Leaky keel bolts

[Guest]

Lat year I bought my first boat- a twentyfive year old, 28' fin keeled cruiser. I'm very happy with her, but I'm slightly worried about a leak around the keelbolts. They leak very slightly- at one stage, when I was unable to use her for three months, I had to bail out just under a bucketful of water. If I have a long beat to windward in a strong wind and large waves, there may be about half a bucket of water in the bilges. Under normal sailing conditions there is no noticable leak. All the keel bolts appear to leak evenly (the bilge is divided into sections, so its easy to tell). Is this something to worry about? Is my keel about to fall off? (please tell me its OK- I'm broke!) Thanks for any advice.

 

[Guest]

Dan, I've just had the same pain - so will many boats built in the 70's and 80's. If you have a leak then it is bad news. The bolts themsaeves will corrode, the thread in the keel will corrode. - Can you draw a bolt out for inspection?

 

[Guest]

Two issues

Firstly, as Ian says, exposure of the bolts to seawater will cause them to corrode, regardless of materials (except perhaps bronze but there are few of them about in the budget end of the market)

Secondly, the hulls of many boats of that era flexed quite considerably and this is the cause of increased flow on a beat. The GK29 was very well known for this, all early hulls were extensively strengthened after production. Mine was strenghtened by the first owner and later by me but it still leaked on a hard beat.

So the message is, even if you replace bolts and reseal the keel joint, the chances are it will leak again soon afterwards unless you improve the counterface.

The only good news is that neither GRP materials nor bolts are all that expensive and you can buy them from "non-yacht" outlets.

 

[Guest]

Re: Two issues

OK, so I've got a problem.Thanks for all your responses. The question now is how do I go about sorting it out? Is it a boatyard job, or can I do it myself? What is required? Does the whole keel have to come off, or can each bolt be removed one at a time, and new bolts put in, with some sort of sealant? Also, if many boats of this age will still leak after changing the keel bolts, what do you do about it? Is it a case of changing the bolts every year? Or something more drastic? Much as I love my boat, I've realised that one of the joys of doing all your sailing on other people's boats is that its them who has to worry about these things!

 

[Guest]

You are quite sure its the keel-bolts? I had a leak once I was convinced was through the keel, which turned out to be from the shroud plates. They flexed when beating in stronger conditions, and then of course leaked once we were heeling with the lee deck awash.

 

[Guest]

Definately keelbolts- the way the mouldings are set up, the only way water could get into the bilges without soaking the contents of lockers, seat covers etc is via the keel bolts. Also, the bilge is divided up into sections by stringers. The only sections that get water in them are those with keel bolts in them.

 

[Guest]

Re: Two issues

Where is your boat? My yard has been very good about lifting off, putting down and putting back on the keel - (three separate movements, £80.00 each no choice, you can't do the engineering quickly enough in the slings of the crane) - This is the second most expensive bit - The other tricky bit is the drills and taps, my new bolts were made in Chicester (£300 for 10) the bolts were encapsulated so f/glass needed etc.. Mine was done by a friend who knew what he was doing (and will do others locally for cash) - yard quote £4000.00! my cost was a fraction of that!

 

[Guest]

Another question

Another question. please excuse my ignorance. Rob mentions that a grounding will increase the leak. I keep my boat up a small creek, and the entrance channel is only accessible for half the tide. As the bottom is soft mud, many of the others who keep their boat up there will motor slowly (2 or 3 knots at a guess) up the channel untill they hit bottom. They then wait there in the mud till the tide rises a bit, then they nudge forwards, and so o. Will this sort of thing be a problem, or by grounding do you mean hitting a hard bottom at speed?

 

[Guest]

Re: Another question

There have been other more informed postings since mine. But if it is as simple (if that's the right word), as loose bolts. Any strain on the keel would "open things up" more. Given that it probably weighs a couple of tons , it won't need too much pursuasion. The keel needs to be lifted off, sealed overall and re-bolted.

 

[Guest]

While you good folks are debating this subject can I ask for advice? I am about to leave for Florida where I keep my 36ft sloop the aft 1/3 of the keel is a fuel and water tank that is leaking oil into the bilge. I am proposing to remove this and fix the leak. However this will entail dropping the 2/3 lead keel and my question is if (God forbid!) the bolts are shot do I assume correctly that they will be cast into the lead keel and if so how do I replace them? - Looks like being an interesting holiday!)

 

[Guest]

Just another thought to add to Andrew's - I was convinced I had leaking keel bolts once, but eventually traced the leak to a loo sea cock, which only leaked when put under extra pressure when on starboard tack - the loo was to port. The water leaked over the top of the floor webs when the boat was heeled, and on an even keel it looked as if it had come from the bolts.

Another leak I had turned out to be the water tanks - tested by tasting! (I was already sure it wasn't the loo seacock that time).

So if you've a chance to go sailing and actually eyeball any leaks by way of the keel bolts, do this before committing yourself to considerable bother and expense. At the rate you describe they should be pretty obvious if you dry off the keel bolt you're looking at with a bit of kitchen towel. My loo seacock leak was of the same order and I could actually hear it wheezing water when down below - that's when I finally realised where it was.

Good luck.

 

[Guest]

You do need to get it looked at. If you inadvertantly ground the ingress of water will probably increase severely. I once had a situation where a purchaser's surveyor "shook" the keels to check them and the boat went back in the water in my absence. When I got to the boat the sole was awash, where it had been previously dry as a bone always.

Sorry to frighten you but best on here than out there!

Good luck

 

[Guest]

Re: Another question

You may fix the leak, but if your yacht is moored in the mud,then I believe the problem may well reoccur. I live in New Zealand, and my son borrowed my 31ft yacht and got stuck in some soft mud off one of the Islands at low tide. A nearby launch tried to tow our yacht off but couldn't, so my son waited untill mid-night which was then high tide. The result was that the stress had split the seal between the keel and the hull and it leaked. So it was lifted up out of the water and the keel bolts eased so the join between keel and hull re-sealed with epoxy. The boatbuilder charged NZ$1500 (500pounds UK). No more problems since. I can't believe the cost of things in the UK versus New Zealand where boats are concerned. From my experience your keel leaking problem will come back next time you get stuck in the mud.

 

[Guest]

Re: Two issues

Ian, what part of the country does your friend work in? If possible I should like to employ his services. Thanks Derek.

 

[Guest]

I conclude that A no one knows B no one cares C it was a stupid Question !

 

[Guest]

Re: Two issues

Emsworth area (hants)