What I’ve figured is that the keel above the ballast is boxed in around the floor timbers, and becomes an I-beam aft of the ballast for about 3′ to the floor timber at the front of the engine. there is an abrupt change from such a strong, rigid keel to a 1″ thick keel. This is exactly where the secondary water damage begins, so what I think has happened is that the stress from the groundings affected this area, creating hairline cracks in the epoxy fillets, and fiberglass cloth allowing moisture into the laminates. This mixture was mixed with engine oil because there is an oil evident throughout the different layers.

I just removed the engine and will be able to get a better look at the area. I’ll show the pictures next time.

Oh- and the cat is a new addition to the barn. Fiona showed up as a kitten and has become the shop foreman, forewoman, foreperson, forebeing.