Stainless Bow / Keel Guard

[Travesso]

Hey guys,

As I've almost finished having Longitude (25ft Yamaha longboat) re-sprayed after considerable effort and expense, I am looking for a stainless guard plate / strip for the bow of the boat. This part of the boat has been knocked around a bit and I want to make sure it doesnt happen again after all the hours of glassing, grinding and sanding prior to the paint. I found this thread: http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=145168&highlight=bow+shield

when searching and I see that someone said to contact "Ships Marine" on the Gold Coast but I cant find any details of them online or in the Yellow Pages.

I have seen the adhesive poly/rubber ones you can get (keelguard / Keelshield) but I want to have a stainless plate solution for strength and aesthetics. Does anybody know where I could have one made up? Otherwise its going to be time to rip out a strip of 1.5mm stainless plate and the old trusty rubber mallet! :P

Thanks,

Trav

[top_deck69]

Hi Trav,

Just seeing if you had any luck with a solution for this??

Cheers
Ben

[Archer]

Just along this line...

Are there any of the keel guards suitable for a trailer with keel rollers?
I was wanting to fit on to my Haines 146 so i can run it (slowly of course)onto a sandy beach or gravel ramp(mondy) etc
Trouble is most of the ones ive found state not suitable for trailers with keel rollers...:undecided:

Joe

[The-easyrider]

I have a keel rollers and my sea legend is fitted with a brass keel guard, thats all I can help you with as it was fitted when I bought it and I am sure it was fitted at build time. You could check with north side marine as thats where this boat was bought new.

[cormorant]

Without access to bolt through in modern boats and sealed compartments you end up having to glue / bond even a well formed stainless one on. That is a huge task to get the shaping right and for it to stay there depending on how far along your keel you want it. It seems hard to do to key in the gelcoat with a glue to stainless and the keying in means if it is removed you need a repair to fix it up. If doing it it has to be a permanent bolt through one of a reasonable thickness and suported / moulded all teh way along.

I have seen a few where people have used epoxy by just masking up a 3 inch strip and applying a few layers of epoxy and when it wears off doing it again. At least it protects the integrity of the glecoat but isn't pretty and looks like a rough repair. Have seen others with a moulded piece of FG that is just mastic on and it is used as a wear plate/ protector that is done as a mould off the keel ( boat manufacturers are stupid as they could do one of these off a upturned hull as the mould and sell heaps. If removed teh gelcoat could be polished again to a OK finish as with a wider contact area it woudn't need as good a keying in. Could do the same with some polly and a heat gun but getting it to stick is a issue.

Rollers still exert a lot of weight and the plastic ones I have seen on heavier boats don't look like they will last.


If you have the ability to turn your hull upside down or on it's side you could easily make up a FG one ( or 2). Just wax the area mask it off and some resin and glass flow coat. You could just trim it up and use it or get fancy and make it up as a male mould.

[flatstrap]

See Whitworth's re stainless steel rub strakes 600mm long. It might be what you're looking for. Just get a few lengths if you want to protect a longer contact area.