Problems with the process
Thinking that this project was close to completion I went to the boat yard expecting to see the boat out of the keel fixture and blocked on the stands for the remainder of the winter. When I arrived I found the keel once again removed and significant damage done to the keel stub. The pictures of the keel and the damage that took place are as follows. Note the leading edge of the keel where it was dropped or hit leaving gouges in the lead.
It is clear to see that something went drastically wrong. For some reason the lead did not allow the epoxy to let go without literally ripping the bottom of the keel stub apart. The pink that you see on the top of the keel was once part of the keel stub. I think either not enough mold release was used or they forgot to use any at all for it certainly did not work. Now lets look at the bottom of the keel stub to see what that looks like. The pictures will tell the story.
When I first talked to the yard they did not take responsibility but said they would investigate the issue I was very upset and said that I would return the next day for an explanation. The next day I was told that no one knew why this happened but that they would take responsibility for the repair. My position was that as long as the problem was fixed with no cost incurred by me the project would of course continue as before, things happen, people make mistakes, that’s life as long as it doesn’t cost me money we get over it and move on. The project coordinator agreed that the incident would not cost me anything so we moved on to the next step.
The boat was moved inside a large shed to start the glasswork repair.