Unidentified leak in Southerly 105

[Cardo]

Cardo,

I don't like bodges on the outside of leaks, but in this case - there are various adhesive fillers available which work underwater, and as this leak is constantly wet it might as well be underwater for these purposes - maybe you could apply one of these.

What I have in mind is the ' emergency araldite ' I carry, which consists of an airtight packed roll of epoxy & hardener side by side, to use it one simply twists & mixes the two together.

If you did your best to dry the area then ' keyed ' it with coarse sandpaper, a wire brush, screwdiver etc then applied this stuff it might give a very temporary repair until you reach civilisation.

I do think the leak can only get worse, I doubt it would threaten the boat but as I'm a cautious type I'd be investing in the best electric bilge pump available, I am not being funny when I ask if you have a liferaft ?!

I think the need for that 1000:1, but if one sets off with a known slight problem one must consider the outside chance of it developing into a major snag.

10/10 for the Southerly Owners Association, 1/10 for Southerlys...

If you search Amazon for ' waterproof epoxy ' they offer quite a few of the things I'm on about; good luck !

Thanks for the response. These are the lines I was thinking along for a temporary fix. I have a "BORO STICK" that I bought locally to patch the hole in the exhaust manifold. It's a two part epoxy putty that you knead together prior to applying to the surface. Is this the kind of thing you're referring to? It sets in 5 to 15 minutes and is resistant to water and other chemicals, though it doesn't specifically say anything about using it under water.

Our current bilge pump is only a dinky one to keep little bits of water out of the bilges, but I had been thinking of fitting a chunkier devil with a float switch a bit higher up for a while. I think it may be time for that.

 

[Seajet]

Cardo,

I don't know the boro-stick but it sounds about right; if in any doubt have a look at the stuff on Amazon, I'm always amazed by the stuff they offer.

When you get the boat lifted & fixed properly it would be well worth taking photo's before, during and after the real fix, I bet this will be of interest and help to other Southerly owners.

I always tell people to include a newspaper in at least 1 shot showing the headline, to prove the date; this might help if you ever come to sell the boat.

 

[chasroberts]

We had the same prob with our 105 when she was lifted incorrectly by a foreign yard. A small crack just forward of the keel plate. Got it dry and used the two part epoxy putty which seemed to hold it well until we took the boat out of the water and had it ground out and reglassed professionally. Scared the bejasus out of me when I felt the carpet through to the aft cabin was wet, lifted the boards and discovered lots of water in the bilges. As far as the keel bolts go, there aren't any under the water tank and all the keel bolts are accesable through the various floor hatches. We had our keel plate removed to rebush the studs on the lifting keel so discovered a lot about the whole thing during that little operation. Good luck with fixing the leak.

Chas

 

[Cardo]

We had the same prob with our 105 when she was lifted incorrectly by a foreign yard. A small crack just forward of the keel plate. Got it dry and used the two part epoxy putty which seemed to hold it well until we took the boat out of the water and had it ground out and reglassed professionally. Scared the bejasus out of me when I felt the carpet through to the aft cabin was wet, lifted the boards and discovered lots of water in the bilges. As far as the keel bolts go, there aren't any under the water tank and all the keel bolts are accesable through the various floor hatches. We had our keel plate removed to rebush the studs on the lifting keel so discovered a lot about the whole thing during that little operation. Good luck with fixing the leak.

Chas

Chas, thanks for the account from the same style boat. Did you have anything special done when getting the crack fixed? Does it need reinforcing, etc. or is it just a case of getting the crack properly fixed and then happily carry on?

I've managed to mostly stop the ingress of water for now by using the epoxy putty stuff, but annoyingly ran out before I adequately covered all of the crack. The bulk of the leak is contained, though, just a very, very small trickle left.

Luckily for us, we have an automatic bilge pump that was getting rid of the water as it was coming in, so no water above the floors for us!