Am an owner of an Alburg 37, currently on the hard and have identified a gash in my Keel roughly about 4 inches long and 3 inches wide that was weeping. I'm guessing the former owner tried to take out a coral head. I drilled in some holes to let out any water that might have been trapped in the cavity below the lead and to dry the section out to grind and repair.. Problem is after 4 months of drying out in the Florida Sun the area to b repaired is still Damp.I found the source was rainwater draining into my bilge.. But is that right ?? Why would water in my bilge drain thru a lead keel and out the damaged area.. If it should'nt how can I fix it ? Does'nt seem right that water should get that far down with no way to pump it out.. Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.
Hull Repair (leaking Keel) Alburg 37'
- Thread starter rickbarr
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I assume you have an encapsulated keel? Are there keel bolts in the bilge or is the lead just held in by the encapsulation around it? If encapsulated seems the bilge should be fully sealed so if water is getting into the keel you have a leak and need to fix the bilge first. Sealing water in the keel may lead to blistering of the glass and structural weakness over time as the glass will absorb water.
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