Keel Blocking and Hull Support
Date: November 3, 2002 I have been blocking the keel at haul out at the back of keel and this year it is crushing. I think this has happend before because it is weeping water. I intend to do extensive grinding and reglassing to fix the problem. My question is can and should the keel be blocked under the center of the keel where the lead seems to end ?.? The owners manual gives measurements for lifting sling placement but nothing about keel blocks. I would apreciate input and measurments.
Date: November 4, 2002 I have had our E40 11 years and 5 or 6 haul-outs. Both yards I use always put 3 10 x 10 blocks under the keel, crossways. I would be estonished if they put only one anywhere under the keel. I would not blame the keel, I would blame the boat yard. another thing about much of the keel and tank problems come from leaving water,especially salt water in the bilge. I keep my bilge pumped dry all the time. On our E40 the sump hole, lower than the bilge, holds about 2 to 4 quarts of water The sump hole is heavily glassed. Any bilge water runs into the sump and with frequent pumping, keeps the bilge dry. Date: November 4, 2002 Block the keel under the portion that has the ballast/lead, there will be bo crushing. Date: November 4, 2002 Paul/John, Date: November 4, 2002 John, Since my E42 was new 16 years ago, I have had the same yard store it. They do the haul out, launch, block and secure. They have always blocked the Keel in the middle, which is almost directly under the mast step. They also have a guy who walks around and checks the tension on each Jack Stand about every two weeks. He adjusts them as needed. I asked about this, thinking it had to due with Hull deformation, and he told me that indeed the hull does shift a little, the concern was that the Jack Stand bases sink into the asphalt, and therefore, you get uneven support, this includes the support at the Keel. So he adjusts them up and down every couple of weeks. Date: November 5, 2002 John, Date: November 7, 2002 My yard has always blocked the keel along its entire length on both my E35 and my E38. I don't know if the keel on the E37 is flat along the bottom, but if it is I would think that you would want to distribute the weight of the hull evenly not just on one or two points. Also, are you using jack stands and are they supporting the hull (but not bearing weight) evenly. Date: November 7, 2002 Hello John, Date: November 8, 2002 What many people don't realize is that blocking the keel, that is placing blocks directly under the keel fully supporting the boats weight, wether or not the boat is stored in a cradel IS necessary for proper storage. The keel on the Endeavour is designed to support the full weight of the boat. If you don't do this especially when storing a boat in a cradel, the weight of the boat pushes down on the center portion of the cradel and puts an incredable amount of pressure on the hull. I've seen boats hulls crack from this. The screw posts on a cradel and /or jack stands are ONLY designed to keep the boat from falling over sideways, not to support its weight. Date: November 8, 2002 I have a 1976 E32 with a home made cradle. I am in the process of buying a new cradle. Is there any information from Endeavour about the number and location of pads for manufacturing cradles? Date: November 8, 2002 None that we're aware of. However we are also replacing the cradle on our 1982 E32 and will offer this insight. Our cradle is steel and has 2 starboard and 2 port side pads which I feel is insufficient. The sizing of the steel in my opinion is undersized as well since the structural I-beams are distorted (not straight). We plan on over sizing the new cradle especially since the boat is listed as displacing 11,800lbs. This will keep the cradle from flexing and moving with the boat resting in it. Secondly, the cradle should be 'beefy' enough so that the boat can fully rest on its keel with the pads only keeping the boat from falling left or right. This points to a heftier cradle. As for the pads I plan on putting 3 on each side and line them up with the structural members of the boat--where they're tabbed to the hull. If you have the pads next to these points rather than on them it causes the hull to 'oil can', distorting the hull shape. These usually pop back out when the boat is removed but my feeling is that if you cause this to happen continually over the years, you can potentially weaken the hull at those points. The pads should be on adjustable screws. Remember that the pads don't hold the boat UP, the keel does. The pads are only for lateral support. It's also important to have the keel 'blocked' as well as the four corners of the cradle, and to have the cradle and boat plumb. If it's not plumb, the weight of the boat will be forced onto the pads. That's about it. The estimate for ours is about $1,500
From: John Esposito JWESPOSITO@aol.com
From: Jim Parks RIPTYD97@aol.com
From: Rick Cass bacchus42@earthlink.net
From: Lawrence & Linda Mikoloff miklin37@earthlink.net
When I use to haul out for the winter I used a timber much like a railroad tie. It ran almost the full length of the keel which is flat on the bottom and accepted it well.This would distribute the weight much better.
From: Ed Mahoney ed.mahoney@us.abb.com
I have no detail, but I can offer some observations.
From: Bill Woodroffe Whwboat@aol.com
For the 4 years that I have hauled my 37' I place only 2 blocks under the solid part of the keel. It looks funny and the yard always questions why but I don't think you should support a 20,000 lb. boat on a hollow keel extention. Only problem I have is to get it to sit with the bow high enough to allow water to drain aft on deck. In fact this year after it was hauled and now blocked in I found water standing on the deck. I will have to jack up the bow carefully and add about 1.5" block (can't go higher as the stern end of the keel will be on the ground).
From: Jon Richards Endeav35@aol.com
From: Carl Hibbard Chgypsy@aol.com
We block our E37 with four blocks. We have used 4 x 4"s and up. You typically have to shim the last two with pieces of half inch plywood to make it even.
From: Paul Uhl endvr32@endeavourowners.com
From: William Simmons wtsimmons2@cogeco.ca
From: Paul C. Uhl endvr32@endeavourowners.com
