Lead Keel
For such a small sail boat she had an enormous sail area. when Hatasoo was designed the class had already reduced the allowable sail area for safety reasons. The new limit was 470 square feet. So Hatasoo just squeezed in at 469 square feet. 349 for the main and 120 for the jib.
So the ballast that was needed was in excess of 1 ton. I had been told that the lead keel gas 1 ton. But on removal a loose calculation without the availability of scales of the necessary capacity, puts the weight at closer to 1.5 Ton
The weight of the rest of the boat will be under half a ton.
In a previous post I showed a photo of the wooden keel with 3 holes. Above is the corresponding holes in the lead ballast keel. It can be seen what we have presumed is the original bronze keel bolt from 130 years ago. Next to it is more recent bolt holes one has had the hole drilled next to and partially through the older bolt. Unfortunately the bolts have corroded with in the keel and have been unmoveable. Even after a jury rigged hydraulic press.
New bolt holes will have to be drilled. This will be my task when I visit the workshop and I have been told its a pig to drill through lead.
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I had this problem with Stroma, the old cast iron bolts had to be left where they were and new holes bored. I borrowed a heavy drill, which flew across the shed with me when the bit got stuck. After that the work was done with a brace and bit, lots of WD40, frequent removal to clean up scrap, hours of no fun.
ReplyDeleteHi Ewan, Thank you for that description. Adam told me it would be a pig to do and recommended that it was a 2 man job.
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