Water Coming Up Around Keel Bolts

[Vaughan_M]

My 1982 E38 is on the hard. I've owned the boat for a year, and there's always been water in the bilge, so I'm concerned about the state of the keel bolts and bedding. Therefore, I've started the process of removing, replacing, and re-torqueing the keel nuts and washers. Of twelve total, the five nuts in the aft portion of the keel have been replaced and tightened (bolts are in good shape). The next two forward (just behind the mast step) and the single forward nut have been removed and water is seeping up around the keel bolts. I've probably sucked up a quart of water with my shop vac and it just keeps slowly seeping out. My only explanation is that the keel shoe is saturated and removing the nuts relieved the pressure, allowing the water to seep upwards. Remember -- boat is on the hard.

Can anyone think of a way to dry this out? I'm thinking of drilling into the keel shoe, allowing it to drain and dry, then refilling the hole(s) with thickened epoxy.

At this point I am not going to drop the keel -- the rig is still up, and I'm not ready to go through the pain and expense of taking it down this year.

To prevent future ingress, I have ground the keel joint down to bare lead and fiberglass. The forward portion of the joint bedding (looks like old 5200) appears degraded, so I have cut it out with my Fein oscillating scraper blade, and I will re-calk with 5200 Fast Cure. After that I intend to glass over the whole joint with epoxy and a couple layers of 6" biaxial fiberglass cloth/mat tape. Then I'll fair with Total Boat TotalFair epoxy fairing compound.

Thoughts?
Thanks everyone,
Vaughan

 

[Loren Beach]

Keel notes

Note that when we had our keel dropped and re-bedded, the rig stayed up. That yard is conservative and has run "stays" from masthead to ground tie points when a major wind storm threatened... for all all boats on stands with their keels.
Since any threaded-rod metal loss due to corrosion is exactly where it cannot be viewed until the threads are all revealed with the hull lifted, that is really the only way to know what's going on.

Our boat was not off its keel for very long, maybe a day or so. That was many long years ago, and we still enjoy a dry bilge. Having ensured that it was done 'right', it should be good for another 30+ years, IMO.

Links to prior threads --
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...ust-on-keel-bolt-washers&highlight=keel+bolts

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...8-Keel-Bolt-Design-(and-Repair)&referrerid=28

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?1743-Surveying-an-E-38-200&referrerid=28

I am probably not understanding just where the water is coming from, but the hull sump is solid glass laminate and the keel is solid lead.... so is it perhaps seeping from inside the TAFG?

 

[Christian Williams]

I think Loren is onto something. The TAFG has many ways to trap water, which can indeed appear from the keel bolts--since the TAGF is bolted onto the keel.

It makes sense that ancient water drains down.

A common source of wet bilge is water entering the large and complex TAGF (the usual hidden leak and rain issues). You mop the bilge dry, in a day or so it has half an inch of water again.

Not saying this means the keel bolts aren't an issue. Does bilge water weep down the outside of the keel?

 

[Vaughan_M]

Thanks for your responses, Loren and Christian!

I didn't realize the TAFG is bolted to the keel, so what I thought was a solid hull layup between the TAFG 'stringers' is actually not part of the outer hull -- I guess it's more of a liner. Therefore, it could be rain water. Hmmmm....

No, there is no water coming out of the keel/hull joint. It's only seeping up inside the 'bilge'.

Maybe I should lift the boat off the keel, clean, drain, and re-bed with 5200 after all. Decisions, decisions...

 

[CTOlsen]

Keel joint repair

I bought our boat in 2009, and noticed water leaking into the bilge during the first season. After hauling in the fall, I saw streaking from the keel joint, running down the keel. Tightening, sealing the keel bolts sealed the leaking bolt holes, glassing-in the keel to hull joint (no stub on an O-34) has kept water out of the bilge for 7 years. The keel joint if fair, crack free, and no leakage.
See pix on thread lower in this section ("leaking keel crack").