hollow keel

I just bought a 1977 40' marine trader,* I noticed the previous owner removed the fiberglass cap to the keel about 75% of the length.** He than removed what ever was in there and now it is just hollow fiberglass.** What is recomended to fill in?** I heard of foam, cement, and just leaving it.* Any help would be great.**

My Albin's keel is filled with cement.

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My marine trader is filled with what seems like grey stones and resin I believe that is balasted for a reason

ok,* did you do it or was it already there?** wondering if plain ole redimix would work or if it needs to be a special blend.

I believe the ballast was there fron the build The top is glassed over I am sure it adds stability in rough water

* My 77 40' sedans keel was hollow, I filled it with cement.

ok,* what type of cement?* redimix, with small rocks?**** also did you put a cap over the cement or just leave it raw cement?* thanks for you input.

* I used redimix, I used a 3 inch hole saw and cut several holes, through which I pored the mix, after it dried I placed the plug back in the hole and glassed over them. I let it dry for a couple of months.

great,* thanks,* I will try it this spring.

Might be worth keeping as it is a great sump.

Cement is only about 100 lbs a cubic foot , so it will take a huge amount to create "stability".

Lead is 700 or so , and even steel about 500.

Let me add that IF you decide to fill your keel with cement, consider first installing a good drain plug at the lowest place in the keel so you can drain the keel when it is on the hard.

I say this because I had to install a plug in my boat because when I bought it the keel had water in it (NOT found by the surveyor I might add). This was not an easy task with water already dripping out. Another Albin (36) owned by a friend was also full of water and he had to drain his as well.

In my case I believe the water entered the keel via non sealed screw holes that mounted the oem bilgepump. I sealed those holes and now finally the water is almost completely drained. Every fall I remove the plug and now only a few drops drain out. My friend's Albin took 3 years of winter draining to dry out. His root cause was several cracks in the fiberglass cover over the keel. He ground all the glass out and re glassed it.

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Jleonard: where on the keel did you install the garboard drain?

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Mr./Ms. 22. Mr FF. makes a good point (post #10). IF you fill the keel with, whatever and install a drain plug (good suggestion post #11) and install a FRP cap over the filled space you had better hope you never have to replace the stern tube. Replacement of such will be the reverse and the repeat of the above.
IF you decide to leave things as they are, any water that makes it's way to the bilge can be readily drained with a wet/dry shop vac or a small bilge pump so, other than the lowest point in your keel, you should have a dusty dry bilge. My $.02...