Sailing Umavideo
We're Cutting Off our Keel (Part 2 of 4) | Step 449
19 July 2025 · 46 min · 144K views
What this video covers
Dan and Kika on the Pearson 419 Uma, hauled out in Italy, are drilling and tapping 11 new one-inch stainless steel keel bolts to sister alongside the original 12 five-eighths-inch bronze J-bolts, which are cast directly into the lead keel.▶ 8:00 The project stems from grounding damage sustained before they bought the boat — the impact delaminated the keel joint, damaged the stub, and destroyed the original floors.▶ 0:44 Their primary concern is not bolt condition but fiberglass thickness around the keel stub, which measured as little as a quarter-inch in places; previous episodes covered glassing in an additional inch to inch-and-a-half of laminate plus G10 backing plates inside the bilge.▶ 3:09 Three repair strategies were considered — full encapsulation, wrapping with unidirectional cloth, and bolt replacement or sistering — and sistering was chosen to preserve the original bolts' position over the main floors.▶ 4:51 Specialist Mike flew to Rome, ferried to Olbia, and arrived with a custom drill press rig and lead-tapping head built specifically for this work.▶ 6:34 The keel is braced with plywood to prevent tipping while detached.▶ 10:48 The first pilot holes are drilled, progressively enlarged, and tapped; a threaded rod is test-fitted to verify the hole before final bolt installation.▶ 27:42 Bolt placement near the tapered forward section of the keel limits that zone to one bolt per side rather than two.▶ 24:31
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