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keel replacement on a 32 ft. Constellation [1962]

Framing, planking and fairing. Repair, or reconstruction. If it's hull related, you'll find it here.

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Lynn Lucas
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keel replacement on a 32 ft. Constellation [1962]

Post by Lynn Lucas » Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:30 am

I am replacing the bottom of my 32ft. Constellation, and am in need of information how the inner and outer keels should be attached to the boat. The outer keel that was on the boat when I bought it was obviously not a factory installation and had been attached to the bottom with three eights steel lag screws. The inner keel though in bad shape had evidence of being attached to each bottom frame with a bronze carriage bolt terminating in a two inch hole drilled through each frame to allow access to the carriage bolt on which is a washer and a nut. My question is should the outer keel be attached to the bottom with longer carriage bolts that go through the inner keel and into the frames as described above, or should the inner keel be installed with carriage bolts into each frame and then the outer keel tied to the inner with bolts only adjacent to or between the bottom frames? Hope this is clear enough to understand. As further explanation the inner keel is a horizontal board about the size of a 2x4, and the outer keel is a vertical board approximately the size of a 2x8. thank you. Lynn Lucas Email lynnlucas1944 @ hot mail .com Telephone 505-263-6092

joanroy
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Re: keel replacement on a 32 ft. Constellation [1962]

Post by joanroy » Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:35 pm

Keel bolts usually go all the way through the keel and are bolted through the frames. Sounds like your original keel was added onto or repaired. I would contact the Mariners Museum in Va. and see if shop plans are available for your boat that would show original dimensions of the keel detail.

Lynn Lucas
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Re: keel replacement on a 32 ft. Constellation [1962]

Post by Lynn Lucas » Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:45 pm

joanroy wrote:Keel bolts usually go all the way through the keel and are bolted through the frames. Sounds like your original keel was added onto or repaired. I would contact the Mariners Museum in Va. and see if shop plans are available for your boat that would show original dimensions of the keel detail.
I have drawings of the hull, and from them I can determine the shape and dimensions of the external keel. But the manner of attachment is where I have a problem. That is whether the carriage bolts from inner keel to the frame should be long enough to also attach the outer keel at the same time or whether the inner keel is first bolted to each frame and then a second set of bolts to attach the outer to the inner, but not thru each frame instead only near the frame. Thanks, Lynn Lucas

jfrprops
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Re: keel replacement on a 32 ft. Constellation [1962]

Post by jfrprops » Mon Jan 25, 2016 3:55 pm

I would have to defer to folks with more Connie experience from the period..but all the cruisers I have dealt with had the bronze keel bolts run from outside..up through the keel and planking and up through the frames....nuts attached at each frame station. Also, I would not call these fasteners carriage bolts exactly....the ones I am familiar with are more like bronze rods with a round domed head...that part being like a carriage bolt but there being no square shank beyond that head like in a conventional carriage bolt. And 3/8 would be much bigger than some of those fasteners I have seen.....5/16 or 1/4.
Clearly you have an after market keel.....maybe even designed to be a "worm shoe" as well.

John in Va.
1980 Fairchild Scout 30
19?? custom Argentine Runabout 16'
1954 Whirlwind deluxe dual ckpt 16'
1921 Old Town Charles River 17' (founding Captain, James River Batteau Festival)

Peter M Jardine
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Re: keel replacement on a 32 ft. Constellation [1962]

Post by Peter M Jardine » Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:39 am

John is right. The inner keelson on a Connie is really just a way to tie the boat together at that point. The keelson has a rabbet on each side that allows the garboard plank to be fastened. The screws from the garboard plank are longer on the keelson side, and go into the frame. Then the keel or skeg is attached by bolting through the floor timbers. The floors are quite light in a Connie, and they have cutouts at the keelson, which weaken them further. If you look at the relative weight of the boat compared to the contruction around the keel, you realize pretty quickly that the keel is not a structural one in the same sense as other boats. The keel on a connie is more for directional stability. The boat really isn't designed to have all the weight put on the keel. The chines are are one of the strongest areas... so a lot of the weight is put on them when the boat is ashore, but the keel should be blocked and wedged too.

jfrprops
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Re: keel replacement on a 32 ft. Constellation [1962]

Post by jfrprops » Wed Jan 27, 2016 3:29 pm

yes, and to take Peter's comments a step further:

When you haul one of those boats it is VERY IMPORTANT that the chine supports and the keel supports be contacted in exactly the same moment in time...or very very close to it....otherwise all that weight...which has grown a lot over time and soak.....will fall on one place or another when both is critical.
Like Peter says...these boats are quite lite..........for their size...but remember design life was passed half a century ago too.

John in Va.
1980 Fairchild Scout 30
19?? custom Argentine Runabout 16'
1954 Whirlwind deluxe dual ckpt 16'
1921 Old Town Charles River 17' (founding Captain, James River Batteau Festival)

Lynn Lucas
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Re: keel replacement on a 32 ft. Constellation [1962]

Post by Lynn Lucas » Wed Jan 27, 2016 7:14 pm

Thank you to each of you who responded to my question about the manner of attaching the keel thru the keelson on my Constellation. Every thing I have is as you described and I now feel confident to proceed putting the bottom back together. Lynn Lucas in Albuquerque

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