Centerboard holes and drying time

[Brianl]

I put my 25 on the hard for a bottom job on the 6th and removed the centerboard. On the 9th there was no leaking, but yesterday I learned that 'something' was leaking out of the centerboard retaining plate screw holes. I haven't seen it yet but was told that it wasn't water. It seemed to the guy in charge to be like resin without catalyst. It started out thin enough to splatter when it hit the tarp covering the ground,but as it leaked it thickened and the last drips to fall were white. Think egg flower soup. From what I have read about osmosis and blisters, I believe this sas water intrusion. Now finally to my question. I will be Blowing air into the void this weekend and wonder how long I should wait before filling it with epoxy. I need to finish sanding and painting the deck before the rainy season starts so I can put the new ports in. With the boat on the trailer in my yard, the holes will be covered.

 

[Teepee]

I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN

I had something similiar happen to me also. Some time ago, oneof my boys said the CB wouldn't drop for him. And while he was sailing the CB dropped. And nothing more was said. Earlier last fall I took my CB out to clean it from Zebra Mussels and when I did, water ran out from the plate screw holes. Since I had taken the CB out a year or two earlier for lanyard replacement, no water had run out then. So, now why the water??? This spring I went under the boat, on the trailer, and found that the location where the CB pin is to be, there was damage to the at area. So, when the CB dropped, it swung down, the fore part of the CB hit the front of the trunk and then pushed the pin backward and damaged the slot area of the pin. That area is now repaired and I hope to get the CB installed before I put it away for the winter. The repair was made this spring and I put the screws in to make it water proof. When I take the screws out this fall I don't want to see any water leaking from the screw holes. In the short form, check your CB trunk for any damage. Have a goo day!! Tom

 

[Brianl]

I don't think it was water

I've been up to look at the boat. The bottom job looks good, the goo dripping out of the screw holes does not. It isn't water. It has the consistency and stickyness of resin. I have read on these forums and elsewhere that the water that runs out of blisters has a distinct and unpleasant oder. This stuff was oderless. It seems almost as though the can of catalyst in an automatic mixer ran out at the factory when the boat was being built and they were dumping resin into the mold to form the keel. The splatter on the tarp under the boat looks like it was under pressure until it was broken loose by something that happened during the bottom job. If this is the case (I can't think of a better explanation), then filling the small voids in the keel with epoxy may not work. There won't be anything for the epoxy to adhere to. Unless I make the holes big enough to remove this sticky mess. I may blow as much out as I can with compressed air, and put the centerboard back in.