would last the rest of the season. This winter you could do a more thorough investigation.

[admin]

Hey, I like that! Thanks Mist!

[Mist]

You're welcome! I emphasize, go slow with pressing air into the box. I hope you get back out on the water quickly.

[ryderp]

Quick question: Are you sure that the water is coming from the bottom and not the top? When I first launched my boat, I had a lot of water in there from unsealed through-decks, and not a drop through the hull. The mainsheet track and the jib tracks were the worst offenders. I'm still working on a few small leak points on the hardware.

[admin]

Excellent question, Phil.

I am pretty sure it's creek water. I went out on Sunday with my daughter. We launched from the trailer and the boat was dry. Went sailing, Afterward, there was some water in it, but it was windy and I figured some came in from various open sources. Then we tied the boat in a slip. We were both beat, it was really hot, but I tried to rid the boat of as much water as possible before leaving. 48 hours later I came down to the boat in the slip and there was one helluva lot of water in it. Like ten gallons. It hadn't rained around here for more than a week. Just to be sure, I asked the year owner if it had rained (isolated T-storm) over the past 48 hours and he said definitively, "No."

I did a rough calculation and figure it is coming in at a rate of approx. 15 ml per minute, e.g., half an ounce per minute, or a little less than a quart and hour.

[ryderp]

That's a lot of water - I didn't realize that it was over such a short period of time.

After my sleeve was in place, I poured a fair amount of epoxy into the gap between the sleeve and keelbox (probably a couple of cups). Some of this did leak out the bottom proving that there would have been a leak there. I haven't seen a drop of water through that path. The next year i poured expanding foam into the remaining space - which turned into a total debacle (described at one point in these forums). I like the idea of putting slight air pressure inside the keel box in order to look for bubbles.

[i550sailor@aol.com]

Tim,

did you roll your glass over at the bottom to the sleeve (I wish I could draw this). I made my sleeve slightly larger at the bottom so that I could fiberglass tape the sleeve to the bottom vs just filling the joint with filler, but still end up with my desired tolerances. Also what filler did you use at the sleeve/bottom? if a fairing filler like 410, it may be to soft for the application.

I ask this, as it is very remote the sleeve failed, the top of the keel trunk is out of the water, so it has to be in the bottom/sleeve connection.

[Warren Nethercote]

Can you drill a couple of holes through the top and pour a SMALL amount of expanding foam into the space between the box and the cassette. Not too much: if the foam becomes too constrained it will distort the cassette and you will be SOL. But if it is closed-cell foam it could seal a leak at the base. For that matter, a wet epoxy/micro balloon mix would do the same job (as long as the leak didn't offer a route to glue the keel to the cassette - now that would be a serious mess).

[admin]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Here's the layup for the bottom of the sleeve/box.

SleeveFaired.jpg

i550keelSlotb.jpg

slotFinishd.jpg

Mark, the filler is West epox and West high density filler 404. The sleeve does not wrap around to the outside (hull bottom). It's very possible this is where the water intrusion is coming from, but even that would be constrained by the plywood box that houses the sleeve.

The top of my keel box is not very high above the waterline. A few inches. It's entirely possible that wakes from passing powerboats (there are a lot back where I am in the creek) are large enough to create enough pressure (as the boat rocks back and forth) to force water up to there may be an imperfect seam in the plywood box...I have to check on that.

Warren, after Phil's description of what his foam experience was, I am sorta reluctant to go there....although it is an intriguing idea!

[i550sailor@aol.com]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Here's the layup for the bottom of the sleeve/box.

SleeveFaired.jpg

i550keelSlotb.jpg

slotFinishd.jpg

Mark, the filler is West epox and West high density filler 404. The sleeve does not wrap around to the outside (hull bottom). It's very possible this is where the water intrusion is coming from, but even that would be constrained by the plywood box that houses the sleeve.

The top of my keel box is not very high above the waterline. A few inches. It's entirely possible that wakes from passing powerboats (there are a lot back where I am in the creek) are large enough to create enough pressure (as the boat rocks back and forth) to force water up to there may be an imperfect seam in the plywood box...I have to check on that.

Warren, after Phil's description of what his foam experience was, I am sorta reluctant to go there....although it is an intriguing idea!

Tim,

Your keel is in the cabin, so, maybe 6-8" between bottom and top of trunk?.

