Hi all, I'm new to Sabres, and close to buying a lovely boat from the east coast. Our mooring is on the Bristol Channel, on a stoney ground and most boats here have cast iron or heavy iron sheet keels. The boat we are looking at currently sits in a sandy mud mooring and doesn't have keel shoes. The first job i would need to do is fit shoes before she takes the stoney ground or I'd worry I'd risk damaging the keep bases.
Has anyone fitted keel shoes, what did they use (cast, mild or stainless), are there templates/dimensions and/or there any cast off shoes lying around?
Fitting keel shoes
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ken endean
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Wed May 10, 2017 11:11 am
Re: Fitting keel shoes
Hi John, and welcome. Sorry about this slow response but Christmas got in the way.
With the Sabre's encapsulated keels you will never have keel bolt problems but you are wise to be nervous about abrasion. it's unusual to find a Sabre without keel shoes, although one did lose its shoes when they became jammed in a drying-out grid.
If the bed is only small stones, you could try forming GRP shoes in-situ by jacking up one keel at a time and then applying several layers of glass and resin. That would be equivalent to the standard GRP fitted shoes. However, you would need to check them regularly. Metal shoes would be better for hard knocks and I think the only sensible option would be stainless steel sheet (grade 316L). Fixing by screws would only be sensible if you could be sure of the screws being clear of the internal ballast, which would be difficult to ensure. The other option would be to fill the gap between shoe and keel with either resin or a slightly flexible filler/sealant.
As I am clearly guessing, I suggest you contact our technical officer Keith Webster because he is a professional in this field.
Good luck!
Ken
With the Sabre's encapsulated keels you will never have keel bolt problems but you are wise to be nervous about abrasion. it's unusual to find a Sabre without keel shoes, although one did lose its shoes when they became jammed in a drying-out grid.
If the bed is only small stones, you could try forming GRP shoes in-situ by jacking up one keel at a time and then applying several layers of glass and resin. That would be equivalent to the standard GRP fitted shoes. However, you would need to check them regularly. Metal shoes would be better for hard knocks and I think the only sensible option would be stainless steel sheet (grade 316L). Fixing by screws would only be sensible if you could be sure of the screws being clear of the internal ballast, which would be difficult to ensure. The other option would be to fill the gap between shoe and keel with either resin or a slightly flexible filler/sealant.
As I am clearly guessing, I suggest you contact our technical officer Keith Webster because he is a professional in this field.
Good luck!
Ken
Re: Fitting keel shoes
One of the sabres in our club recently lost a keel shoe in the mud & it must still be there!
Im pretty sure they were stuck on with polyester or gelcoat filler. I assume that Brue yachts would have had moulds but these will be long gone now.
You could lay up extra glass straight onto the keels to give the same thing, not a job for the winter though!
Im pretty sure they were stuck on with polyester or gelcoat filler. I assume that Brue yachts would have had moulds but these will be long gone now.
You could lay up extra glass straight onto the keels to give the same thing, not a job for the winter though!