Looks like typical cracking in the vermiculite well. The water may have froze and cracked the fill. The hairline crack along the rudder and hull is also normal as long it’s truly hairline. Make sure the hull is dry and you should have a decent boat.

I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails on this topic. Here is a recent reply: I’m not an engineer by any stretch. When we were preparing that article, Al J did the research on the table, and used the ISO stuff. Looking at your links, I can see that there is a wide range of [...]

The ~100ftlb is designed to not overstress bolts to attach metal to metal. The bolt is the weak link. When bolting to fiberglass, the fiberglass is the weak link and you don’t want to damage it. You want enough torque to hold the keel firm but don’t want to concentrate stresses at the bolt holes [...]

I don’t think you need to prebend the mast to pour your Spartite (I didn’t). Half inch is a good thickness for the cap above the partners. I wrapped the mast with 4 mil poly to keep the Spartite out of the groove and allow it to slide off the mast. This job requires just [...]

I am doing the same this weekend and have the same questions. I have used spartite before and would think 1/2 inch would be a strong cap.

@will: Thanks for the alert. You referred to Waterline’s new keel bolt torque spec, which is 48.7 ft-lbs for the 5/8 bolts on my 1981 J24. This is way lower than 100 – 120 ft-lbs recommended by TPI in this old verm-job article (http://www.j24class.org/usa/faqs/verm_repair.htm). That old spec is in line with general recommendations for bolt torque, [...]

Please HELP – I bought my first sailboat ever – a 1979 J24. Sellers are a family of sailors. Boat was not in the water. But after looking it over for 2 hours and listening to what was done to it – I made an intuitive decision and bought it along with trailer – and [...]