Keel guard-gctid374302

[Guest]

I noticed that the gel coat has been worn away for about 300 mm on our keel.

This would be from constantly beaching the boat when skiing.

Has anyone got any experience with the keel guards?

I have been quote $300 in Australia.

Does anyone know of a cheap supplier in the States?

[Guest]

I've wondered if these are good too. Seem like a good idea if you are beaching-which we do on ocassion in the summer.

[Guest]

A friend of mine installed one for the same reason. One thing they found, its like glue when you hit a beach, the baot will no longer slide up you have to give it some gas to get her on the beach. Once the keel guard hits sand it just sticks to it.

They paid a decent price for it, then it tore off when loading on the trailer, but im sure this was due to their error not the keel guard.

The bottom of my boat where it beaches has no gelcoat, just layer after layer of reinforcing fiberglass. Doesnt wear off a bit

[Go Aweigh2452]

I installed keel guard on my older 2452 and it was great. The 3M glue that is used is amazing stuff. I had bottom paint so I had to sand off the area about 4" each side of the keel. I did it in winter so I had a heater going full blast to ensure it stuck right. Once installed, it was tight. I bought mine off eBay for less than $100. US...

[rafaelfigueira]

Danny wrote:
I noticed that the gel coat has been worn away for about 300 mm on our keel.

This would be from constantly beaching the boat when skiing.

Has anyone got any experience with the keel guards?

I have been quote $300 in Australia.

Does anyone know of a cheap supplier in the States?

I bought a keel guard for much less on eBay, and installed it myself. Easy installation, and works very well. The thing never moved. Every bowrider should have one.

[Guest]

I'm curious - picking up my new 180 on Thursday - is keel damage from beaching anything other than cosmetic? I ask because the 15 year old Yamaha jet boat I am replacing had no keel guard, and was beached weekly almost. It looked bad, but I couldn't tell any other issue with it.....

[Guest]

JeffBowser wrote:
I'm curious - picking up my new 180 on Thursday - is keel damage from beaching anything other than cosmetic? I ask because the 15 year old Yamaha jet boat I am replacing had no keel guard, and was beached weekly almost. It looked bad, but I couldn't tell any other issue with it.....

Yes, it will eventually wear through the gelcoat and then fiberglass. My friends boat had a hole through the fiberglass and it wasnt from rocks, we have prestine beaches on the rivers here (JeffW can verify that ). Over time and beaching, it just wore right through.

The heavier the boat, the more of an issue this becomes. The PO of my boat had the fiberglass reinforcement installed as many other large cruisers at my marina have. Every year it was cleaning the gelcoat right off the boat. Now its np, same result would come from a keel guard.

If you beach alot, you will want one.

[Go Aweigh2452]

biohazard wrote:
Yes, it will eventually wear through the gelcoat and then fiberglass. My friends boat had a hole through the fiberglass and it wasnt from rocks, we have prestine beaches on the rivers here (JeffW can verify that ). Over time and beaching, it just wore right through.

The heavier the boat, the more of an issue this becomes. The PO of my boat had the fiberglass reinforcement installed as many other large cruisers at my marina have. Every year it was cleaning the gelcoat right off the boat. Now its np, same result would come from a keel guard.

If you beach alot, you will want one.

^ +1

[Jeffw]

Yeah, those rivers up Ryan's way have REALLY nice beaches, as we do here also. But we have some gravel beaches too. I've had Keel Gards on both my previous Bayliners (289 & 305) they work great and, if you follow the instructions, are pretty easy to install. Installing one on my current boat is on the list...

[Guest]

I have had a KeelGuard on since year one (purchased on 06). Followed the instructions to the letter and have never had an issue. Beached it several times and it does stick rather than slide, but not a major issue.

I forgot the drain plug once at launch. Ran it up to the ramp (concrete) in such a hurry that it could have been a disaster. The guard took all the punishment, but you could hardly tell. It was well worth the $$$.

[Guest]

Well, It looks like they are the way to go.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Just need to try and find one a bit cheaper than the quoted price in Australia.

Any suggestions ?? ,,, I will try ebay.

[Jeffw]

How about West Marine?

[Guest]

1st. one is Overtons

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Megaware-KeelGuard-10&i=36534&str=keelgaurd&merchID=4005

2nd. one is Bass Pro Shop

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Navigation?storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&searchTerm=keelgaurd

3rd. one is West Marine

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=37218&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50802&subdeptNum=50814&classNum=50816

[Guest]

I'm not what you call a careful boat owner when it comes to beaching. Often when I go out I see owners stopping before hitting the beach and jumping out and holding the boat off the beach, the other people get out and get wet then they anchor off the beach so the boat keep off the bottom. This is all good and their boats look like the day the brought them (My hats off to these sort of people)

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of money tied up in my boat but enjoyment is what we are about, I pull up onto the beach so people can step out onto the beach without getting wet up to their armpits. We tie up to a tree etc so any wave action does work away on the keel. Sometime the beaches are small stones rather than sand as well.

we have a heap of fun but fussing about putting a scratch on the bottom is just not worth the stress.

By the way although I have done this for 3 years I only have marks on the bottom with one or two chips from sharp rocks, if I really wanted I could repair the chips and cut out the scratches, but I will leave this until I have time or want to sell it.

Happy boating..........

[Guest]

Macca wrote:
I'm not what you call a careful boat owner when it comes to beaching. Often when I go out I see owners stopping before hitting the beach and jumping out and holding the boat off the beach, the other people get out and get wet then they anchor off the beach so the boat keep off the bottom. This is all good and their boats look like the day the brought them (My hats off to these sort of people)

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of money tied up in my boat but enjoyment is what we are about, I pull up onto the beach so people can step out onto the beach without getting wet up to their armpits. We tie up to a tree etc so any wave action does work away on the keel. Sometime the beaches are small stones rather than sand as well.

we have a heap of fun but fussing about putting a scratch on the bottom is just not worth the stress.

By the way although I have done this for 3 years I only have marks on the bottom with one or two chips from sharp rocks, if I really wanted I could repair the chips and cut out the scratches, but I will leave this until I have time or want to sell it.

Happy boating..........

Thanks Tony.

I understand what you are saying, but mine has worn through the gelcoat.

Hope you had a good Anzac Day yesterday.