Hey Alan,

I took a sort-of riverboat through the Erie Canal once. Cool trip, some
neat places to stop over. Lots of locks!

OK, the crack-in-the-keel story. I only touched bottom once last winter,
edging up behind a reef in a small harbor in the DR. I was going all of
a knot or so when the boat stopped. No big deal, I thought. I backed off
and anchored in deeper water. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later
that I was diving under the boat an noticed this 2′ crack running fore &
aft on the bottom of the keel, aft beneath the deep sump area of the
bilge. I inserted a knife blade into it and figured it was about 1/2″
deep. Damn! Well, there was nothing to do about it then & there, but
when I finally hauled the boat last week I had our local ‘glass master,
Jerry, ready with a grinder. While the boat hung in the slings he ground
out the damaged area, which wound up stretching another foot forward
than I’d been able to see underwater. Underneath the crack was a long,
1-1/2″ deep area of poorly laid mat and wads of hard putty. Someone –
Pearson or a PO – had done a halfassed job of patching under there,
creating a weak spot, a problem waiting for a little bump. I had simply
provided the bump.

Now I have a deep, open gash down there, which I’ll let dry out on the
hard ’til October. Then Jerry will repair it – right, this time – and
it’ll be stronger than new. Life goeth on.

Tor