There are issues with the aft part of the keel. A weird weeping plug. The odd spongy spot. A couple of patches of dry glass that had never seen resin. I suppose most all of this is the product of age on a part of the boat that has never gotten a lot of attention, certainly not stripping down to glass. Even here, though, the boat is built like a tank.

All removed bits will be replaced with thickened epoxy, glass etc. before glassing the trim tab in place. The tab contained mud and some small mussels that somehow entered through a tiny crack in the bottom. I kept drilling the top and bottom and flushing the interior. It is now dry, plugged, and has layers of epoxy and cloth on the top and bottom.

One troubling and hopefully final issue with this small problematic area has been put to rest. I am going to whack out the old bronze stern tube and put in a new Vernatude. It will be 1.75" OD at the forward end to accept the PSS seal. The rest will be slipped inside a second 2" Vernatude sliding on a thin layer of epoxy. A 1.5" OD cutless bearing should slip in nicely. More on this soon.