Beneteau Oceanis 37 keel leak

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harpo

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I have found a leak from two posts of my Beneteau's fin keel. Is this serious and how expensive do I have to expect to be a job to drop and refit the keel after resealing?

I will consider to remove the floor boards and fittings myself to give the yard free access to the keel's bolts.
 
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harpo said:
I have found a leak from two posts of my Beneteau's fin keel. Is this serious and how expensive do I have to expect to be a job to drop and refit the keel after resealing?

I will consider to remove the floor boards and fittings myself to give the yard free access to the keel's bolts.
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Is it serious? I wouldn't be happy with a leaky AWB, one advantage they have over MAB's is that they aren't supposed to dribble water in. How much water? The washers on the keelbolts of my Benne are slightly rusty but they are Mild steel not stainless, no doubt to be compatible with the keel itself.

I would be tempted to withdraw those two bolts one at a time myself first. Withdrawl in favour of just tightening so that shearing can be avoided if possible and they can be examined. If they are badly corroded then I'd go for a keel lift and rebed but if not they may just have worked loose in which case I'd be tempted to replace the bolts with new ones, greased up and with new washers and sealant and do the rest as well.

If you shear one off then it's likely the yard would have anyway so a lift off and rebed will be the order of the day anyway.

If you do the bolt withdrawl you know the size of the problem yourself.

Whatever your course of action I'd get an inspection routine in place for every time I went sailing this season and tapering if off into next season.

Oh and ....... the advice you get here is worth exactly what you paid for it.

If a yard gets involved I doubt you'll see any change out of £1k in the southeast!
 
Think you need to find out why it is leaking before you think about how to fix it. The only way water can come up a keel bolt is if the seal between the hull and the keel has failed. so look for signs of damage and failure of the seal from the outside. If it is an iron keel there are likely to be rust stains where the failure is. It could be the result of hitting something hard and there might be damage to the structure of the boat.
 
harpo said:
I have found a leak from two posts of my Beneteau's fin keel. Is this serious and how expensive do I have to expect to be a job to drop and refit the keel after resealing?

I will consider to remove the floor boards and fittings myself to give the yard free access to the keel's bolts.
Click to expand...

Before you do anything drastic are you really really sure that is where the water comes from? If it is just rust on washers/nuts that makes you think that, it may be that it is simply because water from elsewhere is the cause. Have you actually seen the water ingress? Best way to track it is to dry the area thoroughly and then use paper towel or talcum powder around it to act as a witness from where the water arrives.

If it really is the keel bolts I would be looking to some expert professional help to do the job properly.
 
Ouch!

The 37 must be a fairly new boat....what makes you so sure that there's a leak from two of the bolts? Sounds serious; not for the ammateur and not for the faint hearted.

What's the history of the vessel? Sorry to ask but have you touched the bottom / struck and submerged object?

Is the boat in or out of the water? Any evidence of damage around the keel or obvious signs of a break in the keel to hull seal?

Is the water around the bolts fresh or sea?

Using talk or paper towel sounds like a great idea.

Putting a drop or two of cooking coloured dye in the forward and aft bilge area may also work to determine the location and cause of water ingress.

There's only so much you can do, INMO, before calling in the cavalry.

Good luck!
 
Dear Harpo,

Sorry to learn of your problem which I am sure is a worry to you. I agree with some of the comments already expressed. Bottom line is if two keel bolts are leaking it is not the keel bolts but the seal between the hull and keel. Simply tightening the keel bolts is a bodge... The rig will need to be removed and keel dropped and the who keel re-prepared and the keel re-attached correctly and bolts re-torqued. However as one post suggested you may want to determine if in fact the keel bolts are leaking... You do not mention the age of the boat, but you may if it is less than 5 years old wan to have a gently discussion with the dealers who sold it to you as leaking keel bolts is a warranty matter.

Best of luck.
 
The leak is minimal, however I am concerned because I read that keel's posts should never get in touch with salt water because of corrosion.

The boat has never run aground or hit anything, but has done a lot of mileage beating in moderate to rough conditions when stresses to hull and joints are significant. Being a recent boat I would expect some settlement. Perhaps the bolts weren't tight enough in the first place, hence the leak.
 
harpo said:
The leak is minimal, however I am concerned because I read that keel's posts should never get in touch with salt water because of corrosion.

The boat has never run aground or hit anything, but has done a lot of mileage beating in moderate to rough conditions when stresses to hull and joints are significant. Being a recent boat I would expect some settlement. Perhaps the bolts weren't tight enough in the first place, hence the leak.
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Should be no "settlement". As stated, leaks can only come up the bolts if the seal has broken. For this to happen there must be movement between the keel and the hull - unlikely unless the bolts are loose or the keel has hit something hard.

Completely dry the area around the keel bolts and sprinkle talcum powder around them. the path of the water will show in the powder. If it is coming out from under the heads of the bolts, then this points to a failed keel/hull joint. If the boat is fairly new then first approach is to the dealer as this should not happen.
 
If you're certain the keel bolts are the problem, first thing I'd do is get a competent surveyor to report.

A) this will confirm (or not) your suspicions
B) it will suggest probable cause
C) it will suggest suitable remedy
D) it will give you ammunition if the builder/dealer starts shrugging shoulders
 
Thank you for all your recommendations, but I was actually looking to understand if dropping and reseating the keel was a big job, and if there could be collateral damage in doing it. How many hours should I expect the work to take?
 
harpo said:
Thank you for all your recommendations, but I was actually looking to understand if dropping and reseating the keel was a big job, and if there could be collateral damage in doing it. How many hours should I expect the work to take?
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I purchased an early Beneteau 390 in Trinidad (Stingo) and the keelbolts looked totally shot with corrosion and there were small pools of water in the bilges. I decided to change the keelbolts and learned a lot!

1. The keelbolts were only 3" long (I'd been expecting 10" at least!) and were as solid as the day they were put there by the factory.

2. The pools of water were caused by a slow leak from the freshwater plumbing and probably also due to condensation.

3. The actual corrosion I could see was from the washers placed under the head of the keelbolts that had almost totally flaked away.

4. It isn't a difficult job at all to remove all the keelbolts, lift the boat, clean and remastic the mating surfaces and drop the boat back onto the keel. The initial alignment of the keel was easily achieved since the bilge on the 390 has a sump which self aligned itself with a cutout in the keel casting. Final alignment was achieved by replacing the keelbolts with the boat suspended very close to the stud holes in the keel casting.

5. I also learned Beneteau charged £200 for a set of keelbolts & washers which I thought was a ripoff but maybe not?

6. I ended up doing an excellent job even if I say so myself, but it's extremely daunting and took a lot of courage by me but I didn't have a lot of choice as the yard in Trinidad was cr*p.

7. After all that, I then discovered the pools of water were from the faulty plumbing and possibly condensation (lots in the tropics!).

So, I'd do what most on this thread are suggesting, check the seal between the keel and the hull - if that looks good, it's highly unlikely the water is coming from that joint. For peace of mind, I'd remove a couple of the keelbolts and check the condition of the washers. If they look ok just put them back - if I recall correctly the torque setting for the keelbolts was 40lbs and I was advised by Beneteau to re-torque after a month afloat which I did but everything was ok.

If everything looks ok then check your freshwater plumbing connections, corrosion in the hotwater tanks fittings, condensation. If I'd known then what I know now I would not have bothered dropping my keel - a big job but nevertheless quite easy.

I actually do have a few pix of the job in progress, if they might be useful to you please send me a PM.

Cheers, Brian.
 
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