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Dear Docksiders,

I finally have my Sea Lancer flipped over with the keel, keelson and garboards removed. They need repalcement. Ialso have a good handful of bad rib ends and the keelson knee is also suspect. The transom is very sound.

The question I have is regarding the keel as it meets the transom. I have read through the various emails and I'm still abit fuzzy on exactly what it should look like. A short section of the keel is cut nearly flush to the garboards with a metal strip terminating at the transom. How long should this peice be and should the keel be flush with the garboards beneath htis section??

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Chuck

Where is a good source for the aluminum trim? Thanks. Jim

Thanks for the reply on the keel tapper. Those dimensions are close to what I'm dealing with.
Chuck

Chuck, I have a Cruisers 202 that I am restoring. I made a whole new keel for mine from front to back. It originaly had a brass metal strip on the back. I did not put it back on but instead tapered the new oak keel starting from about three and one half feet to the transome. I then took a piece of tempered sheet alumimum that I had from another boat project and cut it on a table saw with a carbide blade the width I needed. I ran it the length of the keel bending it up the transome two inches. I just didn't like the metal strip alone. The way I did seemed to be stronger and would seal the bottom of the boat better. I will be posting more pictures of it in a day or so under Cruisers Inc 202 retoration. Mike S

The taper in the keel as it nears the transom is to minimize turbulance in the stream water that't reaching the propeller. I checked an OMC shop manual and it recommends shaving the keel back at a 10 degree angle with a maximum of 1/2 inch thickness remaining at the transom. Another reference book on outboard boating suggests tapering back the transom 15 to 18 inches from a feather edge at the transom. I would think that one would want to cut as little as possible, leaving as much wood as you can with without negatively impacting motor preformance.
Joe B