C&C 40 keel/maststep repair

[Andrewc42]

Need some help and guidance repair the rotten timber piece just aft of the second keel bolt on my C&C 40 sail boat.

After removing the floor boards I noticed a wet soggging piece of timber. So I removed the mast step to find a rotten piece between the second keel bolt and the transverse frame just aft of the second keel bolt.

I have removed some of the rotten timber . See attached photos.

Does anyone have any experience with this problem or ideas on repairing it?

 

[PAR]

Given the age of this puppy, I think you might know what's about to come down the pipe. Is this the Crusader version of the C&C 40? If so, it was built in the 60's, possibly the very early 70's, so it due for a major bit of surgery. There were a number of C&C 40's, does this one have a keel hung or a spade rudder? If it has the spade rudder, it it a little weird looking, or more conventionally shaped?

Generally, you'll need to remove the rot (all of it), replace it with new wood, then tab it back into position, possibly with some additional reinforcement. This is easier said than done. I've done this type of repair many times, but if you're new to this, you might consider finding some help or at least researching bonding and tabbing wooden elements into boats, materials, methods, techniques, etc. Rot like this is called wood cancer and it's treated the same as the real stuff in us, it gets hacked, ground and chopped, until you know you're back into good material, then a repair piece is grafted back in, bonding/fastening/tabbing it to the existing structural elements and the hull shell. So, the question you have to ask yourself is how much do you like to itch (welcome to the world of 'glass work), what kind of skill sets do you have, tools availability, work site, return on the investment, etc. This isn't a difficult repair for a skilled person, though can be a bit involved, depending on what has to come out, to get complete access (the usual bugaboo).

 

[Andrewc42]

Thank you for your reply and your information.
To clarify, the boat is a C&C 40 Mk2 built in 1980. See the added photos.

The general plan at this stage is to remove all the rotten wood as you explained and replace it. However, I'm not sure what type of timber to replace it with? any ideas

I have done a lot of minor boat building and repairs in the past, so I am confident and determined to complete the job myself (and with the help of a few friends).

 

[PAR]

I'll bet it's mostly Douglas Fir, though take a close look and the heavier, more highly loaded pieces, as you might find some oak. The grain between the two is quite different, so easy to recognize. SYP (Southern Yellow Pine) is a possibility a fine, if somewhat heavier substitute for the fir.

 

[markwbird]

Andrew: I recently purchased a 1980 C&C 40 with a similar issue. I am wondering how you resolved this. It appears to be the very exact same issue.