1- Have you pulled the boat and taken a look at the bottom to sleeve connection? (it sounds like your trunk is built like mine, and would be pretty impossible for water to be entering that way)

2- I would get someone to help you, and tie up the boat properly and have them rock the boat back and forth, while you are in the cabin watching.
3- This is just a possibility, and I have had to fix it on (3) U20's,,,,, is that the keel box construction allows the keel sleeve to let water in while the boat was heeled, In the case of the U20, I had to take a flashlight and a mirror to see it while we were underway, but sure enough, while heeled over you could see a hairline separation allowing water in at the top of the trunk. (just a thought).

[Chad]

I'm guessing it happened here:


The top of the keel got wiggled a little before it reached the cockpit sole/upper sleeve support, and cracked the sleeve along the unsupported middle span.

If that's the case, then you'll see bubbles inside the sleeve if you pressurize the box, and you definitely want to remove the keel before pouring syrup-thickness epoxy in there.

[noemar]

Here are latest photos of Hull #355
Noel
(noemar)

[i550sailor@aol.com]

Here are latest photos of Hull #355
Noel
(noemar)

Looking good!, you are so close,,,, what kinda rig are you going to go with?

[noemar]

For Now I am going to use a Viper tin rig. I have three different sets of sails that I will try .
I-set of Doyle sails from a Viper
1- set of Quantum from a Melges 20
1- set of North sails from a Melges 20
Will try and sell whatever I do not use.

[ryderp]

I don't think that I ever posted a photo of my keel crane. As you can see, it's not tall enough to use for launching and retrieving the boat. I still use the halyard and main sheet for that. However, I can tack or gybe the main over this one, and I use it to sail in and out of shallower places. The water at the dock in the photo is about 3' deep.

BoatAtDock2.jpg

I purposely made the crane look like a crane or maybe a loon.

[admin]

Phil, that is one loony looking crane! I like it!

Had sail number 4 yesterday in a nice southerly that sprang up, unexpectedly, after the persistent northerly died. Was expecting maybe 4 -6 and had a solid 10 -14 on, where we are, in the mouth of the Patapsco. Basically just took a quick spin out and then blast jib-reached back to the dock. GPS on the phone said 10 kn of speed in the puffs, which I thought was about right. The main purpose for this sail was to diagnose the water ingress issue. BUt:

NO WATER BELOW! that was the huge surprise! After the episode with the wet bilge described above, I thought there'd be something. We definitely stressed the boat. A lot of boatspeed, plus we ran aground twice (after 3+ days of a big northerly, the creek sees extreme low-water condits and the tide was pretty low...anyway, that's my excuse. I am beginning to wonder if 48" is my true draft, as it seems like more sometimes).

Long and the short: this is the first time I had a chance to helm in some decent breeze (I'm usually screwing around with lines and stuff while the daughter or a friend drives). As stated elsewhere, these things really are a hoot! Well-behaved and surprisingly stiff when the bulb is lowered. Went to weather nicely, and just a blast and a half downwind. I think the PHRF rating on this is actually a bit of a gift, as in all points of sail, it felt faster than my old Evelyn 32-2, that rated 96. Of course, this is strictly anecdotal and in moderate breeze with completely flat water. But so far, more than good!

If you are currently building a boat, find a way to speed it up and get it launched. These boats are a blast and you should be sailing!

OK, that's my report from the trenches.... does this shot make my bulb look asymmetrical?

i550october19-2015.jpg

Asymm Bulb.JPG

[Tim Reiter]

looks like it dresses to starboard......

[Mist]

TF, Glad you're back out on the water. I look forward to joining you next summer! I can't wait to 'blast' along with you.

[Mist]

I'm getting closer, finally got the deck painted. Putting the rest together should go much faster. The hurdles that remain are; tiller, boom vang, and boom.

[admin]

WOW! That looks fantastic, Tim! Amazing job, looks like a production build!

[Mist]

I'm making progress! The final hull weight is 410 pounds with all hardware installed except spinsheet cleats and hatchboards. I haven't decided what to do for those items yet. I will be trial fitting the boat to the trailer today and sails are due June 20th. Sails were delayed due to the material backorder. The two big hurdles remaining are the hanging the rudder/building the tiller and outfitting the boom. I can actually imagine sailing soon. Oh, I need to register it and apply for PHRF too!

[Mist]

Trial fit of the trailer want great! Only needed to shim starboard side of forward bunk a little bit. The boat sits much higher than I expected while resting on the trailer. The deck is chin high. Entire deck is painted with the traveler installed.

[noemar]

WoW! Super job

[Mist]

Noel and TF, Thanks for the compliments! It's becoming exciting to think of actually sailing this boat.

I'm curious, does anybody have any issues with the trailer tongue lifting off the ground when you step onto the back of the boat. I'm at 190 pounds and think I may have an issue. I'm wondering if I should install a trailer jack on the back end of the trailer.