Centerboard Leak

Mar 23, 2015
259
Catalina 22 MK-II Dillon, CO
First off, please excuse any terminology mistakes ...
I have a new-to-me Seaward 24. There is a pretty good leak with water pooling in the area where the centerboard cable exits the hull (where the bilge pump is). Pulled the boat and water drains out of the keel where I imagine the centerboard pin is. So, any thoughts on where this leak likely is and how to fix? Any insight is appreciated.
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Congrats on your new boat. Those are very handsome.
 
Jul 30, 2019
216
Seaward 25 777 Fort St. James
Sorry, mine has a fixed keel. I'd be interested in hearing of any solution you find.
 

PaulK

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Dec 1, 2009
1,222
Sabre 402 Southport, CT
Can you post a picture or drawing? Sailboatdata does not show how the centerboard and its pennant are set up.
 
Mar 23, 2015
259
Catalina 22 MK-II Dillon, CO
I'll be back at the boat Thursday and she will be up on stands so that I can check thinks out. Will post pics then.
Thanks for the interest.
cec
 
Mar 23, 2015
259
Catalina 22 MK-II Dillon, CO
Finally got the S24 up on stands and am able to view the keel bottom. First off, the posted pics and description of how to remove the centerboard are different than mine. There is no slot in the centerboard nor a pin in the keel. Instead, on mine the pin is part of the centerboard and there is a U-slot in the lead keel to slide the centerboard up, over and down into its final resting place. I append a figure and a couple of pics in case someone else out there has a similar situation.

I filled the bilge with water and saw it coming out of the keel bottom at the starboard side keel slot. Looks like the glass (fairing compound?) has separated from the lead keel and is flowing at the separation at that point. I append a couple of pics of the keel and close ups of the leaking spot as well. Does not appear to be any water leaking from further up in the centerboard trunk. I am now waiting for the marina "glass guy" to take a look and get me a bid to fix this and/or tell me how to do it. If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears!

Image of keel, full length. You can see the water exiting the starboard slot:
Document1.jpg

Centerboard Slot.jpg
 
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Oct 10, 2020
3
Seaward 22 Shady Side MD
hi, I have a new to me seaward 22, with what I think is a similar problem. She will be up on stands on Monday. Do you have any updates on what happened with yours? What the fix was?
Thanks
Doug
 
Mar 23, 2015
259
Catalina 22 MK-II Dillon, CO
Hey Doug,
I ended up removing the centerboard entirely and sealing up the trunk. I have posted the procedure and posted several pics of the operation. Do a search for centerboard leak and you should find all of them. Lemmeknow if you have any questions and best of luck!
cec
 
Oct 10, 2020
3
Seaward 22 Shady Side MD
CEC,
I finally got to your update post, through that last link you posted. My boat (S22) was put up on the cradle a couple days ago, and I finally got down to her today. Slightly different location but otherwise appears to be an identical failure mechanism with water weeping out of the small
Gap between the lead and the fiberglass bottom of the keel. It appears that they cut part of the glass centerboard slot out and put in lead blocks, can’t fathom why they would do that, seems an obvious failure point. I have a question in with the designer/manufacturer to see if I can get any more insight I to the design intent. My initial thought is to dry everything out entirely, flush with some acetone to clean, then run some tape along the edges of the trunk and flood the interior of the keel with a gallon or so of epoxy, hoping it will seep out and be captured by the tape. I’d like to retain whatever pointing ability the centerboard provides! Did you and the glass expert discuss anything like that?
 

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Mar 23, 2015
259
Catalina 22 MK-II Dillon, CO
Hey Doug,
Yes, your keel looks just like mine. I had several people at the marina suggest that loosing the centerboard would not have a big effect. I also was able to talk to Nick Hake, who recommended keeping it. He talked to my "glass guy" and provided a fix which I think was to lay in glass from the keel bottom up into the trunk. Thinking about this, I was not entirely sure how this would work to seal the "slot" where the centerboard would go. After a LOT of thinking, I decided to seal up the centerboard, as you know. No leaks after the season in the slip.
Now, my glass guy also recommended sealing cracks in the bilge where the water was seeping in from the keel. The worry is that water will get into the cabin, seep into the sealed up keel trunk, freeze and expand and crack the keel over the winter. I think that the cracks extend along the entirety of the keel trunk in the bilge; however, the only way to know for sure (and to fix) is to cut out the cabin sole, which would be a really big job. This was stongly recommended by the marina and I may do this over the winter? An alternative to opening up the cabin sole is to add a drain plug in the bottom of the keel that would allow draining any water trapped in it. So far, the cabin has been totally dry the entire season so not entirely which direction I will go. I may do nothing unless/until I get a significant amount of water in the bilge.
Not totally sure I understand your approach. Are you saying you will tape off the cracks at the keel trunk and pour epoxy into the bilge? Interesting idea ....
As for loss of the centerboard, I never sailed her prior to removing it so I have nothing to compare to. She points pretty well and sails fine. The one thing that is difficult is that she has a tendency to stall in irons on a tack in light wind, especially with a furled headsail. Not sure if this is because there is no centerboard, or an inherent property of the boat or my inability to sail .. :mad:
Hope all this helps. Lemmeknow if you have any additional questions and I look forward hearing how yours turns out.
cec
 
Sep 24, 2018
2,549
O'Day 25 Chicago
Now, my glass guy also recommended sealing cracks in the bilge where the water was seeping in from the keel. The worry is that water will get into the cabin, seep into the sealed up keel trunk, freeze and expand and crack the keel over the winter. I think that the cracks extend along the entirety of the keel trunk in the bilge; however, the only way to know for sure (and to fix) is to cut out the cabin sole, which would be a really big job. This was stongly recommended by the marina and I may do this over the winter?
I had this happen a couple of years. A PO screwed the pump into the bilge without any sealant. Water got in, froze in -30F and we found cracks in the keel. We sealed up the hole, ground and patched the cracks and drilled drain holes at the end of the season. One of the holes had moisture in the spring. Once everything dried we injected some thickened epoxy in the holes and sanded them smooth. So yes, keel cracks can happen from freezing water
 
Mar 23, 2015
259
Catalina 22 MK-II Dillon, CO
yes, gonna evaluate the situation over the winter .... thanks for the info.
cec