bsangs
E35-3 - New Jersey
Completely dried out the bilge last week, with the intent of "cleaning" it. Couple days ago, I noticed a very minute amount of water pooled in front of the dustbin keel bolt, but nothing behind it. Did the taste test and, uh oh, it was salty. The bilge always gets some fresh water in it following rain, and the taste test always confirmed that. So the amount in front of this keel bolt was never enough to make the fresh water taste salty. The bilge chamber in front of the dustbin is damp, but has no measurable water in it, and every other chamber remains bone dry. After searching around here, I only found one mention of this keel bolt (years ago), and the included picture of that bolt from the poster - who dropped the keel - was not pretty. In my case, it almost looks like one of the previous owners applied something to this bolt. It also looks like a washer was jammed into a very narrow space. I don't know if that was the original design, but I doubt it. Asking the Ericson/sailing experts around here how concerned I should be. There are no signs of leaking or water on any other keel bolt. Fire away - and thanks in advance.