Keel Bolts

[vyv_cox]

So by obvious, do you mean substantial water ingress passed the bolts in to the bilge?

Rusty water is very obvious. Maybe not so with a lead keel.

 

[Tranona]

So by obvious, do you mean substantial water ingress passed the bolts in to the bilge?

Yes, and rust streaks down an iron keel. The failure of the sealant is also usually pretty obvious, indeed is often the first sign of aa problem.

 

[pyrojames]

I have 12 keel bolts for a 6.3 ton iron keel. Even with all the nuts off, and hanging from a crane, we needed wedges driven in to prise it off. That's on a wooden boat without modern adhesives to hold it on.